I ordered checks today

[old medic]

We changed checking accounts last May. Have used 28 so far

 

[MarieIG]

Since I opened an account at Fidelity there is no charge for those checks. I had to reorder once because my check booklet hid on me (shhhh don't tell anyone) but probably won't need to reorder again for years.

 

[racy]

What are checks? JK

They're a PITA when waiting in the checkout line for an old guy/gal to write out. And then go to their check register to record it.

 

[Montecfo]

We’ve found Costco to have a good price on checks. The only problem is that the number of checks is so large, we’ll probably never use them all. Still, it’s considerably less than the amount the credit union charges for a much smaller number of checks, so we go with Costco. This didn’t matter until we moved last year and now we had to order another stash of checks with our new address. Oh well, first world problems. Glad there’s still money to cover the checks we write.

Yes. They have the best prices. And I seriously doubt we will ever need more unless we move.

 

[gear2th]

I haven't written a check since 2019 but expect I will have to write some eventually. Plumbers and electricians don't usually take credit cards. I almost had to write one to pay a neighbor for half of a tree removal but we managed to use Venmo. I have checks for one account that are so old they have "19" printed at the start of the year field.

 

[COcheesehead]

I haven't written a check since 2019 but expect I will have to write some eventually. Plumbers and electricians don't usually take credit cards. I almost had to write one to pay a neighbor for half of a tree removal but we managed to use Venmo. I have checks for one account that are so old they have "19" printed at the start of the year field.

I find that a lot of the small contractors now send me an email with a payment link with several payment options including credit card.

 

[Flieger]

We write occasional checks. You guys made me take a look and the address on the ones we have are from 2 houses ago! Just ordered (80) with revised address.

Flieger

 

[Sue J]

The last time I needed checks (2015) I got them from Carousel Checks. Order Checks Online and Save Up to 80% off Bank Prices | Carousel Checks

I got the plain basic checks and with a promo code I got free shipping, so it was under $10 for 125 checks (and Deposit Tickets!). I like using Carousel because you don't have to buy a large amount, you can get a pack of just 25 checks if that's all you need.

We always write a check for our Property Taxes, twice a year. Anytime a company adds a fee to use a credit card I'll write a check, or use a debit card if I have one. Had to do one last week for a car repair. Last year we got a new garage door. The company needed 50% down payment and there was no fee so I used a credit card with 2% cash back. When the door arrived and got installed it was a new month and they had just started a credit card fee of 3% so I wrote a check for the remainder.

DH and I both needed to renew our drivers licenses this year. DMV adds 3% to use a credit card so we wrote checks.

But this is the most checks we've had to use in years!

 

[pacergal]

I still have about 4-5 books of checks. I write less than 50 per year, to charities, for property taxes, and now our housecleaners.

 

[REWahoo]

Full disclosure: Useless information follows.

Having spent the last three decades of my working life in the check printing industry I had a front-row seat to the rapid growth and even faster decline of US personal check volume.

When I started In the late 1970's the number of personal checks written in the US had grown from a trickle at the beginning of the century to an estimated annual volume of 30B. Volume grew rapidly over the next couple of decades until reaching a peak of 63B in 1996 when the impact of debit and credit cards, ACH and online banking triggered a slow decline in check use. Volume began a rapid decline beginning in 2000 down to a volume of 35B in 2005 (when I retired), then to 20B in 2015 and under 10B today.

 

[scrabbler1]

Like some others here, I write about 12-16 checks per year. Most of them are for charities, doctor copays, and dentists. I started my last book of 40 checks last year and I have 19 checks left. That will last me until well into next year, so there is no rush to order new ones, even only 100 of them which will last me about 6 or 7 years.

I get these special offers with those advertising mailers all the time, so when I see a good one I can order new ones, like I did back in late 2016 when 100 checks cost me only $5.50. These days, even one box of 100 ordinary checks goes for just over $20 but that's still about $3 a year.

One of my mutual funds still has checkwriting privileges, a handy feature. I have been in that fund for 31 years and have written 19 checks, so I have done a free check reorder a few times (10-20 checks). Another mutual fund (different company) also had C/W but they took it away from me about 10 years ago.

