This will probably seem obvious to most of you and may even have been said
before, but anyway this thought helped me understand the debit/credit
labels, so I'll put it out in the (unlikely) case there is someone as slow
as I am.
If you think of all the institutions you have accounts with as your
customers, the debit/credit labels make sense. Two quick examples:
1. You're a bartender who allows his patrons to buy drinks on a tab.
When you give a customer (Joe) somethink of value (a drink) this is a
debit to his account (Joe's tab).
When he gives you something of value (payment) this is a credit to his
account.
2. You're an ordinary person with a bank account.
When you give a customer (bank) somethink of value (your pay
check) this is a debit to his (the bank's) account (checking).
When he (the bank) gives you something of value (cash from ATM) this is
a credit to his (the bank's) account (checking).
Sorry for the waste of bandwidth, but I couldn't help myself.
Best regards,
Scott Wilburn
