Prepaid Cards to the Rescue: Card.com Review

My cute Garfield card from Card.com!

As a fitness fanatic I definitely find an outlet for my love of shopping--fitness gear! I am very excited to share my experiences using the Card.com prepaid debit card, which was provided as compensation for my review. All opinions are my own and I hope you find this review and prepaid card tips helpful in the upcoming shopping season!

Shopping an untested site...

For some reason the most awesome fitness gear is the most elusive. Remember my mad hunt for 36" legwarmers? I literally searched past the 15th page of search results before finding an awesome family owned shop that carried exactly what I needed: 36" legwarmers without a stirrup. Prepaid cards are the best solution for this; you only risk what you load. Card.com offers Visa fraud protection and 100% FDIC insurance on whatever money you do put on there.

Surviving fraud season

'Tis the season for... theft, unfortunately. Holidays are always the peak time for stolen credit card information so all that protection Card.com offers? Now is when you need it. This is one of the features of Card.com I was excited to share as it seemed a lot of my pole dancing friends were running into information--and consequently monetary--theft. Using cash or other forms of payment can sometimes be convenient but having a card with a solid backing makes a difference, at least in peace of mind and at most in terms of saving you from scams.

The "B" word

Sometimes it's a pretty dirty word especially with all the hype about spending big to keep up with our favorite sports and pole stars or to treat our families. Yup, budgeting. I can keep my personal spending under control--unless we're talking heels, ahem. My worst enemy? Shopping cute dance gear for my daughter. I like prepaid cards for loading a set amount and keeping to that card for an easy budgeting tool. I love that there are no fees to order, load, or use the Card.com prepaid card. There is a monthly fee of less than $6 that can be avoided by loading more than $800 and only applies after the first 30 days. My bank charges a $35 minimum for overdrafting... guess how I know? As much as I tend to be a stickler for tracking expenses it just is not possible for me around the holidays... I would rather spend money on dance tights and leotards than overdrafts. Plus I love that you can pick out of thousands of designs to add a little fun to your shopping.

I hope that these tips can give you a little more confidence in your shopping. Stay tuned for next week's post in the November Affordable Fitness Series on credit cards (yes, they can be your friends).