Toys R Us had a problem back in 2009, reports the Consumerist, of accidentally double charging some customers for their purchases. However, the store credited everyone who experienced a double charge for the erroneous charge.

Toys R Us accepts Visa and MasterCard debit, prepaid, and credit cards. They do NOT accept personal checks, COD or layaway plans.

Toys-R-Us Debit Cards is a post from: MiCash Prepaid MasterCard

#1 Avoid the specials

Have you noticed that when wait staff tell you the day’s specials they fail to mention their price. That’s because specials are usually priced higher than the menu items. Often, they are 50% higher. The wait staff is encouraged to “push the specials.” They are meant to entice you with special ingredients–”reduction of this” and “compote of that.” The wait staff is counting on the natural response of not wanting to sound like a cheapskate by asking about the price.

#2 Ask for extra bread

Most restaurants try to fill you up with baskets of bread before your first course arrives. Don’t be shy about asking the wait staff to bring you more bread so you can eat copious quantities of it while eating your soup or salad or main entree. Sometime restaurants can be stingy about the complimentary bread.

#3 Go easy on the appetizers

Some waiters trick you into ordering too many appetizers by prompting you to order more than one appetizer. You might order one appetizer, and they raise their eyebrow and ask, “Is that all?” Or they say that another appetizer is also good, implying that each person at the table should eat their own appetizer. Some restaurants also offer appetizer samplers which combine two or more appetizers on the menu, but these samplers inevitably are priced higher, sometimes three times higher than any one appetizer. Unless you are making a meal of just appetizers, save room for the main course.

#4 Or make it a meal of appetizers

It’s perfectly acceptable to just order from the soup, salad, and appetizer sections of a menu and not get a main entree. Don’t let the wait staff make you feel bad. It’s your meal, not theirs. Spanish tapas restaurants, which give you a bunch of small appetizer plates by design, are paving the way for this trend.

#5 Split plates with a friend

Again, don’t be shy about asking to split a salad before the main course, or to split a main course. Just tell the waiter with a straight face, “we’re grazing.”

#6 Skip dessert

Do you really need that $7 piece of pie or scoop of ice cream on a brownie? Hold off on desert until you get home, where if you want to splurge, split a pint of Ben and Jerry’s with your date.

#7 Drink water

Drinks are pure profit for restaurants. Often, you can be perfectly content having a fine meal, and washing everything down with ice water, instead of iced tea. Ordering a bottle of wine or beer can increase your restaurant tab by 30%-40%, so don’t do it unless you want to. Waiters hate it when everyone around a table orders water instead of iced tea, cokes, or beer, because they just see a lower bill and a smaller tip.

#8 Order the cheapest bottle of wine

OK, let’s say you see five bottles of white wine starting at $18 and ending up at $60. Somewhere in the mix is a $27 bottle of wine which is the most popular seller, because the restaurant knows that you won’t splurge on the $60 bottle unless you are trying to impress someone, and you won’t order the $18 for not wanting to look cheap. Don’t worry about it. Get the $18, because it’s really a $9 if you were to get it at the grocery store.

#9 Eat at a restaurant that lets you bring your own bottle of wine

Often, new ethnic restaurants that don’t have a liquor license, like that cute Vietnamese place off the main drag, encourage you to bring your own bottle of wine. Find those places and frequent those places.

#10 Wash dishes

As crazy as this sounds, sometimes you can set up a deal ahead of time with a restaurant owner to trade a meal for a service. If you literally don’t want to wash dishes, and you have a skill like marketing, you might offer to design a flyer for the restaurant or set up a Facebook page in exchange for a meal.

#11 Complain about anything that was wrong with the meal.

Meal too salty? Let the waiter know and odds are the chef will want to make you happy so you will come back. Sometimes you can get a complimentary dessert out of it.

#12 Ask for a take out box for any leftovers

If you can’t finish your meal, sometimes you can eat the leftovers for lunch, saving money by not buying that lunch.

So there are 12 money saving tips to consider the next time you eat out. Know that MiCash MaserCard is accepted at any restaurant that accepts MasterCard debit cards. Just look for the MasterCard logo.

If you really want to save money, try to recreate your favorite restaurant meal at home.

Save Money When Eating Out is a post from: MiCash Prepaid MasterCard

“During the interview, she identified the people she skimmed were the ones that ran her around, made her work real hard,” a detective tells WTSP-TV about the waitress. “Maybe she’s scared of a hard day’s work.”

The waitress got the skimmer from a cousin. She would swipe the cards, give the purloined information to the cousin and his ex-girlfriend who would use the bogus cards to buy thousands of dollars worth of goods at Radio Shack and Walmart. These purchases were then sold for cash.

The waitress, in Port Richey, FL, got caught when a customer was hit with thousands of dollars of charges to her card, and remembered the waitress’ suspicious behavior.

What You Can Do To Protect Yourself

One thing you can do is not let a wait person take your card out of site. Many restaurants swipe your card in view, at a cash register. Ask if you can accompany them to their station where they swipe the card.

