Do you balance your checkbook?

[kamilla626]

Are you always aware of exactly how much money you have? Do you use the debit card for weeks before you remember to write your expenses in the checkbook? Or do you panic if you can't account for $3?

[bendmom]

We don't use the checkbook, only for bills that can't be taken out of our account. Dh does balance the checking account and my business account online everyday, which is just easier to keep track of since it is recorded allready right after the purchase is made.

[Persephone]

Well, I voted that I balance it every month and panic if I'm $5 off, but it's really my dh who's like that. He's better at math type stuff, so he gets to do the checkbook. I know what's in the budget for the month though, and I'm usually the one saying, "where is this money coming from?" if we want to buy something.

[boingo82]

I write down all expenses, but I don't balance near as often as I should...maybe every 3 months or so.

[DesireeH]

I do everything online and I never write down in the checkbook. LOL

[sohj]

You didn't have my option, so I checked "Balanced monthly".

I always keep a running total in the check book, I save all my receipts, when I get home, they go into one of the pockets (depending on the type of expense) in the big expanding pocket folder on the desk. I make notes of what I spend that I don't have a receipt for in my daily diary.

Husband does this, too.

I have to do this for work expenses as I get reimbursed (and that I have to keep separate by job number). DH has to do this for his work for the taxes. The food receipts are to help us budget. We buy a lot of stuff on a yearly basis, so the receipts plus our experience about how long it takes us to use something up determines next year's food buying and menu planning. I buy lamb, beef, and chicken and maple syrup directly from farmers and put it in the freezer. We have joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture, http://www.sixthstreetcenter.org/csa_index.html ) and that'll take us through a few months.

I don't freak out over $5, but I keep track. When I buy something on-line, I print out the last "Checkout" page with the total and shipping, etc. and put it into the appropriate pocket in the file.

I double check all my receipts against my credit card invoice and pay it IN FULL every month. I've caught a few mistaken charges that way.

I always check the bank statement (well, lately, it has been more the DH, as he's had more time) and we have occasionally found errors.

I miss the days of actually getting my cancelled checks back. :( It was easier to check for errors that way...I could tell exactly what the error was by looking at how the value got keyed in (it was printed on the bottom of the check next to my bank account number and routing number).

I don't do ANY automatic withdrawls. I like to get a bill and pay it. I don't want standing orders for access to my money available to any company.

[Red Sonja]

I balance ours 2-3 times a week. And yes, I'm very uptight about the amounts, they have to match perfectly! :innocent I just enter all our receipts into Quicken and reconcile that with my downloaded bank statement every few days. It has been hard for us to adjust to living on one income and I've found that we do much better if I set a budget and keep track of where we spend our money. It helps cut down on the number of random purchases (DH's $10 purchases of junk food at the corner store) and makes us stop and think if we really *need* that item or if it is just a want.

[UnschoolnMa]

We don't have a checking account. We just use cash or money orders right now :)

[fluffernutter]

I don't really use checks much at all, unless it's from our joint account and even that's very rare. I use my debit card or cash 98% of the time. The only time I use a check is if, for some reason, I don't have my debit card with me. So, I don't balance at all. I use online banking. If I need to know how much money I have, I check it.

[lumi]

Nope, never .. I write down every check, but I don't keep track of individual debit transactions. What I do most of the time is check my balance at an ATM once a week or so, then when I do the bills (usually twice a month) I put in the best guesstimate and subtract from there. I always guess low and I never overdraw.

My husband just keeps track of his bank account online and rarely even uses his checkbook.

[polka123]

yes

[Kerlowyn]

I chose: 'I rely on my online banking to remind me of what I've spent' but, it is DH that does all the money management. He checks the online banking daily, and we pay all the bills online.

[Arduinna]

I rarely use my check book. Last thing I'd written in it was 3 months ago.

[eksmom]

I never ever do anything with the paper statements, but I keep everything balanced to the penny by writing down purchases and checking online almost every day. I can't stand not knowing exactly how much we have.

[knittingmomma]

While we write out few checks, we do use our debit cards a lot - we keep track of each transaction just like checks....

We also always round up to higher dollar amount - so if gas was $38.20 - I write in $39.00...

I haven't balanced the checking account in years...

But seem to have a good check on the balance - when I call to check the automated service - it seems to be pretty good within ours - we are up to about $400 more than it says with the rounding up way...

WArm wishes,
Tonya

[HeatherE]

Our money program does it for us. :thumb

[mightymoo]

We only use our checking account to pay bills, I hardly ever pay for anything with a check and we don't use a debit card - everything goes onto a credit card which is then paid off from the checking account. So I don't worry too much about the amount in there (so long as the cash flow in is staying ahead of the flow out!).

We don't carry a CC balance, but you get points and cash back from them, so its worth it to us to run everything we can through the credit card.

