While I fully grasp that Dave Ramsey preaches from the pulpit that credit cards are *Capital-E* Evil, you really are WAY better off using a credit card and paying it in full all the time, every time, without exception, ever than using a debit card.

Credit cards offer pretty significant consumer protections by law. Debit cards just don't have the same protections unless your bank just chooses to be benevolent. Venmo and Zelle have even less.

If there is any potential for anything to ever go wrong with a financial transaction, or the vendor getting hacked/scammed/skimmed and your data stolen, or any possibility of disputing whether goods and services were delivered as agreed, use a credit card. Which is a long way of saying there is no good time to use a debit card other than maybe to withdraw cash from an ATM.

I get that from a financial management perspective, it is better to only spend money you have instead of borrowing the money and paying it back like with a credit card. But if you have any discipline at all with money, the loss risk that comes with a debit card just isn't worth it.