If you choose to let your card out of your site, then be sure to go on line and check your transactions for any that seem suspicious. With the MiCash Mastercard you can check your transaction history and balance any time you want by going to MiCash.net and using the cardholder log in link.

Keep your restaurant receipt and compare the total to your transaction history. Some unscrupulous wait persons secretly tack on money to your tip. It happened to me. I split an $80 dollar restaurant tab with a friend. We each expected a $40 charge on our card plus a $6 tip. The waiter changed the $6 tip to a $20 tip from each of us. When I complained to the manager he corrected my bill and fired the waiter.

In Europe, cards with magnetic strips are rare. Instead, your information is encrypted on a computer chip inside the card. Because the card readers for these chips represent a new investment across the retail supply chain, they have been slow to catch on in the United States, but eventually they will.

Beware of Credit Card Skimmers is a post from: MiCash Prepaid MasterCard

Why are rates so high now? No doubt the recession has played a part. With fewer people increasing their debt load, the credit card companies are looking to maintain their profits. Given the fact that the prime interest rate is at nearly 0%, you would think interest rates would have also tracked low. But they haven’t. Summertime is vacation time for many families, a time when people use plastic to reserve cars, pay for plane tickets, or check into hotels.

According to National Foundation for Credit Counseling spokeswoman Gail Cunningham, banks and issuers may be looking to bolster profits from customers’ vacation spending.

“Vacations are definitely a large-ticket expense, and if you have a rewards card, you’re inclined to charge every purchase in order to earn points or miles,” Cunningham said.  “People are well-intentioned and don’t intend to overspend, but so often get caught up in the moment and do exactly the opposite of what they’d planned.”

So what to do? If you already have a credit card at a lower rate, your best bet is to never miss a payment, to keep your rate where it is. However, the credit card companies still have the right to raise your rate at any time, and there is little you can do about it. Credit card reform laws have made it difficult for banks to jack rates up exorbitantly, yet with advanced notice they can still raise your rates. If you are carrying a lot of debt on your card you have two choices to avoid paying the higher interest rate: close your account to freeze the balance (which you still have to pay off), or pay off your balance before the higher rate kicks in a few weeks later.

Prepaid Cards to the Rescue

MiCash MasterCard holders of course have the option of “prepaying” for a family vacation on their prepaid card. This is a great way to avoid going into debt, avoid paying high interest rates, and tracking vacation spending. You simply put a big enough balance on your card to cover all of your vacation expenses, plus the temporary hold when paying at the pump (typically $75). Hotels may place a bigger hold of the equivalent of 1 or 2 nights stay on your card. The way to avoid a hotel hold is to hold the room with a credit card but pay for the stay with a prepaid card.

Of course, restaurants, theme parks, and many other destination places accept prepaid cards just as they accept credit cards. Just look for the MasterCard and Visa logo.

Once your vacation is over, with MiCash, you can simply log into your online card account to see all of your purchases listed by amount, transaction date, and name of the merchant. It’s a great way to evaluate whether you stayed in budget for different budget categories like food, entertainment, lodgings, and travel.

Watch Out for Low Introductory Rates

It’s common for credit card companies to offer 0% interest on purchases for new cards for a limited time period, say six months or a year. Some card offers have extended this time period out almost two years during this recession. But don’t take the bait. In the past, it was possible to shift balances away from one card to a new card to avoid the sudden surge in interest at the end of the introductory time period. However, credit card companies now charge transfer fees when trying to move a balance from one card to another.  Many of these temporary low rate cards are actually high rate cards in disguise. The unsuspecting consumer sees the 0% introductory APR rate and fails to recognize the 19% actual APR which kicks in after the introductory time period. Some cards also retroactively charge the full APR over the time period you carried a balance, if the balance is not paid off in full before the regular rate kicks in. This is especially common with store cards from department stores, hardware stores, and so on.

Credit Card APR Rates Reaching Record Highs is a post from: MiCash Prepaid MasterCard

Can I use a Prepaid Card for online gambling

The short answer is no. It’s illegal. Why? Lawmakers argue that online gambling is more convenient than having to travel to an actual casino or horse track, and so the gambler can more quickly exhaust his or her funds and possibly spend more than they should. Using other methods to pay, such as Paypal, wire transfers, or writing in a personal check to maintain an account is also illegal under U.S. law. If you attempt to get around the law by setting up an account with any known gambling site, you risk getting all of the funds you might have in the account seized by the government.

April 2011 Crackdown

The U.S. Justice Department without warning shut down a handful of poker sites, including the popular site Full Tilt Poker. The DOJ accused 11 people of bank fraud and of illegally operating gambling websites. The government also seized accounts run by the sites that held money stored by players. The government is seeking to arrest executives from these poker and gambling sites and also filed a civil suit seeking to recover $3 billion from the companies.

Gaming sites that include gambling games such as blackjack and poker are fine, because no real money is transfered. It’s just a game simulating an actual gambling game. However, the risks of getting addicted to these games and spending too much time playing them is always a possibility.