I do track expenses and spending seperately though - so I know how we are doing related to our budget.

[PadmaMorgana]

We completly rely on online banking. Well, DH does...he is the financial guru :D

He checks our accounts online (chequing, line of credit and credit card) every few days to track purchases and pays the bills online (even our city utilities.....who knew? :LOL ). We write very few cheques, we are on our second book of cheques after 5 years. Everything is paid online or debit/credit card.

[fayking]

I never write anything down, I dont save receipts and I never balance my cheque book. i don't really write too many cheques anyway, mainly just use my debit card or cash. I normally keep a pretty good running total in my head though and probably check online banking at least once a week.

[HappyTimeKids]

Yup, I balance it. And if it's off, I HAVE to figure out why. Slightly neurotic.

[mamangazelle]

nope. but I should. :bag:

[jlazx2]

I used to be so anal, but now with 3 kids & workign it is always behind by at least 3 months. i do check the receipts & checks with the statement because mistakes do happen. But I guess with the new checking laws you only have a certain amoutn of time to report errors now, I think it is only 60 days. I will have to find out.

[Ruthla]

I only write down checks that I've written, because those often take a while between the time I write them and the time they clear.

I voted for "I rely on the online banking" but in reality I use the telephone banking system to check my account activity- they no longer offer the free online banking, and the phone system is free.

[Amys1st]

I checked online balence.

We update quicken daily with this info and I also double check it next to the journal in the check book.

But like pp's we also do everything thru our cc's and pay off each and every month. We pay 5 bills online, have some paid by the cc, and write checks for the remainders. Also we donate one check monthly to our church instead of weekly. Its easier to reconcl 12 than 52 checks. So doing all this makes it much easier to balence.

[MoMommy]

I voted for the balance monthly, and worry about $5 off. I don't actually do that, but my dh does. I never have any clue how much is in the account. I just log my debit card prchasse into the check book and save the receipts for him.

[Kleine Hexe]

I actually balance my checkbook every other day. If it's off by even a few cents it drives me nuts. I have to sit there and study it until I find out what is wrong.

[5plus1angel]

I do balance my checkbook down to the last penny!
Gotta know how much money I have in there. ;)

[umbrella]

I balance my checkbook every 2 weeks, and worry if it's off by pennies. What's not logged right? Did I add/subtract incorrectly? Is the bank making an error? Why would it be off at all?

BUT, that said, I also rely on online banking to help me keep track of what's been spent. With two adults spending, I can't count on having every receipt every day, so I also check online regularly to make sure there wasn't anything that I missed.

[Mammo2Sammo]

If we follow our budget perfectly, we know we will have enough money. I never got the hang of balancing a check book, but I do "balance" my budget sheet on my fridge (subtracting what I buy throughout the month). This system works very well for me. I know that we always have enough money. Unless of course we need to buy something that doesn't match up with out budget sheet.

[yitlan]

I actually balance my checkbook every other day. If it's off by even a few cents it drives me nuts. I have to sit there and study it until I find out what is wrong.

Oh good! I thought I'd be the only obsessive one! I do this, too, cross checking with Quicken and online banking. If I am off, I can't go to sleep! About twice a year, I am off and can't figure out why and make an adjustment in the checkbook. I want to know EXACTLY how much I have to work with!

I know...I'm anal. I don't fight it.

[Greensleeves]

Our money program does it for us. :thumb

HeatherE,
I don't know if you'll see my post, but I would love to know which money program you use! Did you buy it online or somewhere else? This sounds ideal for us. :D

[Maggi315]

We use Quicken and balance it using that and online banking every month and it is a lifesaver for us! We use duplicate checks so we can keep track. What messes us up sometimes is I forgot my ATM spending, so I try to force myself to write checks at supermarket, etc. We tried just using cash, but we can't keep track that way. Now we take out a certain amount each week and write checks for the rest.

this comes in handy for us also because both my husband and I work from home and have some rental units. So our taxes at the end of the year can be a nightmare. With Quicken everything goes right into the correct category, I can print a statement at the end of the year with all the info right there. Also helps us with our enormous medical expenses ($1000+ monthly right now, Ouch!).

Before Quicken, I had a mess of a checkbook and bounced checks and drove my husband crazy!

[tangozulu]

I voted "I balance the checkbook monthly, and worry if I'm $5 off. "...but it is really DH who does the labor :D We also use MS Money to keep track so we always know what we have.

Before I married him I kept a running total in my checkbook register and checked that it matched with what the bank had using online banking. At that time, I also paid almost all of my bills online or via credit card, with the exception of my monthly rent check and a few other things here and there.

[SouthernMommaOf2]

I voted that I rely on the online banking...I also balance the checkbook as well though. But more so I rely on the online banking.