Balancing a checkbook?

[OutHouse]

I can't comprehend how people can't keep track in their heads. If it's a few cents off, I don't give a shit. Balancing a checkbook wastes 1,000* more money than I might be losing/gaining because I didn't account for the exceptional checking account interest somewhere.

that is a financial mistake. i have seen way too many people get in financial trouble by trying to keep a running balance in their head... it never ends well. you may be able to to it, good for you.

 

[WelshBloke]

I look through my bank statement and sanity check everything. That's it.

This.

I've got a rough idea of whats going in there and a rough idea of whats going out. I keep a buffer of a grand or so in the bills account so theres no nasty shocks and just get on with the more important things in my life.

 

[OutHouse]

I usually avoid writing cheques if I can but when I do I keep a mental note to ensure I keep that extra balance in the bank. My new bank has a nice overdraft system though, it takes money from the credit line if I overdraft, so at least I don't have to worry about crazy overdraft fees. Typically I check my balance every week or so and that's about it. If I do have money on the credit line or credit card and my balance is high enough I'll make a payment. No matter what I'll make a few small payments throughout the month anyway as I tend to forget when's the last time I did it, so I want to make sure I don't go overdue.

In a perfect situation I try to treat $1000 like 0. So anything over 1k I will put into savings or towards paying off something. Normally I try not to hold any balance on credit card or credit line but latetly I have not been keeping those empty since I've been working on my basement. It's crazy how the little things can add up so fast. Pipes, wiring, extra lumber etc.

fail

 

[alkemyst]

I can't comprehend how people can't keep track in their heads. If it's a few cents off, I don't give a shit. Balancing a checkbook wastes 1,000* more money than I might be losing/gaining because I didn't account for the exceptional checking account interest somewhere.

Some of us may be on the road for two weeks straight and not keeping track of it all real-time. Some of us may have joint accounts with multiple users.

I usually balance my checkbook about once every month or so. I will usually have missed about $50-100 a week here and there.

 

[rga]

Do people really sit down and do this dinosaur act anymore?

That was the first question that struck my mind when I read the title of this thread.

 

[SparkyJJO]

I don't have a set schedule but I make sure my records and my online statements add up every so often, usually once every couple weeks. This goes for all accounts - checking, savings, credit card, etc. If I'm a penny off I hunt it down. I keep an Excel spreadsheet and have columns set up for each account for each type of item that money (or that bill) is assigned to, like gas, food, housing, car related stuff like repairs or insurance, etc, and all those columns add up to the total in the account at all times. I don't really have a set budget per se aside from the stuff that never changes each month like rent or student loan payments, but I still allocate money to each item and have a rough idea what the average is for each per month. Maybe not the best system, but so far it seems to work.

I do maintain a fair bit more in my checking than is necessary for each month (typically 2-3 average month's worth), the rest is in a savings account. Paychecks go into checking, and a couple hundred automatically goes into savings every month. The checking account gradually grows larger even after the auto transfer to savings, so eventually I'll make an extra transfer to the savings account once, maybe twice a year.

That money in savings will go towards a down payment on a house, or a replacement vehicle when that time comes, a surprise medical expense (unlikely to happen at this juncture as I'm young and healthy, but it could), etc. I should probably open an HSA specifically for the medical side but haven't gotten around to that yet.

 

[Red Squirrel]

fail

?

So I don't make 100k like everybody here, and had to dip into some credit.

I'm such a failure for using credit for short term.

 

[alkemyst]

?

So I don't make 100k like everybody here, and had to dip into some credit.

I'm such a failure for using credit for short term.

I think many have truly exaggerated things here. Esp. not sharing inheritance or other wind falls and try to have us believe on a $30-40k salary they acquired great wealth.

I bet if the facts were presented we'd find them in a 1978 double wide trailer with a couple cars of the same generation.

 

[nageov3t]

no need for me to... my checking account only has 4 withdraws in an average month.

rent
credit card bill
and 2 cash withdraws for walking around/food money (lunch trucks that don't accept credit cards, splitting a check with friends, etc)

easy enough to keep a running balance in my head. at the end of the month, after my last paycheck, I sit down in front of the computer and pay rent, pay off my credit card, and transfer any excess money into savings (above the $1,500 minimum I like to keep in my checking account)

 

[JBT]

Wife stopped doing it a few years ago. I still go through and take a look from time to time to make sure there are no weird charges though.

 

[Spungo]

I just check to make sure my statement doesn't have any weird charges on it.

I don't understand why someone would need to keep track of their spending. If your account is always on the brink of overdraft, you seriously need to get a new job and cut spending. All it would take is a single medical bill and you'd be homeless when you're that close to bankruptcy at all times.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

We do the checkbook still. Gotta make sure it matches the monthly statement. We don't pay bills online. I don't 100% trust the online checking to show us a real-time balance, because while we do the checkbook it rarely matches dead on with the online stuff.

I keep all receipts and match them all that appear on Mint. I don't balance or even use a checkbook. I actually had to get a checkbook the other day to get a Target Debit card for 5% off all transactions there.

I actually never balanced a checkbook in my life :hmm:

 

[Jeff7]

I look through my bank statement and sanity check everything. That's it.

This.
Odd transactions stand out pretty prominently, in the very rare occasions that they appear. Most of those that do attract attention are just third-party billings for purchased items or paid bills.



I only write about one check a month, for rent.
They were written more frequently back during college, when there might have been an extra one or two per semester, for tuition charges. Those were usually a few thousand dollars, so they weren't very easy to lose track of.


I've got Quicken to handle the budget tracking.

 

[LTC8K6]

I keep track in my head. I keep enough in the checking account so that there's plenty of leeway. I don't even need to think about the balance unless I write a pretty large check.

I still write checks and mail them off for most bills. I like the ritual and satisfaction that I have paid the bill.

I go online and look over the accounts to make sure nothing odd goes on, and I have a couple auto pays and a couple auto transfers.

I haven't even come in the neighborhood of bouncing a check in 25 years.