I don't write enough checks to bother, and pretty much every other transaction I make is electronic, so it registers in my app or online pretty much immediately.
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Why do Americans have to "balance their chequebook"?
- Thread starter Mildredop
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Well, every time you tear out a check the center of gravity shifts a bit.
I haven't had TV since the turn of the millenium ...
You guys must be stuck in a time warp.
Every person I know who doesn't have a TV makes sure that everyone else knows he doesn't have a TV.
(That includes me for six years when I didn't have a TV.)
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I wish I could respond, but I don't have a tv. And, I'm vegan. And, I'm a crossfitter. But, I religiously balance all my accounts.Every person I know who doesn't have a TV makes sure that everyone else knows he doesn't have a TV.
(That includes me for six years when I didn't have a TV.)
Oh, wait, I do have tv, but I want you to know I don't have cable, and I balance my accounts.
Nah, those aren't true... I drive a Prius, and I'm a software engineer.I think you forgot to mention that you are an engineer and drive an electric car.
These days there isn't even much delay with checks since it's as simple as scanning the check. Businesses can process checks periodically through the day so you can easily have a check clear same day. My local DMV has a bunch of warning signs mentioning this so people don't try and float the money.
I do that too. The spreadsheet serves as my to-do list, as far as paying bills is concerned. I map out two months at a time of regularly recurring income/expense items including reserves for roughly the outlay on stuff like groceries, lawn mowing etc and then fill in the paid-dates as I go along, or adjust the reserves and add entries replacing them by actual outlays.
And just in case I mess up... I keep a 500-buck reserve in the checking account that I don't show in my ledger. I started doing that after regular savings account interest rates sank so low it didn't bother me to let five hundred dollars sit idle, and in fact sometimes it's nice because I can hit on it temporarily if needed.
Two of my monthly bills and one quarterly one are from service providers who don't have online payment options. Those checks can sometimes take quite awhile to clear, so in the interim the bank's idea of my balance is higher than what it "really" is.
Just an observation on the "reconcile" vs. "balance" thing - it's not really the difference between formal accounting terms and the colloquial. I come from several generations of accountants - "balancing the books" is what they did on behalf of their clients. The Balance Sheet, of course, is a key document for investors. In traditional double-entry bookkeeping https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-entry_bookkeeping_system, the books are "in balance" when there's a corresponding debit for every credit - the debit column and credit column in the ledger book should have the same totals. If not, the books are not balanced - proof that the accountant still has work to do.
Wait. So you never verify that the beginning balance on a bank statement is the same as the ending balance on the prior statement, for instance? You just note that the transactions are as you made them and they're for the correct amounts?
280.85 June statement ending balance
---------
260.85 July statement starting balance
110.04 July 14 purchase at Ace Hardware
150.81 July statement ending balance
No worries, eh?
The probability of errors these days is so incredibly low... Personally, unless it's something glaringly obvious from skimming my statements, I have better things to do with my time.
I haven't done the "balancing the checkbook" routine since Bank of America made online banking through a secure web interface free in the middle 1990's. I right now know EXACTLY how much I have in the bank and whatever payments and check deposits have cleared.
The only time I do something akin to this is with my credit card, but then, I do have online access to all credit card balances and the online service tells me the due date to make a payment on the card (I usually zero the balance since I use the card so infrequently).
The only time I do something akin to this is with my credit card, but then, I do have online access to all credit card balances and the online service tells me the due date to make a payment on the card (I usually zero the balance since I use the card so infrequently).
I rarely write checks these days, but I initiate multiple payments in my financial software every month. My bank sends paper checks for some and pays others electronically, but that doesn't concern me as long as they reach the payee in time. I realize that I can do most of this on my bank's website, but financial applications make it easier to track and report on cash flow, and they're especially handy at tax time.
BTW, I spend very little time entering transactions. The majority, charges on my credit cards, are downloaded and classified for me. I just scan them periodically to be aware of what other family members are charging. Formal reconciliation of my checking account takes no more than five minutes a month.
BTW, I spend very little time entering transactions. The majority, charges on my credit cards, are downloaded and classified for me. I just scan them periodically to be aware of what other family members are charging. Formal reconciliation of my checking account takes no more than five minutes a month.
I typically schedule transactions at one time for the upcoming month from my credit union's Bill Pay
I don't write checks, but my Bill Pay will mail out checks to certain payees on my behalf
So I regularly reconcile my credit union's balance with my own records (not individual transactions) to ensure I don't have surprises
This keeps me from spending money now that I will need to cover my transactions I have scheduled
PS. Not sure why this is listed as "Americans" as I am sure it isn't limited just to the US. Not all Americans do it. And not everyone elsewhere 'doesn't do it'.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don't write checks, but my Bill Pay will mail out checks to certain payees on my behalf
So I regularly reconcile my credit union's balance with my own records (not individual transactions) to ensure I don't have surprises
This keeps me from spending money now that I will need to cover my transactions I have scheduled
PS. Not sure why this is listed as "Americans" as I am sure it isn't limited just to the US. Not all Americans do it. And not everyone elsewhere 'doesn't do it'.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Seems like that's not really much of a factor if you are monitoring activity through the bank's website, where it's basically a continuous stream without any statement divisions.