![]() ![]() What surprised me was how few of my friends balanced their checkbooks. "I'm not a college student living down to my last nickel or getting hit by $30 or $50 in overdrawn check fees." "In my case, my accounting system is pretty good, and I have a pretty good idea of where the balance should be," he said. Debits can be for such small amounts - even McDonald's, for example, now encourages people to use their debit cards when paying for a meal - that it is easy to lose track. ![]() Now, however, "keeping track of what's in a checking account is virtually impossible," he said. Before direct deposits and, particularly, debit cards, checkbook records consisted pretty much of deposits, cash withdrawals and checks written for largish sums. "Today's technology makes it so difficult," Professor Mandell said. If they have sufficient assets and overdraft protection, there's no real need to worry about balancing their checkbook."įor those who have a pretty good idea of what is in their account and how much they spend every month, laboriously going through every statement can be just a waste of time, he said. So is there a solution? There is, but it is not your typical stern admonishment from consumer advocates about managing your money to that last penny.Īs Lewis Mandell, a professor of finance and managerial economics at the State University of New York at Buffalo, sees it: "Some people don't need to balance their checkbooks. Great as he is in so many ways, he seems to have the same deficient gene as I in the checkbook area. Your bank account will thank you.It is no use turning it over to my husband. Just carve out the time to get back into the habit again or set a reminder on your phone so you don’t forget. It gets easier once this habit is built, but if you fall off the checkbook balancing train, don’t beat yourself up over it. All that matters is the fact that you’re doing it. Try one of The Summit’s easy budget tracker templates to get started. If it still doesn’t add up, or if there is a transaction you don’t recognize, give your financial institution a call to figure out what’s up.Īgain, it doesn’t matter if you take an old school pen-and-paper approach, use an app or an online spreadsheet. ![]() If it doesn’t, double-check your records for errors. This new amount you calculate should match the balance you have on your records. From your online account, subtract any purchases that haven’t cleared, and add any deposits that haven’t arrived yet. Okay, we promise it’s not that bad, but you’ll need to do a little math now. Leave it in your tracking, keep an eye on when it clears and update your records. The transaction probably just hasn’t hit your account yet–sometimes there’s a lag. Notice something that’s in your records but not listed on your online account? That doesn’t mean you didn’t spend that money. Does anything look off? You may have forgotten to log one of your purchases in your budgeting app. Review your receipts and transactions alongside your online credit union or bank account. Step 2) Compare your records with your statement. When you’re entering them in a Google Sheet or budgeting app, make sure to include how much you spent, what date you spent it on, and who/what business you paid. Save your receipts, whether they’re physical or electronic. Keeping good records is relatively easy and can save a lot of headaches down the road. Step 1) Keep good records of your spending. Taking the time to balance your account helps you catch mistakes and save money in the long run. We’ll admit, it sounds old school, but sometimes that’s a good thing! Even if you’re not logging all of your purchases in an old-fashioned checkbook, you should still track your spending through a Google Sheet or budgeting app you’ll get a lot of value from it. You may have heard your parents talking about balancing their checkbook, and rolled your eyes or LOL’d. ![]()
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