I need to provide a family member with spending money. They're developmentally disabled, so carrying cash isn't something they can really handle -- they easily misplace it.

Because of her intellectual disability, I have a special kind of checking account set up for her, and it doesn't allow for her to have a debit card. (I am her legal guardian since her parents have died.)

I'd like a pre-paid debit card or visa card that I can load up with $50 for her every other week for shopping trips she takes with a helper. I don't want to pay $5 every time I load it/she uses it/whatever.

Any ideas?

Cash won't really work. She can't connect a debit card to her checking account. She can't write checks. I really need something of a stop in place that won't allow her to overspend at checkout.

I can't decide if I'm overthinking this or if there really is a clever hack. If anyone on the Internet knows though, they're in this sub!

Basically: Use prepaid cards

You can always just cancel the subscription but - i always forget 14 days later.

You may also just not want to have your info online.

The solution is buying a 25$ prepaid card, swiping it on whatever and the with 4 dollars on it, you can sign up for all the free trials doing this and theres no risk of you losing money - after 7 days, the payment doesn't go through. Sometimes they charge 1c

My Visa Vanilla card always works but recently i got a Joker Mastercard and it usually does not work for online purchases so watch out. Not a life changer but i dont feel as stressed or concerned about having to cancel the subscription that I only wanted to use once for a premium feature. If you really wanted to milk a site you could also likely just get a new email.

Is there any prepaid card that easy reliable? I recently posted about my vanilla card issue, and have decided to perhaps buy another prepaid card for around 80$ and still have around 20$ left (a little less including the activation fee + taxes) on the original card to use in person. Before all that, I think you can buy another prepaid card with a prepaid card? I am probably the first one to do it, so I guess I'll find out. Any recommendations on another one I can purchase? Preferably in person, at a local corner store (In Canada) Thanks again!

Starting off, please don’t suggest cash. Cash doesn’t work since most stuff we buy online and can’t use cash for that. And it just causes more problems.

Okay, so my husband and I do prepaid cards for our “allowance/fun money/whatever you want to call it”. It allows us to have some flexibility with our spending (like getting coffee or food whenever one of us is out and about) without dipping into our joint account and allows us to have a set amount of money each month that we can use for our own hobbies without one feeling guilty or like they didn’t get any money do stuff that month. We really like the prepaid cards because it allows us to save up money for big items that really don’t contribute to the household (such as tattoos or 3D printer). Please don’t suggest cash or opening accounts within our own bank.

We got an email stating that the prepaid card that we use will be closing down (cards.com) and we are hoping someone else will have a suggestion for a card that we can reload online. We are okay with a monthly fee. Again, this works the absolute best for us in our situation and even with the monthly fee, we have cut down greatly on random spending to were we now have month left over at the end of the month.

Also, please don’t suggest credit cards. I am not a credit card person. We have cards, that stay locked away. But again we just aren’t credit cards people.

Does anyone know of any prepaid debit cards in California I can buy that doesn't have monthly fees or fees after not using it for 12 months? How will they track that? I just want a prepaid card with $0 that I can use for trials, I'm never gonna use it to reload and actually buy things.

I have been doing this for years and was surprised not many do this. As long as you have a positive balance( I use one with 21¢ on it),your good to go. Great way to test the waters for apps and services before deciding to buy.

My 8th grader is going on a class trip to an amusement park that doesn’t take cash. He doesn’t have a debit card yet. What is a good, easy to use prepaid card he could take?

I run into trouble sometimes trying to use them. I couldn’t use one at Walmart recently because I had to know the exact amount on it. I just want a simple one where he won’t have problems trying to use it. He can remember a PIN number so that would be beneficial. Recommendations?

Hello, r/frugal, I really hope this isn't a silly repeat topic or something that gets automatically downvoted; if it is, please feel free to act accordingly.

I've always been good with money- I had a high yield savings account, checking account, and good credit. Until I moved across the country. I had some medical problems which drained my savings, then my health insurance ran out (I was under my parent's insurance, then I got older) and I found myself in debt because of one hospital visit.

My question is about pre-paid debit cards. I had a couple checking accounts before, but because of my (now resolved) medical issues, are now overdrawn. I've been paying them off little by little, as I have a full time job, but until they're fully paid, I can't get a bank account.

I made silly, reckless, uninformed choices in the past and I'm paying for them now. But I still need a way to pay for things online, whether it be water bills, creditors, or if I think I can afford a movie at Redbox. Whatever.

What, in your experience, is the best prepaid card a person like me can get? I don't mind paying monthly fees; I am well aware of fee schedules, and how predatory they may get.

Why YSK: A lot of banks and credit unions offer free prepaid debit cards that you can load only what you need. These cards can’t be overdrawn and are a smart way to protect yourself from shady subscriptions and potential fraud.

