Using checks

R

rgp

Well-known Member
Location
Milford,OH
How many of you still use checks? Have a checking account?

I still do. I get constant 'offers' to switch to electronic this & that, direct deposit etc. But I just don't trust having all that 'basically' on the internet . Power grid goes down [remember just a few years ago] 2003 and ya cannot access. Not to mention nefarious creatures hacking as they do.
 

I still use checks to pay my monthly bills and to do a lot of my every day shopping at the supermarkets, etc. I'll only do financial things online when I really have to or need to. For now I'm happy with my checks and balance my checkbook once a month when they send me my statement. There is a lot of hacking going on, and it will only get worse with time in my opinion.
 
Only time we use any checks is when my wife pays bills, either in person or mail. All purchases, store or online, are done by credit card. We can access our banking acct. online from computer or iPhone. Have direct deposit for wife's job money and both of our SS money.

Had one "hacker" problem with Pay Pal, but the credit card on there had a low amount. They did charge $28 for something and tried to charge $300 on the card for a Target purchase, but not enough on the card. Contacted both Pay Pal and credit card company. Chargers were erased and new credit sent to us, with new number. Old, obsolete credit card still on Pay Pal. Don't use Pal Pal anymore. We don't buy anything where a credit card is kept online...….like Pay Pal does.
 
I have a free checking account that comes with paper checks, but it also has electronic banking and direct deposit. I have my important bills like mortgage, car payments, insurance payments etc, all set up on auto pay. For the rest I just pay them when due online. I can also transfer money through the account to anybody with E-Pay. Very rarely do we write out checks anymore, but I still keep my own hand written account register to make sure the numbers are correct.
 
With my own account, I did not even order any checks. Just have the debit card. DH has checks with his account. He wrote a check today, for the first time in months. We do most of our paying with our cards or with cash
 
I still write a few checks but mostly I pay bills online. Cell phone, electric bill, etc go to the credit card for rewards. I check the bills online and usually pay online. I will write a check for cash once a month and buy what few groceries I need with it. I don't like debit cards and will not use them.
 
Well, I'm similar to many, in many ways it seems. I use checks for my monthly expenses . I do no on-line C/C purchases , for that I use a limited debit card account. And don't do much of that . That way the hackers can only get what is on it...200 bucks give or take.

Just curious, given all these [offers] I've been receiving , and a news segment about it this morning.
 
I write checks for my lawn care, home repairs, and some gifts. I use my credit cards for purchases and pay my bills on-line.
 
One of our checking accounts is just for the monthly utility bill, grocery store, and any online shopping/credit card usage we run up. The other checking account is where our SS checks go, and we just use it for the electronic health care insurance payments and reimbursements....and it is our fund for the casino trips. The savings accounts will hopefully one day go to the kids. For minor day to day expenses, gas, etc., I just pay cash.
 
I still use my checks to pay my bills,a couple catalogues I regularly use I always pay by check. When I go grocery shopping or to Target,always pay cash
I don't feel comfortable doing any online shopping unless its on a secure site e.g. Amazon
I've been a victim of identity theft twice in last 30yrs,I'm always leery Sue
 
well checks are the worst for fraud .

we got posters up all over our neighborhood by the new york police dept warning all to not use local mail boxes .

mail is being fished out at an alarming rate and the checks bleached out and re-written .

they have new fraudulent names and amounts . it is the hardest type of fraud to get reversed because you signed that check .
 
There are some services I need to use checks for:
- our acupuncturist, acupressurist, and massage therapist
- most contractors on small jobs do not take credit cards. On our 2015 MBR remodel where I acted as GC, the majority of it was paid with checks.

Otherwise, we use electronic pay. RGP, not sure I understand what your experience was "when the grid went down"? Can you explain?

We've seen minor service interruptions (store POS goes down, quake interrupts power grid) but in such cases, checks are as unusable as a debit card or credit card, at least out here.
 
I pay my monthly bills by check, most day to day expenses with cash and other odds and ends with a credit card.

I've been seriously thinking about automating my monthly bill paying but I'm not sure what the best/safest approach would be.

I also have a fear that I will be dead inside my little apartment for years while the Social Security check keeps getting deposited every month and the bills get paid automatically every month, LOL!!!
 
Lethe200 said:
There are some services I need to use checks for:
- our acupuncturist, acupressurist, and massage therapist
- most contractors on small jobs do not take credit cards. On our 2015 MBR remodel where I acted as GC, the majority of it was paid with checks.

Otherwise, we use electronic pay. RGP, not sure I understand what your experience was "when the grid went down"? Can you explain?

We've seen minor service interruptions (store POS goes down, quake interrupts power grid) but in such cases, checks are as unusable as a debit card or credit card, at least out here.
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"Otherwise, we use electronic pay. RGP, not sure I understand what your experience was "when the grid went down"? Can you explain?"

Never said I had one, I just meant that if the grid does go down, in your area or nation wide. If everything is connected to it / depended on it, nothing can be accessed.
 
mathjak107 said:
well checks are the worst for fraud . we got posters up all over our neighborhood by the new york police dept warning all to not use local mail boxes . mail is being fished out at an alarming rate and the checks bleached out and re-written ..
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That sounds like one of the "perks" of living in an overcrowded, crime infested city.
 
I haven't written a check in several years. I strongly believe, as mathjak107 stated, that paper checks are a lot less safe than electronic bill paying, and there's a lot more opportunity for fraud. Do you have any idea how many people handle a paper check after you've written it? A lot more than you would think.
 
Butterfly said:
I haven't written a check in several years. I strongly believe, as mathjak107 stated, that paper checks are a lot less safe than electronic bill paying, and there's a lot more opportunity for fraud. Do you have any idea how many people handle a paper check after you've written it? A lot more than you would think.
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My sister retired from a bank and she has said the same thing, Butterfly.
 

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