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Post by crimsoncat05 on Oct 22, 2016 18:31:42 GMT
I never used to balance my account, like, EVER, but my boyfriend?? Even though most of our bills are paid online and he checks the accounts periodically, he balances our account to.the.penny. EVERY month, come hell or high water. Sometimes it takes him a couple hours (and a lot of swearing) to do it, and he bitches and moans about a missing 12 cents until he finds it, but he feels he needs to do it to keep a handle on what's going on.
We're trying to accumulate points on an airlines credit card, so a lot of the charges end up being on that card- so it's not just the checking account, it's also all of our credit accounts that he balances.
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scrappinmama
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,885
Jun 26, 2014 12:54:09 GMT
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Post by scrappinmama on Oct 22, 2016 18:36:32 GMT
I don't do it like I used to in the old days. I used to have a spreadsheet, and wrote down checks, etc. With online banking, that's really not necessary. I pay bills online, rarely use checks. So every couple days, I check my account online just to make sure there are no unauthorized purchases. I know exactly what is in my account, because I monitor it closely.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 5:41:29 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2016 18:37:16 GMT
Not really. But I only write 4 checks per month and normally only make 3-4 ATM withdrawals so it is easy to see if everything is there. Each week I withdraw a set amount for expenses under $5. Everything else gets put on my credit card. It is my credit card that takes the time each month to check against my receipts for correct charges.
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Post by mollycoddle on Oct 22, 2016 18:41:57 GMT
Yep, that's exactly the kind of thing that happens with so many of our checks. I have had times when the bank showed over a thousand dollars more than we actually had available. It's insanity. Yep. Or sometimes I pay a bill online, but it doesn't get to the vendor. That happens sometimes with my trash bill, which I only pay every three months. |
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Post by melanell on Oct 22, 2016 18:56:29 GMT
I also use my check register to subtract out money ahead of time for upcoming bills. If I know that September is going to have far more bills than a typical month, I set aside money in June, July, & August for those bills. I simply deduct them, and put the amount in parenthesis in the register. So, if I owe $400 for something in Sept., I may subtract out in July and write it in as "XYZ Bill (400.00)". Then when I do pay the bill, I go back and write in the correct date by the deduction. In doing so I create an even bigger difference between what the bank says is in our account and what we can actually spend. Mind you, I'm not such a shopper that I'm likely to go spending hundreds of dollars more than I have to spend, anyway. Our budget allows for roughly the same amount of spending money each week, and I basically have a feel for when we're reaching the end of that. But it's still comforting for me to know that I have all of my day to day finance ducks in a row.  |
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scorpeao
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,521
Location: NorCal USA
Jun 25, 2014 21:04:54 GMT
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Post by scorpeao on Oct 22, 2016 19:15:48 GMT
I do what the OP does. It's always served me well but I am the only person using the account so it is not hard to keep track of what has been spent. Oh I didn't even think of the fact that I'm the only one to use the account. I suppose if I shared my account with someone I'd balance it. |
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 5:41:29 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2016 19:21:43 GMT
I balance all of our accounts on a monthly basis.
I work for a bank. Mistakes can and do happen at all points along the transaction process. I can't imagine not balancing.
I check our main checking account and the credit card we use for everything every 1-3 days. (I also have a number of alerts set so get texts if there are transactions that would be atypical for us.) If anything looks amiss, I address it immediately.
All our accounts download into our financial software and I balance them as I get monthly statements (delivered electronically). I regularly catch errors. Nothing dramatic, but they do happen.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Oct 22, 2016 19:42:09 GMT
I used to do it with Quicken every couple of days. About 4 years ago I quit dealing with it, mainly because I switched to a Mac and absolutely hated the Quicken for Mac. Tried a couple of other programs and didn't care for those either. Changes in technology have really allowed me to not deal with a program anymore and have given me hours back each month!
