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One simplistic definition of 'debit' and 'credit' that my accounting teacher taught me:

'debit' means 'left', 'credit' means 'right'

Then, you just make sure that SUM('left') == SUM('right').

That's the easiest way to deal with it. If you can remember that (which is not hard), and where one type of account falls on the left/right spectrum (which isn't hard either, pick whichever you like), then you can figure out the rest.

Until you're used to these two words and they speak for themselves, assigning any other meaning tends to lead to more confusion than anything else.

I dropped accounting in my 10th grade largely because I made the mistake of trying to get into the "meaning" of debit and credit. Mnay wasted hours there.

Finally in grad school I got it - left and right - and accounting has never been a problem again.

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