Do You Balance Your Checkbook?

[Maggimus]

How do many of you know whether or not people who use the swiping machines for you arent punching in the wrong amount of money and overcharging you? Thats defiantely not paranoia... its reality and has happened to us MANY times. Those of you who do not check could really be getting cheated out of your hard earned money.

DH and I do ours daily-- he is obsessive compulsive about the checkbook and register.

 

[deekaypee]

I actually use a combination of methods--for my account, I use an Excel spreadsheet and online statements to balance my checkbook (line-by-line). I do this bi-weekly.

For our joint account, we keep a paper register, which we then check against the paper statements and an Excel spreadsheet. We can check things with our online statement, as well. DH and I take turns handling our monthly expenses, (every other month), but balance the checkbook together when the statement arrives. For some reason, using the paper-spreadsheet combination seems to work best for us. And finding systems that works best for our needs--regardless of what those systems are--seems to be what DISers posting to this thread have all done!

 

[JandJ]

I used to - diligently - to the penny! But DH uses Quicken and it does all of that for us now He's on there just about every night so I don't worry that something will slip through. We also don't write many checks. It was a hard habit for me to break though!

 

[snowman]

Ok I guess I am going to be the first to say it. I balance my checkbook DAILY. Yes daily. Every morning I go in and give a checkmark beside each thing that has cleared. Then I have to add in all the debits that are there that hubby didn't tell me about.

Honestly takes me less than 1 minute per day. Much less time than trying to balance with the statement once a month. This way if I am off it is the matter of checking only a few transactions to see the problem.

That's exactly what I do and why I do it (except mine is DSO, not a DH). And when It balances to the penny (most of the time), I'm a happy, happy camper . I'm glad I'm not the only one

 

[snowbunny]

I reconcile my statement once a month vs. my entries in Quicken. So that is a yes.

 

[disneysteve]

I am so amazed that people don't do this any longer. Hmmmm...I'm "only" 43 years old, I guess it's a thing of the past!

I'm 42 and right there with you. I can't understand people not writing down each transaction they make (whether on paper or on the computer). In an average month, I will have thousands of dollars of transactions going in and out of my account. I couldn't possibly track all of that without some type of written record.

 

[BethR]

I reconcile my statement once a month vs. my entries in Quicken. So that is a yes.

Yep me too. I do a combination of downloaded and hand entered transactions. Anything from my checkbook is hand entered since my bank charges to use their on-line services. I can LOOK for free, but to download or pay bills from their site, it costs $5 a month...

 

[MickeyMonstersMom]

Holy Smokes! Am I that old-fashioned, too??? I write EVERYTHING down on my checkbook register: checks I've written out (don't have too many of those, maybe just a few a month to the kids' schools), debit card purchases, online transactions, online bills, etc. Then, once a month, when my bank statement comes in the mail, I balance it, line by line. Yes, I do check everything off and I balance it to the penny.

I am so amazed that people don't do this any longer. Hmmmm...I'm "only" 43 years old, I guess it's a thing of the past!

When I opened a checking account at age 17 (20 years ago), my mother sat me down and went through the process of balancing it, and she'd have puppies if I didn't do it now. I'm also anal, which helps. I write down every transaction including those .22 dividends, and check each line off with a pencil when the monthly statement arrives. However, ever since I moved I have been unable to keep my account and the statement reconciled to the penny for more than a month or two at a stretch. I haven't changed my way of doing things, so I have no idea what's going on. It's always within the ballpark, though - a dollar or less - so I try not to stress over it.

 

[T. Lynn]

For those who use Quicken, do you also write in your checkbook register as well or use Quicken only?

 

[azgal81]

Nope. All of my bills are paid automatically each month for me. The only checks I write are the rent checks to my parents and I give them a bulk of them at the beginning of the year all for the same amount. The rest of my purchases I use my rewards credit card for don't overspend and pay it off each month. I log into my bank account to make sure everything looks okay but everything is done online with the balancing though my bank why should I waste my time!

 

[Chicago526]

I balance it daily (or every other day at worst), but not in my actual check register. I use Quicken to track my spending, so I just log in to my bank account online, and make sure my entries for Quicken match what's cleared my bank. When the computer does all the math, it makes it much easier. Plus I get to run reports on how much we spend on what, and how it compares to what we have budgeted. It's a great program!

 

[phillybeth]

How do many of you know whether or not people who use the swiping machines for you arent punching in the wrong amount of money and overcharging you?

I check my receipts vs. my bank's website of transactions, that's how. So I would catch it right away, as opposed to someone who reconciles using their statement- they wouldn't catch it for a month or more!

I DO balance daily- it's just not the old fashioned method with a pen and paper. I still don't understand why I would need to keep a written register when the bank does it for me

 

[Parkhopper]

Yes...to the penny.

Suzi

 

[flea1267]

I "balance" after every transaction, either ATM withdrawal, check written or using debit card to pay for something...so basically my checkbook is always "balanced" and I do check daily on line to make sure things have "cleared" and that nothing is being charged on the debit card fraudentily (sp?). I'm paranoid w/ our check book.

 

[Chicago526]

For those who use Quicken, do you also write in your checkbook register as well or use Quicken only?

I will write the check #, who it's to, and the amount but I don't keep a running total in the balance column,that's what Quicken is for. I just jot the check # etc. in the register incase I forget to log it into Quicken right away, then I can go back and look it up if needed.

How do many of you know whether or not people who use the swiping machines for you arent punching in the wrong amount of money and overcharging you?

I enter all transactions into Quicken using store receipts, so if something comes through my bank differant than what I enter into Quicken, I'll catch it. Hasn't happened yet, though. Must be lucky!

 

[BethR]

For those who use Quicken, do you also write in your checkbook register as well or use Quicken only?

I have not officially used a paper register in years. I go keep the register in my checkbook for me to jot notes in when I would occasionally write a check away from my computer.

Other than that I just enter my receipts to directly into Quicken.

 

[disneysteve]

I check my receipts vs. my bank's website of transactions, that's how.

I still don't understand why I would need to keep a written register when the bank does it for me

So you are saving all of your receipts instead of recording them in a register, which is perfectly fine.

It doesn't really matter how you keep a record of your transactions, as long as you do. As long as someone isn't just trusting the bank to always be correct, it doesn't matter what system people use to crosscheck the account.

 

[Maggimus]

So you are saving all of your receipts instead of recording them in a register, which is perfectly fine.

It doesn't really matter how you keep a record of your transactions, as long as you do. As long as someone isn't just trusting the bank to always be correct, it doesn't matter what system people use to crosscheck the account.

I completely agree-- I was asking that question towards the people who NEVER balance their receipts vs their accounts.... I wasnt speaking to those who do... but rather those who just "trust the bank"... whichever way works best for you