My main checking account is set to send me a daily email with my balance. If something is off, I can log on and check it out. If I see something that seems odd, I'll check with DH because he will order stuff without letting me know sometimes. The other accounts are not daily working accounts so I just look at the e-statement that comes once a month, save the file and I'm good to go. I have an Excel file that lists what bills are due each paycheck (2x month) and the amount budgeted. As I set up the payment online via Bill pay, or the actual website, I note the amount. Once everything is paid for that pay period, the sheet goes in the shredder. It's more of a visual reminder for me than anything.
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Post by txdancermom on Oct 22, 2016 20:03:00 GMT
I balance all our accounts every month, and I check the main bank account daily to verify no strange charges. There have been several times when if I hadn't balanced or checked, something would have been missed and would have been harder to stop fraud.
I use Quicken, it is ok, have used it for years - it talks to some of our accounts, and it lets me see where our money has gone and how much we have. Just going on the bank balance is misleading because it doesn't show checks or bill payments that have yet to clear or post. Right now our account shows a lot more than we have available to spend since a couple of large checks haven't cleared.
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Post by littlemama on Oct 22, 2016 20:04:30 GMT
Once a month before I pay the bills for the month.
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snappydog
Full Member
Posts: 171
Sept 11, 2014 22:53:41 GMT
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Post by snappydog on Oct 22, 2016 20:09:59 GMT
To the penny every month using Quicken. I'be caught some bank errors thanks to doing this way. Just makes me feel better every month to be in control of our finances.
Sandy
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Post by lisae on Oct 22, 2016 20:22:07 GMT
I do not have a debit card. I only write checks for big things like property tax or home repairs. I use a CC or cash for everything. I do keep a spreadsheet with my expenses and I go through my CC statement to be sure they haven't charged me for anything I wasn't supposed to be charged for. I don't cross check to be sure that I have been charged (like the pumpkin patch issue in the other post.) I"m only worried if I'm overcharged, not undercharged. I pay cash to small businesses like the local produce market, garage where I get my oil changed and my hair stylist. I want them to get the full amount not lose a few percent of their fee because I used a card. I grew up in a small business so I'm very sympathetic to things that take away from their profits.
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Post by seikashaven on Oct 22, 2016 20:30:35 GMT
To the penny weekly. I use YNAB and it gives me awesome visibility into where my money is allocated and planned for. Takes me all of 10 mins a week to reconcile. I love knowing the "job " of every dollar in my accounts.
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Post by justkat on Oct 22, 2016 22:26:03 GMT
I pretty much do as you describe.
I know how much is in my checking accounts. I keep track in my head of what and where I spend. About once a week or so I'll check that the balance showing online matches what's in my head. lol If it doesn't I'll take a closer look.
Credit cards I "balance" about once a month. We don't use them very often. I'll keep track in my head and ask my husband for an idea of his spending towards the end of the month. I'll pull up our statement and check it over versus what's in my head.
I've done it this way for years without any problems. I think once there was a charge we had to reconcile which turned out legitimate just posted under a name we didn't recognize.
We don't use cheques.
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tracylynn
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,872 
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Post by tracylynn on Oct 22, 2016 22:43:45 GMT
Yep! When I got my first checking account at 16, my mom taught me to balance manually. I started using Quicken in 1998. I update the transactions there every couple of days and mark transactions clear (C) in Quicken as they clear my bank. Once the statement comes out, it's a simple matter of adding the interest entries, hitting the reconcile button and it's almost always balanced immediately since I clear as I go through the month. It's super easy. This way I know exactly what I have, there are no mistakes.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 5:41:29 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2016 22:45:26 GMT
I check our balances regularly and use e-billing with online auto pay for recurring bills like utilities, mortgage. But I still use Quicken to reconcile. Why? Because sometimes things don't clear for months and it's easier to see (notice) those items on a register for follow up. That way you don't get surprised like the situation on the banking question thread.