The Hack: Use these prepaid cards for subscription services like Fabletics, which offer tempting deals but can be notoriously hard to cancel. Load the card just enough to cover the first purchase, and leave the balance at $0 afterward. If they try to charge you again, it simply won’t go through.

Bonus Benefits: • Helps you budget since you can only spend what’s on the card. • Prevents overdraft fees — they don’t go negative. • Adds a layer of fraud protection — if your card number gets stolen, they can’t drain your main account. • Perfect for trials, streaming services, and online purchases where you’re unsure of the vendor.

Real-World Example: I use my prepaid card for Fabletics. I’ve heard too many stories about them making it hard to cancel, so I use it just for the first purchase and keep the balance at zero after. No surprise charges, no drama.

For privacy reasons, I try to avoid using my debit/credit card as much as possible. With many places going cashless, this is getting harder and harder.

Are there any cards that I can buy at a store with cash, that don't need me to register my name/address/etc, that I can use in any stores that take visa/mastercard? I would load them with a couple of hundred dollars and only use them when I can't pay with cash. Ideally I'd be able to recharge them, but it's not an issue if I'd need a new card when I have spent all the money on it, as I wouldn't be using it for recurring payments.

My internet searches are all flooded with pre-paid cards that you have to order online, or gift cards that can only be used in certain places.

Thanks!

I am currently using Greendot and really have no complaints, except that they sometimes take 2 weeks to process refunds. My card expires early next year, and I wanted to explore my options. Please share your experiences with cards other than greendot.

Also, greendot waives the monthly fee if you deposit more than $1000 a month, or make 30 purchases. I have managed to do this each month for the past 30 months or so. Something like this would be ideal. Thanks, reddit!

Those prepaid credit/debt cards (e.g. Visa gift cards), after they only have a bit of money left on them are great for using when you need to input payment info for a free trial. If you forget to cancel the subscription before the trial ends the charge will just bounce due to insufficient funds. Then you can just delete your account with the website if you don't want to continue your subscription or change your billing info if you do.

Some services do a small test charge that they later refund to make sure the card works, so you might need a dollar or two on the card for it to work. You'll probably need to register the card with the website on its back before you can use it in an online transaction. So that the name and billing address you give to the subscription service matches when they run the card to prove ownership.

Bonus pro-tip: Keep track of how much money you have on your gift cards, write it on card. You can usually have cashiers do a spit payment if you can tell them how much money is left on the card. So you can be sure to spend every last cent. If your card expires before you spend the full balance, you may be able to renew the card by contacting their customer support and they'll mail you a new one with the remaining balance.

I’ve tried many prepaid cards online from Mastercard, Visa, and Amex, but everytime they get denied from every merchant, putting my accounts on hold, and other issues. Is there any prepaid card issuers that work online for any websites like they used to?

Visa vanilla gift card constantly gets declined online My paypal debit card gets declined all the time too I need a new card to pay bills with & order stuff online I don't want to use a card linked through a bank account at this time So it has to be reloadable in other ways Also need to be able to get money fast from relatives and friends, electronically

My wife and I have agreed to a weekly allowance rather than use credit cards. Cash just does not work well for us. I'm thinking that we need a prepaid card that we can automatically reload every week. Do you have any recommendations for cards that will notify you of your balance, not allow you to overdraw, and hopefully have no or small fees. Or, is there another option that works for you?

I have one of those online virtual Visa prepaid cards, and it has 72 cents left on it. I've been looking everywhere for some way to use it up but it seems everywhere online there's a minimum purchase amount. And partial payments seem impossible unless I line up amounts perfectly. I've looked everywhere, Amazon, gaming microtransactions, even charities!

I know I can just eat the loss and let the card expire, but I don't want to let it go to waste, does anyone have any advice on how to use it up?

I need helping finding the best prepaid debit card for a family member that has some challenges. He currently does not have a valid ID and isn’t interested in getting one for various reasons. I offered to make him an AU on one of my credit cards but he isn’t interested. He would like a card that he can use online and for larger expenses.

I am fine with getting something in my name for him and he would give me the cash. He wants to start with $1,500 that I can fund either with cash or my bank accounts or credit cards. My problem is there are so many options when I search online.

He doesn’t care about paying nominal monthly fees and he would probably want to reload every few months but that would left to me, so I would like something I can just do online. He wouldn’t be using the card to get cash ever.

Does anyone have suggestions? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone! I’m currently looking for a reliable prepaid card for everyday use and would love to hear your recommendations. What prepaid cards have worked well for you, especially when it comes to budgeting or building healthy financial habits? Any pros or cons I should know about? I’d really appreciate your input