When was the last time you balanced a check book?

Manatee said:
Some of us are antiquated. I have used an old fashioned check book and register since the 1950s.
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Nothing wrong with using and doing what feels comfortable. It seems that most people like what they are used to.

I tried using a calculator for a while but couldn't get to grips with it. I went back to using my abacus. Took me a while though to realise one of the beads was missing. Nothing was added up!

As for chequebooks, I don't see the point of them, and I've not missed using them. I think I can add up on my fingers the number of times I've written a cheque, or in the distant past used a banker's draft. I prefer to pay for things immediately. Waiting 5 working days for a cheque to clear doesn't do it for me, and seems so unnecessary.

These days I pretty much do everything with a debit card. I've even paid for used cars using a debit card. I last used my credit card over 25 years ago.
 

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I have my check register on my computer. I download my statement every month and I usually balance to the penny so I know exactly how much money is in the account.

I don't write many checks anymore, just debits and automatic payments. But some places, like our town courthouse when I have to register my vehicle every year, charge extra if you use a debit or credit card. So they get a check.

I don't understand how some people don't even look at their statements anymore. I've found where I've been charged more on my statement from a restaurant or business than what's on the receipt I recorded in my check register. How do they catch mistakes like that if they don't even look at their statement?
 

Of all the changes computers have brought to my life, electronic banking tops the list. When I first discovered it, I thought, "Now! This is what computers are supposed to do." It takes me about 2 minutes to pay those bills which are not auto withdrawal. Mostly, all I ever do is just go to my bank site and look at my home page, just because I like looking at it. Checking, savings, CDs, Credit Card. It's all in one place so I don't even have to run around the internet. One stop, mostly just clicks on buttons; Easy and fun. Fun! Can you imagine fun? It's like having an accountant in my home that takes care of all my business affairs..
 
fuzzybuddy said:
On an old TV show, someone mentioned balancing a checkbook. I thought -who balances a checkbook anymore? I go to my bank's website, select the business, and click in the sum. My bank does all the rest. I remember getting the canceled checks in the mail and spending an evening "balancing" my check book. Somehow, I never knew exactly how much money I had in the account. And those monthly bank statements never agreed with my figures. 🤔
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I still use checks for some things and balance my checkbook monthly. I can check my account online or by phone, but usually have no problem getting an exact result. Never spent a whole evening doing it, LOL.
 
caroln said:
I have my check register on my computer. I download my statement every month and I usually balance to the penny so I know exactly how much money is in the account.

I don't write many checks anymore, just debits and automatic payments. But some places, like our town courthouse when I have to register my vehicle every year, charge extra if you use a debit or credit card. So they get a check.

I don't understand how some people don't even look at their statements anymore. I've found where I've been charged more on my statement from a restaurant or business than what's on the receipt I recorded in my check register. How do they catch mistakes like that if they don't even look at their statement?
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There was a time when one of my checks was taken out of my account twice, on two different days. If I didn't stay on top of it, I would have never noticed.
 
I balance my checking each month when the statement comes out. I'll also check on line during the month to make sure everything is up to date.

I go over my credit card bill each month to make sure my receipts match the purchases listed. I've found several times charges on the card that where either inaccurate or fraudulent.

@SeaBreeze made a good point on what she found with her accounts. If you don't double check the transactions on all of your accounts, you'll loose money.
 
Don't use a check book anymore. We do have a ledger that I made to track all incomming deposits & out going electronic payments.

We know exactly how much money we have in our bank account at all times. It's been accurate to the penny every time we check the account balance.

Electronic accuracy whenever we want to check our account sure beats waiting for a monthly statement of the antique way of writing checks.
 
Knight said:
We know exactly how much money we have in our bank account at all times. It's been accurate to the penny every time we check the account balance.

Electronic accuracy whenever we want to check our account sure beats waiting for a monthly statement of the antique way of writing checks.
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Yup

I glance at my transactions daily
Just a flick of the wrist

No care about monthly statements unless required to print one when making a property purchase on time
 
Lilac said:
I balance my checking each month when the statement comes out. I'll also check on line during the month to make sure everything is up to date.

I go over my credit card bill each month to make sure my receipts match the purchases listed. I've found several times charges on the card that where either inaccurate or fraudulent.

@SeaBreeze made a good point on what she found with her accounts. If you don't double check the transactions on all of your accounts, you'll loose money.
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You're a smart lady. There may be a time when everything I do, all the bills I pay, have to be done online. When that time comes, I will have to go with the flow. I also use checks to pay for supermarket purchases, I fill out the check before I get to the cashier, except for the amount. I would have to be pretty well off to not care about mistakes that may amount to hundreds or thousands of dollars.

I'm old school, but I am open to change when necessary...not much of a choice, LOL.
 
I caught a mistake on my CC just last week, I made a payment to a Dr. by phone and they charged me double. Banks are run by people and people are human and make mistakes. I will always balance my checking. My bank shorted me 60.00 at drive thru one day years back. I always count my money sitting there before we drive off.
 
One should not take the antiquated label 'Check Register' too literally. It is for recording ALL transactions. When i worked customer service at a bank from 2000 -2002, in a University town the biggest issue when students were closing accounts after graduation was discrepancies between our balance and theirs.

Debit cards were just becoming commonplace and of course the ATMs got a workout on weekends. American students rarely made a habit of recording either debit card or ATM transactions. European students almost always recorded everything. Curious, i asked about it, they generally learned in high school.

Me, i took 2 years of bookkeeping in High School and because there was so much askew in my life i found comfort in the concept of being able to control this one area of it. Before banks had websites i reconciled my statements as soon as i got them. Now, i reconcile my register to the bank's data at least once a week.

I record everything: Automatic payments (usually just those that don't change often: Insurance premiums, streaming fees) online payments and the 2 utilities checks i write each month. My town is so small and offices so convenient to other errands it is easiest to just drop the payment slips and checks off.
 
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Never ever because I've never been in debt or ever taken out loans or had bank assets that had small balances. Never been wealthy either. That noted, it is true I have always crudely reviewed my monthly bank statements while keeping enough money in my checking accounts so I wouldn't have to pay much attention. In this era, refuse to join automatic banking systems while continuing to use paper checks and a single credit card. Never much of a money oriented person.
 
It has been years since I reconciled my checkbook. I look at my account every day online and I think, "Yeah, that looks about right," and then I move on.
 

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