Imagine the world 30 years ago? Cash was king and to buy stuff you actually had to go to a store and speak to people. Times have changed considerably!

Technology and the internet have given us limitless ways to spend our money, buy our clothes and sell the things we don’t want.

This can have the unfortunate side effect of us over-spending, so take a look at these 7 signs that you need to curb your shopping before you take a quick look at some of the modern ways you can spend your money and how to protect yourself.

Contactless Payment

A debit card isn’t exactly modern technology but the way we use it today is quite cutting edge. The introduction of contactless technology has made payment more efficient and given major retailers the opportunity to make impressive reductions in the average queueing time. But how do you ensure your money is safe when all it takes to spend your cash is waving your card in front of a machine?

[Photo courtesy of jarmoluk/pixabay.com]

One tip is to place your card in a little foil envelope before placing it in your wallet. The foil means the card cannot be read unless you have it in your hand. There is also a limit on how much you can spend on contactless, which makes it less likely you will lose large sums of money, over the potential of pin fraud.

Buying from friends

Since certain auction sites became so massive, it’s enabled the general public sell goods they no longer require and nowadays, some people are making a business out of it. Kind of like an online car boot sale. Interesting developments have enabled much smaller businesses or even personal individuals to own a credit card reader which safeguards both the seller and the buyer and offers more peace of mind than parting with cash.

Just ensure that you have all the right details and where possible you know the seller. Either their address, bank details or business registration details.

Paypal

Paypal is a global giant which sort of goes hand in hand with Ebay and other auction sites. It works in two simple ways. You can either have money in your paypal account or you can link your paypal account to your debit card so it drawers straight from your bank account.

It’s particularly useful for quick online transactions as you don’t have to repeatedly input your card details online, which can be risky and open you up to fraud.

Paypal protects the buyer often more so than the seller. Your money is usually kept in the paypal account for an agreed amount of days before the seller can draw from it. These means if goods arrive not as described or, in fact, they don’t arrive at all. You have the ability to contact Paypal and freeze the funds whilst you sort out any disputes. It can be a little frustrating if you are the seller though. There have been cases where the buyer has damaged the item upon receiving it, or simply changed their mind, meaning you have to take the item back either broken or to resell it again. If you receive the item back damaged and cannot prove it was broken by the purchaser, you will lose the money.