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Post by annabella on Oct 22, 2016 22:58:36 GMT
Almost all my purchasing is done with my credit card. I have a few automatic bill payments as well from one account, plus mortgage payments. Haven't written a cheque in years and virtually never use cash. I don't 'balance' my account as such, but I check online banking to make sure there are no weird/rogue charges. I use an online accounting system that automatically syncs with all my accounts and from there I can print reports etc to see what my cash flow is, how much I'm saving etc. Same here I've never "balanced my checkbook" and don't use a debit card. I also don't feel comfortable doing online banking, do everything over the phone. I do track my spending to stay within my budget. |
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Post by AussieMeg on Oct 22, 2016 23:22:14 GMT
I don't balance my account. I don't see any need. My pay goes straight into my account, I use my credit card to pay for most things, I take out a bit of cash to keep in my wallet. I check my credit card statement every once in a while to make sure there's nothing wrong. That's it. I guess it makes it easier that I don't use checks (haven't owned a check book for over 20 years). Checks are rarely used in this country except by old people haha!
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Post by redshoes on Oct 22, 2016 23:33:47 GMT
Yes, monthly in the traditional paper check register!
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Post by dillydally on Oct 22, 2016 23:43:20 GMT
Kind of. DH works for the bank where we have our accounts so he looks at transactions every 1-3 days, so he would notice something unusual. I download all the data to quicken and reconcile our accounts (checking, saving & credit cards) that way, but I'm not super consistent; right now I have reconciled July but still have August/Sept to work on.
We spend well under our means, so I'm not worried about NSF, I just reconcile to be sure there are no mistakes/everything looks ok.
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Post by GamGam on Oct 23, 2016 0:20:27 GMT
I balance both my checking account and credit card accounts every month using Quicken. And I have found a mistake by the bank during the past year. I find Quicken user friendly, and like knowing that I've recorded all my transactions.
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tduby1
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,979
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Post by tduby1 on Oct 23, 2016 0:53:21 GMT
I check ours every week. I have a notebook of transactions and I check each one off as it clears. That's how I knew it took the band three months to cash the check I wrote for band fees. After one month, I inquired and was told the treasurer hadn't gone to the bank yet. Same at two months and the director complaining about people not paying their fees. Finally, three months later the check cleared. Bugged the crap out of me because I kept checking and had to remember why there was a $100 difference in the bank balance and my notebook. My sister must never check hers. She's a borderline hoarder and takes forever to toss out old mail. I helped her clear out her paper trash recently and found 3 years worth of unopened overdraft notices from her bank. 3 years! The amount of money she lost in fees was enough to put a nice down payment on a new car. This is me exactly. Right down to the notebook I use for a ledger. When things hang out too long not cleared I circle them w red pen so I can glance back through pages and pick them out while balancing. Once they clear I check them off like everything else. |
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milocat
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,443
Location: 55 degrees north in Alberta, Canada
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Post by milocat on Oct 23, 2016 1:56:23 GMT
I used to way back in the day when I acutally wrote a lot of cheques. Now this is my banking: one pay cheque deposit, one cash withdrawal for small amount purchases, water bill to town office, mastercard payments (I make more than one). Occasionally a EFT to someone or a cheque. I have less than 6 transactions on my account and nothing is outstanding. Not that anything would bounce if it was outstanding since I'm not down to my last few cents.
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scrappyesq
Pearl Clutcher
You have always been a part of the heist. You're only mad now because you don't like your cut.
Posts: 4,032
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Post by scrappyesq on Oct 23, 2016 2:34:56 GMT
Honestly financial responsibility is the one thing I'm proudest of this year. I never kept track and I was ALWAYS broke looking at DH for extra money.
Now, I check my bank balance at least every other day. I keep a log book of everything that needs to be paid on what date, and I budget (!!!!) a certain amount of money for necessities each week. It's crazy, today I checked my balance. Everything is paid, and I have money left over! I've been freaking out all day thinking I forgot something. I didn't! I've just been on top of things.
Thank goodness for online banking. I've never balanced a physical checkbook for more than a week.
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