what is the difference between credit and debit card?

This is how you are supposed to do it kiddies. 1. Never spend more money than you have. 2 keep your money in the bank drawing interest. With bill pay on line and the ability to transfer money quickly, you can draw good interest even with money market accounts. you can search on the internet for the highest rates nationwide. 3. Use only a credit card. You won't have to pay the bill for a month. In the mean time, your money is making money drawing interest. 4. Always pay off in the grace period or the credit card co. will make the whole thing too expensive to do.

I think that a debit card takes the money directly out of your bank account, where as a credit card just runs up a tab for you to pay at a later date. I'm not exactly sure how this works, because it seems that some cards can be either way.

Exactly as Toxicon said, debit = money you have in the bank and spend it. Credit = money u "have" (actually u don't have it)

A debit card, also known as a bank card, is a card that can only be used to acess money you have in the bank, you cannot spend money you dont have in your bank account, and when you buy with it, you are paying all the money right then. A credit card is money you dont actualy have, you can spend up to whatever limit the company sets for you, and then you pay it off over time, and they add intrest charges . As an example, your bank account has $50 in it and you use your debit card for a purchase of $40, the $40 will instantly be deducted from your bank account. if you make the same purchase with a credit card, you can pay it off over time, and with added intrest charges you might actualy end up paying $50 for a $40 purchase. Hope that helped answer your qustion.