Do you still balance your checkbook monthly?

[Montecfo]

I review all bank transactions daily to verify they’re legit. Statements are stored online if I need to research anything. I don’t see the need to duplicate the bank’s computers.

So when you want to know your balance, you log into the bank?

 

[sengsational]

^The phone app is effective at that. It's faster than locating the checkbook and flipping it open

 

[TheWizard]

So when you want to know your balance, you log into the bank?

That's what I do, using my credit union app on my smartphone with biometric login.
I'm not usually too concerned about the exact balance; I'm mostly looking to verify that expected transactions have occurred in a timely fashion.
And then, after certain larger deposits happen, I determine a ballpark dollar amount to transfer to my Vanguard settlement fund...

 

[Montecfo]

That's what I do, using my credit union app on my smartphone with biometric login.
I'm not usually too concerned about the exact balance; I'm mostly looking to verify that expected transactions have occurred in a timely fashion.
And then, after certain larger deposits happen, I determine a ballpark dollar amount to transfer to my Vanguard settlement fund...

Ok I appreciate that. I have a needlessly high balance in my checking that I don't always love having. But I continue to care about the balance.

In fact just last month I transferred a large amount of cash into my checking by mistake. I needed to correct that and of course only the bank could tell me my error. But logging into my bank account is exceedingly rare for me. Usually only when reconciling. And even rarer using a phone. Just about never.

But I realize I do not "need" this level of precision per se except really for medical expenses for HSA. But I like to know what my trips cost, and be able to in understand my expenses over time.

But I rarely review...

 

[sengsational]

This is an extreme example but totally real. Right now my bank is showing our balance as being over $56,000 higher than my register because I sold some mutual fund shares this past week.

Some of the biggest bang for the expended time of keeping my own set of books is the planning/timing of the "big transfers". If there's shuffling, I put my plan in there with estimated dates and check for red numbers.

I don’t see the need to duplicate the bank’s computers.

Because "I've always done it that way", I keep my own set of books. I've already admitted it's not a great use of time, but one proper use-case might be subscription cancellation timing error. I remove the monthly repeating transaction on my side as I do the cancellation. If they bill an extra month, I know it. If you use the bank's version, you'd have to noodle about it when you get the statement, and maybe pull up the cancellation notes. I'm not saying that situation is enough to justify keeping your own set of books!

No interest checking?!? That might be getting at the pressure to keep your own books. I'm glad to use Fidelity, where I get money market rates. That spending account gets pumped up enough in December to last the entire next year, so no need to even think about the balance going negative.

The one balance that I do need to pay attention to is the account that I've "had to" give out the routing#/account# for ACH. That has just enough in there to cover expected transactions. That's where my debit card pulls from. No overdraft protection either. It's the one connected to the "social payment apps" too. But the credit union app on my phone lets me see transactions and make transfers very easily.

 

[TheWizard]

Ok I appreciate that. I have a needlessly high balance in my checking that I don't always love having. But I continue to care about the balance...

What I do is target around a $10,000 balance in checking after each significant deposit and after all CC balances have been paid.
My next such deposit should be a quarterly RMD after market close on 7/15. So I'll expect to see that in my checking account by the 17th.

I'll then determine the excess beyond $10k, rounded to nearest $500, go to my Vanguard app, and transfer that amount from linked checking to my taxable account settlement fund.
This has been my pattern for close to a decade now...

 

[FIREd]

I reconcile my bank account monthly, to the cent, using a spreadsheet. I enjoy doing it even if discrepancies can be frustrating to resolve.

 

[Flyfish1]

I review all bank transactions daily to verify they’re legit. Statements are stored online if I need to research anything. I don’t see the need to duplicate the bank’s computers.

