SO: Does anyone still balance checking account?

[Anonymous]

I'm old enough to remember doing it twice a month with a calculator, my ledger, and a bank statement. Now that everything is online, I just log on and check my transaction history once a week to make sure there are no weird charges. I don't write down every debit card purchase. That would be insane.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but not every week. I reconcile bank and credit card on a spreadsheet that has all our finances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm old enough to remember doing it twice a month with a calculator, my ledger, and a bank statement. Now that everything is online, I just log on and check my transaction history once a week to make sure there are no weird charges. I don't write down every debit card purchase. That would be insane.

We do. It's not hard. We just keep receipts, but them in a bowl in the dining room, and once a week sit down and enter them in a spreadsheet. Takes about 10 minutes. We are young (used computers as kids) but spent the beginning of our marriage in a very tight financial situation, and this helped us stay aware and disciplined. It is now habit, and we catch quite a few bank/merchant errors so we find it worth doing.

[Anonymous]

Yes - husband and I both do this.

[Anonymous]

I didn't for a long time, but since getting divorced I keep a running spreadsheet of payments. I don't balance to the penny, and I'm no where near bouncing payments, but I use it to keep track of my spending and keep things in check now that my budget is more constrained. I keep a running tally with projected income/expenses for the year so I know how I'm doing at given time and whether I can cover bigger ticket fun items or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do in the sense that every week I log on and check debits and which checks have cleared. I don't however exactly match the balance to the statement like my parents did. I have auto draft on my checking account so I don't worry about going over.

I do the same.

[Anonymous]

I balance it once a month with the statements. I haven't found a mistake in forever, but it at least gives me some sense of what's going on. I am extremely fourtunate to have enough money that I'm never actually worried if checks/transactions may clear.

[Anonymous]

I'm old enough to remember doing it twice a month with a calculator, my ledger, and a bank statement. Now that everything is online, I just log on and check my transaction history once a week to make sure there are no weird charges. I don't write down every debit card purchase. That would be insane.

+1 I worry more about checking my credit card than my bank statement since that is where I have had problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do in the sense that every week I log on and check debits and which checks have cleared. I don't however exactly match the balance to the statement like my parents did. I have auto draft on my checking account so I don't worry about going over.

I do the same.

Me, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course. Not a checkbook but I log in daily to make sure correct amounts and charges are posting and to check the balance.

+1

[Anonymous]

Hell no. I always keep 5k in there. I only write 1-2 checks a week and I do look to see when they clear. I also make sure that the checks I deposit stay in my account too.

[Anonymous]

No. I write 5 checks a month. I look at online activity once a week to make sure everything I have scheduled is debiting appropriately and that our paychecks continue being deposited. I watch our credit card transactions similarly.

I've never found an error or a fee in 18 years of having my own checking account.

[Anonymous]

My husband keeps a spreadsheet. I balance our business checking account. We like to know where our money is going and banks have been known to make deposit errors, not in our favor. Now I'm paranoid and keep all deposit receipts, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course. Not a checkbook but I log in daily to make sure correct amounts and charges are posting and to check the balance.

Me, too. It is stupid not to.

[Anonymous]

My husband used to many years ago. We don't now. We keep at least $20,000 in it as our base so its never an issue.