10:59 here. PP brings up a good point. We also have two checking accounts (with the same bank, so I can check them simultaneously). My paycheck goes into one, and my husband's goes into another. One is for bills, and the other is for day-to-day living expenses. That way we know that we are never messing with our bill money when we are spending, and I think of only the discretionary fund amounts when spending.

We have two checking accounts. One is the "pay all the bills account" - paycheck is auto deposit and bills are auto debit. It is set up so that this month's bills are paid for with last month's pay - so on 1st of the month there is enough to pay every single bill. I rarely check this one, usually just doing a quick scan of DH's cell bill and the cable bill to make sure they are reasonable. Every now and then the $63 or so that we are over, adds up and I transfer it out.
The other account receives our variable income (commissions) and is used for all day to day expenses - groceries, gas, clothing, gifts, other variable expenses. Our check cards are linked to this account. I check this one DAILY and have found fraudulent charges that were immediately resolved.
I receive an email every morning with the current account balances (BoA). So that generally lets me know if/when I need to do a closer check.

I check at least twice a month when I pay bills after my paychecks. Other than that, I use a credit card for everything. I'd check more if I was using the debit card.

Anonymous wrote:I'm doing what my mom taught me many years ago, writing down each payment or check (now almost all online bill payments) in the check register so I know the balance and what it will be up to two weeks ahead since I pay bills twice a month. I just thought everyone did that. Am I putting too much effort into this?

Nope, that's how I do it too. Spend 30 minutes each Saturday morning putting in the debits scheduled for the upcoming week.

Anonymous wrote:I'm doing what my mom taught me many years ago, writing down each payment or check (now almost all online bill payments) in the check register so I know the balance and what it will be up to two weeks ahead since I pay bills twice a month. I just thought everyone did that. Am I putting too much effort into this?

My DH and I do this, too, PP. It's the way we can keep track of both our spending and make sure we are both on the same page, and we both know what our balance is. Other than that, he pretty much doesn't pay attn. to things; I am the day-to-day money manager. Depending upon my mood, I'll check on-line every few days, noting which checks have cleared, checking to make sure there's nothing fraudulent or weird going on, etc. Then every 2 weeks, when we get paid, I pay bills and balance everything, and send him the updated balance and any new info. Works for us. I like staying on top of things and just knowing where we are. It's not b/c the balance is low or anything like that. I'm just that type of person, I suppose.

Anonymous wrote:I'm doing what my mom taught me many years ago, writing down each payment or check (now almost all online bill payments) in the check register so I know the balance and what it will be up to two weeks ahead since I pay bills twice a month. I just thought everyone did that. Am I putting too much effort into this?

Way too much, in my opinion. I am an everyday checker (30-60 seconds a day), and the payments pop up within a day or two, so there is no need to write them down yourself if you make sure they are there. It does make sense to keep track of the checks because you don't know when they will be cashed, but we now have just one or two of these a month, so I can just keep a tally in my head (along with a cushion for emergencies).

I'm doing what my mom taught me many years ago, writing down each payment or check (now almost all online bill payments) in the check register so I know the balance and what it will be up to two weeks ahead since I pay bills twice a month. I just thought everyone did that. Am I putting too much effort into this?

when I was single (and things were less computer-oriented), I never checked or balanced my checkbook, I just had an idea of what was generally in there, within $100 or so. It was because I was afraid to do the math to realize how poor I was, not that I was going into debt, but because I didn't want to be scared.

Now DH checks it almost daily. We only have 1 checking account and 1 main credit card so he is more on top of it. The funny thing is I was never in debt and not bad with money, but I prefer to not know all the details. I realized I had to change my ways when I was sharing money with someone when I got married.

I am not bad with numbers, in fact I have an MBA and make most of our investment decisions. I just hate doing the minutiae of the checking account.

DH checks it daily. If you have more than one person debiting from an account, I can't imagine not checking.

Anonymous wrote:A couple of years ago we checked our balance and found over $600 in charges in Eastern europe and Brazil. Have no idea how they got our info.

For those of you who check often, do you ever find bank errors? (As opposed to fraudulent charges).

We bank with Wells Fargo and I can't recall a time when they have ever made an error.

I check it almost everyday, especially after payday so I can figure out bills and payments.

My bank has an app for my phone which is awesome. I can even deposit checks with it.

A couple of years ago we checked our balance and found over $600 in charges in Eastern europe and Brazil. Have no idea how they got our info.

For those of you who check often, do you ever find bank errors? (As opposed to fraudulent charges).

I check the bank balances almost daily and my credit card almost daily. I caught fraudulent charges within a day and they were taken off the balance and we were given new cards the very next day.

Anonymous wrote:Daily. And I balance my checkbook, too.

Ditto

I check all daily (3 of them).

Reason being...my mom had someone try and wire $15k from her bank account a few months ago from Canada. Her email was hacked and they had all her information including a copy of her signature.

Also, my bank charges incorrect fees almost each quarter. $15 here and $15 there for reasons like "oh it was a glitch". How do you know you arent being cheated out of money or fraudulent charges without checking?

I live on the conservative side with our money.