Balance Checkbook?

[turnipthebeet]

I was thinking about this last night. In middle school, I took a home ec class and one of the sections was on maintaining and balancing a check book. 

I never do. My parents, on the other hand, keep track of all check and debit expenses and my dad balances their checkbook weekly. 

Do you? 

[hermione]

I do it on an app.

[pantsparty]

I do keep a Google spreadsheet that tracks how much I spend. I know when I have mentioned this before people have said it's overkill but it's the only way for me to know what I spend and make sure I'm not spending what I don't have. It gets reset every 2 weeks (payday).

[TamiTaylor]

I only write 1 check a month so I don't do a physical checkbook balance. I stalk my bank acct like 4+ times a day though so I know what is going in and out.

[sarahbear]

Yup, the old fashioned way in the check book. We could move to a spreadsheet of some sort. We just never have.

[juliachild]

I don't have a checkbook. H and I use Mint to track our spending. We also have an excel sheet set up for our budget.

[TR]

I kept my checkbook register for a long time after online banking was a thing, even though I rarely wrote checks. But now I just log in to my banking app a lot.

[kooshball]

no.

[Velar Fricative]

No. I just note any checks we write in our budget spreadsheet so we don't forget about them. We also use our credit card for any expense we can so the bulk of transactions occur outside of the checking account anyway (and we track that CC spending too).

[lauralala]

I do not balance it in a traditional way. I use an Excel spreadsheet for my budget and use a couple of columns each month to keep track of how much money is in the account. I also check my balance online at least daily to see what has and has not cleared.

[mcmel]

No, but I check my online bank multiple times a day so I’m on top of what’s going on.

[goldengirlz]

I feel like it’s not really necessary anymore. In the olden days (ha), you used to get a bank statement once a month. Now, if I need to know how much is in my checking account, I just go online.

Also, I write maybe four checks a month because I pay so many bills online. So I’m rarely left wondering how many checks I have outstanding.

[mcsangel2]

I did up until about two years ago.

[sessy]

Never

[glitzy07]

I don't balance a checkbook, but we use the YNAB app so we keep track of everything at all times.

[stephogirl]

I use a checkbook app (basically a register)on my phone to keep track and compare to what the bank says I have.

I purposely don't keep much of an overage in my checking account, so I like knowing exactly how much I have. Most purchases with my debit card show in my bank account instantly, but some take a couple of days (like when I use my Target red card).

[specialk]

I also keep a spreadsheet with my budget for each month and actual spending.

[blondemoment123]

Dec 11, 2017 13:22:31 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

I only write 1 check a month so I don't do a physical checkbook balance. I stalk my bank acct like 4+ times a day though so I know what is going in and out.

This.

[Deleted]

My mom balances my parents' checkbook once a month. It's a whole big project for her, and apparently she loves doing it (I, with my hatred of math, have never understood why). When I opened my first checking account after I turned 18, my mom tried to teach me how to balance my checkbook. That fell apart after about two months. I haven't balanced my checkbook since. I check things in my internet banking account about once a month, to see if anything looks amiss (I don't use my checking account often...mostly just my credit card), but that's it.

[mich1]

Dec 11, 2017 13:23:34 GMT -5 TR said:

I kept my checkbook register for a long time after online banking was a thing, even though I rarely wrote checks. But now I just log in to my banking app a lot.

This.

[lilypad1126]

I don't balance my check book. I use my banking app, and log in frequently. My H on the other hand likes to balance his regularly. But he doesn't always get his math right and then he's off by a dollar or whatever. Then he's super frustrated. I can't convince him to use online banking. Every time I bring it up, he's all, but how do you know for sure?!

[suzyp]

Yes. Old school in my check register. I pay bills twice a month and balance it the same time. (I don't actually right any checks - I pay everything on line). I have always done this since college - I had to make sure that I was not going to bounce a check. I suppose I could stop, but I like to make sure that the bank and I are on the same page with my calculations. LOL.

[candreco]

I have a spreadsheet where I track expenses, and use it to estimate expenses for the next couple of paychecks, but no, I don't balance the checkbook itself. I should probably shift to Mint or YNAB or something, but I haven't gotten around to it.

[wildrice]

I haven't balanced a checkbook since I was like 20 years old and online banking became a thing. I write 1 check a month (for rent) so everything else comes out automatically and there is no need to "balance".

However, I do track everything we spend on an excel spreadsheet. I've only really gotten good at ACTUALLY keeping up with it in the last year, but I've been so much better at saving since I started. It's too easy to overspend if I am not tracking anything at all.

[georgeharrison]

I did until about two months ago. I still would if it were only me, but it's too hard to keep track of all the debit card purchases. My H goes to the mini mart like seven hundred times/week. I do keep a close eye on the account via online banking, though, to be sure there is nothing fraudulent or that we aren't spending crazily...sometimes we have to see it to rein it in.

[mrsd2006]

I do not. I get an email daily from my bank with my balance, and have alerts set up if over a certain amount is charged.

[snipsnsnails]

Yes, I do a handwritten ledger and track expenses on a spreadsheet that corresponds with our monthly budget. DH and I go over it every week.

[lilac05]

No, but my goal for 2018 is to keep better track of our finances. I won't do pen and paper monitoring, but I need to do something.

[wambam]

Oh hell no

[picaflora]

I have a cash flow spreadsheet I update when scheduling bills on-line. I try to plan out the whole month at a time so I know what I can use to pay extra on debt or sweep to savings. I also use Quicken (leftover from when we were managing a rental property) for tracking and budgeting.

Almost all non-recurring payments run through our credit card bills, so that's why I keep a separate spreadsheet. It's easier than with everything lumped in together in Quicken.