 

[Out of Steam]

With new surcharges being imposed for paying with a credit card, I've written a couple of checks for home maintenance work lately.

 

[OldShooter]

Free checks and QCD checks from Schwab. I write checks to the wine store guy to save him the credit card fees. Checks for RE taxes. Mostly I use Schwab bill-pay with many payments set to automatic.

No interest is the apps like Zelle and nothing ever on my phone or tablet that has to do with bank/brokerage accounts or pseudo-cash payments. Not even bank/brokerage phone numbers.

 

[disneysteve]

These days, even one box of 100 ordinary checks goes for just over $20 but that's still about $3 a year.

Walmart, 120 basic checks are $12.75 plus tax and stuff, so about $16-17 total. My order of decorated checks was $19.31 total. Checks are quite cheap.

 

[AudiDudi]

<snip> I thought cash was legal tender and had to be accepted anywhere to pay for merchandise, otherwise what is it good for?

I had a huge argument with City Hall several years ago as they would not take cash. I researched it and could find nothing that required them to accept cash.

 

[AudiDudi]

They're a PITA when waiting in the checkout line for an old guy/gal to write out. And then go to their check register to record it.

And they wait until they are told the amount before even taking out the check book to begin writing it

 

[jim584672]

Only 4 a year for me (county and school taxes), only because it is cheaper to pay by check vs. the fee they want to do it online.

 

[HarveyS]

Made me look.... in the last 50 months (since 1/1/2022) I have written 11 personal checks. All but one for gifts. I have 6 accounts that I could draw checks on, but only have a checkbook for one. Just my name - no address on the checks so they can carry-on even when I move.

 

[MC Rider]

Maybe 5 checks in the last year. To handyman and such. The regular bills are all on autopay. Property taxes paid online. Groceries etc with CC, that is on autopay for the full amount monthly.

 

[Lorenzo]

Most recent check was to the accountant for tax return preparation. It's possible they take Zelle transfers, but they have never mentioned it. Before that, it was a check to a contractor for doing some remodeling work. Their invoice said a check could be mailed to their address and that payments by credit card would incur a 3% surcharge. No mention of Zelle or other electronic transfers. I guess we still need to have a few paper checks each year.

 

[Pointby2]

I have about 50 checks still from our brokerage checking account and probably another 50 from our Wells Fargo checking account. I think that's gonna be a lifetime worth of checks for us.

 

[disneysteve]

Only 4 a year for me (county and school taxes), only because it is cheaper to pay by check vs. the fee they want to do it online.

I used to pay property and sewer taxes by check but discovered that the fee to pay online is only 99 cents. Now that a stamp costs 78 cents it's a no-brainer. For 21 cents, I get instant confirmation that my payment was received and don't need to write a check and mail it (and buy an envelope). No worries about checks getting lost in the mail or arriving late. I wouldn't pay 3% to do it but at 21 cents it's a bargain.

 

[disneysteve]

Most recent check was to the accountant for tax return preparation. It's possible they take Zelle transfers, but they have never mentioned it. Before that, it was a check to a contractor for doing some remodeling work. Their invoice said a check could be mailed to their address and that payments by credit card would incur a 3% surcharge. No mention of Zelle or other electronic transfers. I guess we still need to have a few paper checks each year.

Most likely you could use your online banking to pay them. The bank sends a paper check for you. That's how I pay our lawn guy. No fee for that and he hasn't complained.

 

[MC Rider]

I used to pay property and sewer taxes by check but discovered that the fee to pay online is only 99 cents.

My county you can pay online with 3% add for CC or no add for "bank check", aka punch in your bank routing numbers. Never had a problem with the bank check. i would pay the 0.99 in your situation.

 

[jazz4cash]

Only 4 a year for me (county and school taxes), only because it is cheaper to pay by check vs. the fee they want to do it online.

My county only charges 1.49 to ACH funds from my account and I get instant proof of payment vs paying ~50 cents for a stamp and hoping the check gets posted on time. I used to drive 1.5 hrs round trip to the county clerk’s office 2x per year and stand in line.