Poll: Do you balance your checkbook?

[Nova]

With so many people using credit cards I guess it would be valid to ask if you reconcile your credit card statements against receipts. I do.

Yup!

 

[winger]

I don't reconcile my credit card statements but do skim it over for anything unusual.

yep

 

[Dreamer]

I don't balance my checkbook, but do look online a few times per month. I skim my credit card statements for anything unusual also. A grocery store charged me the exact same amount on the exact same day and I knew that was incorrect. They credited my account. I also found a charge that was fraud and had to have that account closed and a new card set up. We were not charged for it. If someone would use it on one of the places that we go to regularly, I probably would not catch it. I need to do better.

 

[HFWR]

...

Nice avatar. Saw the movie, and recognized bits of Bad Blake in some of my old musician buddies...

 

[easysurfer]

I don't balance my checkbook, but do look online a few times per month. I skim my credit card statements for anything unusual also. A grocery store charged me the exact same amount on the exact same day and I knew that was incorrect. They credited my account. I also found a charge that was fraud and had to have that account closed and a new card set up. We were not charged for it. If someone would use it on one of the places that we go to regularly, I probably would not catch it. I need to do better.

I had a double charge on my credit card back in the days before card scanners when the merchants would take a carbon copy imprint of card. I wrote a letter to my cc company pointing out the duplicate charge and they took it off. That was the only time I found an error.

As for my checking account, way back again (around 25 years ago), I had made my annual $2000 deposit from my checking account to my IRA but the check didn't clear. They gave me credit in my IRA, but my checking account was never debited the check. I even went as far as calling my bank, telling them my check never cleared. They pretty much just ignored me, said, don't worry it should clear. It never did so I guess the check just ended up somewhere in the twightlight zone and was never processed through the bank . After waiting for about a year, with that check never clearing, I rebalanced my checkbook -- bank error in my favor

 

[mickeyd]

I don't reconcile my credit card statements but do skim it over for anything unusual.

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I check every single CC entry for accuracy. If I'm missing a receipt I track it down. Sure, DW usually is the reason for most missing docs and they are usually from Amazon, but I make her verify each one.

On occasion I have found an error and the CC company is great about making adjustments for incorrect entries.

 

[Onward]

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I check every single CC entry for accuracy.

Me too. And I save every receipt forever.

On occasion I have found an error and the CC company is great about making adjustments for incorrect entries.

Same here. Wild guess, but I'd say one in every 1,000 transactions has an error in it. The error has never been in my favor.

 

[MichaelB]

I don't balance but I check transactions and make sure there's always cash available to cover outstanding and upcoming expenses.

 

[Meadbh]

Balancing my chequebooks would be a waste of time because they don't show the whole story of my current accounts. Most of my payments and cash inflows are online and they come from several different sources. I get $200 cash from the ATM about every two weeks and the majority of my expenditures are by credit card or are automated. I only use cheques when there is no alternative. I look at my accounts two or three times weekly and only from my own computers. Right now I have a few large bills and a paycheque pending so I am keeping a close eye on the sequence of cashflows to ensure that I don't go in the red.

 

[TromboneAl]

I said "To the penny," but last month it was off by exactly one penny, and I said "faggetaboutit."

 

[waltwill8]

TA,

I'm shocked! Losing control of your finances is the road to the poorhouse.

No, wait. What about the government?

Never mind.

 

[NW-Bound]

Voted with the majority here: "To the penny". But I voted for DW. She takes care of all the bills.

I have asked to look at her spreadsheets occasionally when I was amazed at how fast our checking account got depleted, but that was about 3 or 4 times in the last 10 years. I trust my "secretary/accountant".

PS. I do everything else, like prepare taxes and keep track of our investment accounts, IRAs, and 401K.

PPS. Like most, my DW uses an electronic checkbook and pays bills via the Internet.

 

[mickeyd]

Me too. And I save every receipt forever.



The error has never been in my favor.

I occasionally run across a receipt that has not appeared on my monthly statement (maybe one per year). After checking month after month, I may never be charged for the item. The honest thing to do, I suppose, would be to notify the CC company about the "error" but I never have done so.

 

[Khan]

I occasionally run across a receipt that has not appeared on my monthly statement (maybe one per year). After checking month after month, I may never be charged for the item. The honest thing to do, I suppose, would be to notify the CC company about the "error" but I never have done so.

Occasionally a charge does not appear on my card(s). I do notify the card folks, but only once.

 

[mickeyd]

Occasionally a charge does not appear on my card(s). I do notify the card folks, but only once.

Did it eventually show up on your statement?

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I balance about every three days. Strictly on-line banking. I write very few checks-maybe three a month and this to workers at my house when I don't have the cash available. All bills are paid by auto deduction or on-line bill pay. I check the bank statement on-line every two or three days and check for any odd looking charges because we use debit card a lot. Never found a problem with the statement.

 

[Khan]

Did it eventually show up on your statement?

It's been more than three years, never did show up. It was ~$20.

 

[John Galt III]

Every couple of weeks I use an automated phone system to balance my savings and checking at my credit union. I keep the tally on paper. There has been one mistake by the CU in 20 or so years. They cashed another member's check for a few hundred dollars against my checking account, and overdrew the account ! I noticed it on a Saturday and had to wait Sat and Sun worrying about it, until their customer service was open on Monday, to correct it.