Government Cracks Down on Online Gambling is a post from: MiCash Prepaid MasterCard

Dollar Tree is on the Prepaid Card bandwagon, as far as using a debit card to make purchases at these popular stores. It’s not clear, however, based on our research, if you can buy a prepaid card there.  If you want to find the nearest Dollar Tree use this handy store locator.

Dollar Tree is a national company with thousands of stores conveniently located in shopping centers and malls in all 48 contiguous states. It competes directly with Dollar General and other Dollar stores. Of course its claim to fame is offering many items for just $1.

Dollar Tree Prepaid Mastercard

If the store offers prepaid cards they will be “free” like the MiCash Card, but will have an activation fee upon use. You can add money to prepaid cards with Greendot Moneypaks, Western Union, or through direct deposit from your payroll check.

Does Dollar Tree Offer Prepaid Debit Cards? is a post from: MiCash Prepaid MasterCard

Popular in Japan, this form of payment will certainly become more popular in the United States in the coming years, give yet another function to smart phones. The numbers are encrypted on the phone, and can be tied to other security methods, like having to use a password. In addition, special security measures will be hard coded on the chip to prevent thieves from accessing the data transfer through wireless theft devices.

Consumers like digital wallets in places like Japan, because it is a convenient way to pay for things.

According to Dow Jones:

Google said its wallet service is free to use, an

d it will make money off the Offers side, which acts like Groupon and takes a cut from consumers who redeem the coupon. The company also plans to use location and transaction data to provide targeted offers to customers who opt in for the program.

Google will also act as merchant of record for the promotions it will offer through the phone, taking a cut of that transaction, according to Stephanie Tilenius, vice

president of commerce for the company.

Google has partnered with MasterCard to roll out this service. For MasterCard this is a defensive move, because alternatives are rising up such as Paypal, to bypass the use of the credit and debit card networks. Your cell phone carrier wants to get in on the act, because it is a lucrative revenue stream. As much as 2 percent of every transaction goes towards the company providing the digital network to transfer money from one bank account (such as yours) to the other (such as the retailers). Sprint, ATT, Verizon, all could conceivably control the transaction and capture this revenue.

Era of Using Your Cell Phone to Make Payments Edging Closer is a post from: MiCash Prepaid MasterCard

Tax Time Maximum Balance on Prepaid Debit Cards

This question is sometimes asked, especially at tax time, when tax refunds may be placed on a prepaid debit card (sometimes mistakenly called a prepaid credit card). Typically, a maximum might be $5,000. Some cards have maximums as high as $10,000. Now, that’s a lot of money in anyone’s book. However, if your refund is even higher, you can call MiCash’s customer support line to find out if you can get an even higher balance accepted on your card. Of course, as when you apply for a card (there is no charge to apply, only activate), you will have to have your identity checked, because the Patriot Act and other financial rules require banks to confirm your identity.

What happens when you try to put more money on your card than the limit allows? Simply put, you will be told about the credit limit, either when you check your account online or when you call.

Minimum Balance Too

The other thing people worry about is a minimum balance. In other words, do you have to keep a minimum balance. The answer with the MiCash prepaid MasterCard is no. If you run out of funds on the card, the card can’t be used until you put more money on it. So, there is no danger of becoming overdrawn or racking up overdraft fees. What can happen with any prepaid card, is that if you have a zero balance and accrue a monthly fee, that month can be deducted from the next deposit you make on the card (because you owe the fee), so if you don’t want the card anymore, it is best to cancel it outright. Of course, you can also just never use it again, and you aren’t liable for any accrued fees. It’s pretty simple.

Maximum balance prepaid cards is a post from: MiCash Prepaid MasterCard

Here’s something to consider if you want to pay at the pump with a prepaid card. Make sure you have at least $75 on the card, because even if you pump only $20 in gas, the gas station will put a temporary “hold” on your card up which might be $50 or it might be $75 an this hold could last a few hours or a few days. Why does this happen? Because the pump/station doesn’t know how much you have in your account, so they want to make sure they can cover the amount of gas you buy in advance. They wouldn’t want somebody to put $50 of gas in their car or truck and drive off and then discover that the prepaid card only had $10 on it.

You can avoid this problem by not keying in your PIN number at the pump but telling the pump to select “credit card.” Even though your card isn’t one (if it is a prepaid card) the transaction will run on the credit card network and you can avoid the hold.

Prepaid Cards at Speedway or Pilot Gas Stations is a post from: MiCash Prepaid MasterCard

Wawa is a chain of popular convenience stores on the East Coast. Headquartered in Wawa, Pennsylvania, the company has been around for many years. Most locations are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The company employs 16,000 associates throughout portions of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

But do they carry prepaid debit cards? Yes. They also carry Verizon and Sprint phone cards and an assortment of gift cards. You can find them on the prepaid card rack. You can’t miss it.

Here is the store locator.

Prepaid Cards at Wawa Stores is a post from: MiCash Prepaid MasterCard