I also review my bank accounts daily - simply to look for fraud as we have been victims not only of credit card fraud but years ago debit card fraud. That was many years ago and we NEVER use a debit card anymore. However, I do keep spreadsheets on both my checking accounts, so yep I am duplicating the banks computers. Kind of silly for the checking account that pays monthly bills but the Excel program I have is kind of nice and helps look at spending patterns. I keep a separate checking account for lumpy large expenses and lumpy income, things like real estate quarterly income, house repair expenses, marina bills, etc.. I do that so I can look at the "buckets " of dollars in that account and yes I do reconcile that monthly. By buckets I mean categories of money like X amount for taxes, X amount for upcoming travel expenses. Overkill , maybe but it keeps it organized in my little brain.

 

[G-Money]

I might write a check twice per year. I don't have a register, but the checks have carbon copies. I keep my checkbook with my stamps. Remember those?

I do a reconciliation of sorts at the end of the month. The "checking" account is more of a clearing account. Paychecks land, and credit accounts get paid/settled. Where there isn't a charge for doing so, all utilities/payments and purchases get paid on a credit card. I keep a minimum floor in my checking account to cover monthly recurring expenses which are debit transactions.

I'm able to verify most credit transactions in real time. I receive notifications on a device for any amount charged. I also review payment card statements at the end of the month for accuracy and any unrecognized charges. Things get paid, money gets moved to savings and transferred and I enter the amounts on a spreadsheet so I can track gross expenses and savings over the year.

 

[audreyh1]

Exactly. I’m really surprised by how many people have said they don’t need a register because they don’t write checks. That’s not the point of a register.

A bunch of people on here track all their transactions using a spreadsheet- that’s a type of register.

And many of us replied that we use Quicken across all our accounts to track transactions- another type of register.

Not that many said they just look at their bank’s statements or online bank balance.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

I don't use spreadsheets or register.

I look at what's in the checking account maybe once a month. I am unaware of the amount in checking if someone were to ask me on any specific day.

"Needing to know" what's in my checking account is of no usefulness to me.

Deposits flow in, money gets spent.

I would describe myself as unconcerned with my checking account.

Someone mentioned they were "frustrated" with their system of keeping track.

I am certain that I've never been frustrated with my way of doing things.

To each their own.

 

[disneysteve]

I don't use spreadsheets or register.

I look at what's in the checking account maybe once a month. I am unaware of the amount in checking if someone were to ask me on any specific day.

"Needing to know" what's in my checking account is of no usefulness to me.

Deposits flow in, money gets spent.

How do you know how much money can get spent if you have no idea how much is in the account? Do you just keep a large enough balance that you know you won't ever overspend it?

 

[pacergal]

But it has to work. It is math.

You would think so.
That's why I finally went to the bank, wasn't sure they would help me, but worth the shot. The lady went through my register and the bank info several times, she even went back a month or two, even though checkbook and bank "matched" at that time.
I even went old school, did math on paper rather than using a calculator. Still didn't balance.
As I said, it was weird.

 

[TheWizard]

How do you know how much money can get spent if you have no idea how much is in the account? Do you just keep a large enough balance that you know you won't ever overspend it?

I'm not Mr TW, but here's what I do.
Having "no idea" is just silly. I have around $10,400 in my checking account as we speak, subject to a pending SS deposit of a few thousand dollars next week and a debit of a bit less than that for a property tax check that will be received by town hall tomorrow.

In addition, I do maintain a decent cushion in checking that experience has shown to be adequate for me.

Additionally, most of my spending is done with credit cards, thus no immediate impact on checking account. There are exceptions to this, infrequently...

 

[joejetski]

I haven’t used a check in over 5 years except for paying fees for fishing tournaments. Those are cashiers checks.

 

[jollystomper]

As I ponder this (hey, what else can one do scanning 7 pages of posts, including my own ), I am thinking that DW and I really do not need to check our checking account balances often because we manage them to a certain level (in our case, between $1,100 and $1,200) for our main checking account. We almost never have checking account transactions these days that we do not already know about well ahead of time.

For example, last month we had additional spending from our checking account, in terms of graduation gifts, but we knew about them at least a couple of months in advance, and how much they would be. Entering those transactions ahead of time means we already knew what our balance would be a month or two later.

Any unexpected or "spur of the moment" purchases are going to be credit card or cash. I cannot remember the last time we had to write a check on the spur of the moment. In fact, these days we rarely carry our checkbook out of the house.

So, not only do we know what our current balance is, we also know what it will be a month from now .

 

[audreyh1]

I like having all future scheduled bills and transfers in Quicken and in each account register it shows me payments, deposits,
and balances for the next month. Really helps with cash flow management.

 

[N02L84ER]

Quicken also has projected credits and debits for the next 12 months at the push of a button. Mine currently shows no accounts will go negative over the next 12 months, so I am not worried about my checking account balance.

 

[Walt34]

I’d do a poll but I am sure respective practices are on the spectrum from reconciling every charge to none at all, and various others in between. Is DW the last of her type?

Not at all. She has a sister in my DW, who makes sure to balance both checkbooks (the pension is deposited to one, SS goes in the other) to the last penny at every bank statement. This way if for some unforeseeable reason one bank account becomes inaccessible for a while the other will suffice to pay regular expenses.

I am more willing to accept the occasional Quicken-suggested "balance adjustment" of a few dollars from time to time, figuring that it will all equal out in the end, but not DW! She will tenaciously hunt down every errant cent and nail it into it's appropriate place with grim determination. Well, I can't fault that.

 

[disneysteve]

I am more willing to accept the occasional Quicken-suggested "balance adjustment" of a few dollars from time to time, figuring that it will all equal out in the end, but not DW! She will tenaciously hunt down every errant cent and nail it into it's appropriate place with grim determination. Well, I can't fault that.

Yep, that’s me. But as I’ve said, that only takes about 10 minutes once a month so it’s not an arduous task.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

How do you know how much money can get spent if you have no idea how much is in the account? Do you just keep a large enough balance that you know you won't ever overspend it?

The answer to the first question is I'm not going to spend it in the first place.

Yes to the second question. Always a few thousand, sometimes more. What I lose in a few bucks in interest (vs MM) I gain in being 100% stress free on the subject.

This wouldn't work for some. I just like never stressing one second with it.

 

[RetMD21]

When I look at the balance on my bank's app or website, it doesn't match the balance in my register because my register includes all of the transactions that haven't been posted by the bank yet.

This is an extreme example but totally real. Right now my bank is showing our balance as being over $56,000 higher than my register because I sold some mutual fund shares this past week. The proceeds went into the checking account. Then I initiated a transfer to Vanguard which hasn't processed yet.

If I want an accurate up to date balance, I need to look at my register, not my bank's site.

On occasion I've done big transfers from one investing accoount to another via my bank account but I can remember a $56,000 pending transfer for the 2-3 days it takes to execute.

 

[hmrambling]

I don't balance my checkbook on a paper register. I use AspireBudgeting which is a robust Google sheet to enter all of my transactions. It reads like a checkbook register when I select only the checking account. I don't have many checks clearing my account, though. Most are direct deposits and automatic withdrawals. Every once in a while I'll write a check.

 

[Koolau]

well that's certainly a high level of precision!

A guy gets on a bus and sits down next to a pretty girl. He shows her his closed hands (as if enclosing something).

"If you can guess what's in my hands, I'll let you kiss me" he says. Not missing a beat, the girl responds "A concrete truck!"

The guy peeks into his hands and says "Close enough!"


$1000 precision is "close enough" for our check book!

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

What I do is target around a $10,000 balance in checking after each significant deposit and after all CC balances have been paid.
My next such deposit should be a quarterly RMD after market close on 7/15. So I'll expect to see that in my checking account by the 17th.
....

Check out this video regarding a new 2026 IRS rule regarding checking account limits: