Do you balance your bank account?

[+Warwagon MVC]

How often do people here balance their bank accounts? 

 

Balancing a account means you've recorded all additions (deposits) made to your account and subtractions (withdrawals). Each deposit and withdrawal is called a transaction. The purpose for balancing a checkbook is to know how much actual money you have in your checking account at any given time.

 

The point of balancing or reconciling your checking account is to make sure you and the bank agree on how much money is in your account. That means you have to keep a record of your spending. The easiest way to do this is to write every transaction in your checking account register when the transaction takes place and keep a running balance

-- https://www.daveramsey.com

 

Update : 5/31/2017

 

I added a 3rd Question, from a conversation I had at the local Eagles club, where we were talking about Balancing accounts. I was surprised most of them were content with getting "Close" by a few dollars but not actually balancing to the penny!

[GotBored]

What do you mean by balance your bank account?

 

I check the balance maybe 2-3 times a week via my banks banking app on mobile but if you mean clear credit card debt on a credit card account I never do as I only have a joint debit/credit card and only use what I already have in the account.

If I need to make a large purchase I save up and then make a purchase rather than purchasing before I have the funds.

[+Warwagon MVC]

1 hour ago, GotBored said:

What do you mean by balance your bank account?

 

I check the balance maybe 2-3 times a week via my banks banking app on mobile but if you mean clear credit card debt on a credit card account I never do as I only have a joint debit/credit card and only use what I already have in the account.

If I need to make a large purchase I save up and then make a purchase rather than purchasing before I have the funds.

Added an explanation to he first post.

[tsupersonic]

Nah, I don't see a point in doing this in the digital age. I keep a close on my finance (bills out every month), but that's about it.

[cork1958]

Absolutely, I do! Usually a couple times a week.

 

Don't know how many people I know that have had a totally screwed up accounts because of being to lazy to keep track in the register. Anyone that doesn't balance it either has to much money anyway, or likes asking for trouble.

[Louisifer]

Is this a US thing?  Over here in the UK people only use cheques if they don't have the money and nowhere accepts them. every bank here offers online banking so you can see every transaction as soon as it happens to your account.

[+Warwagon MVC]

3 minutes ago, Louisifer said:

Is this a US thing?  Over here in the UK people only use cheques if they don't have the money and nowhere accepts them. every bank here offers online banking so you can see every transaction as soon as it happens to your account.

I only write 1 check a month. But I still download my bank statement into quickbooks and balance it every month. It's great, because after I do that i can run all sorts of reports to find out how much money I spent in X location.

[+rdlenk Subscriber²]

6 minutes ago, Louisifer said:

Is this a US thing?  Over here in the UK people only use cheques if they don't have the money and nowhere accepts them. every bank here offers online banking so you can see every transaction as soon as it happens to your account.

I don't use cheques at all but I still balance my accounts. Doesn't even matter if it is a checking account or credit account. I always track my own expenses and then make sure things match up to what my bank say online. I have caught a few bad transactions this way but more importantly it allows me to forecast exactly how much money is the in the account or going to be in the account so that I can plan for other expenses or how much should go over to savings.

 

I tried using Quickbooks once but I could never get it to do what I wanted.

[Gotenks98]

Nope, too much effort now that I am married. When I was single I was able to do it but now I just kind of estimate. Its worked out so far. If I see funds getting low I just move some from another account and move it back on pay day.

[+virtorio MVC]

I use a spreadsheet to manage upcoming bills/fixed expenses but I don't keep track of every day spending. If I need to know how much money I have, I look at my bank account (online/mobile app). 

[Nashy]

No.  I have a mobile phone, it has a bank app, it tells me how much money I have and where I spent the money I had.

 

As for cheques.  Given I'm under the age of 30, I don't use one.  I'm sure our work cheque book is balanced on Quicken.

[devHead]

Well, I check my bank account daily, especially after making any purchases to see that it gets posted and see what the remaining balance is.  My wife keeps a spreadsheet of purchases so we know how much we're spending on groceries and other household items.  But the site itself keeps a register of every transaction, as well as a running total.  Plus, there's a page to create a budget and track my spending according to categories, so I can see where my money is going each month. Beyond that, there is no balancing done by some other application.  I tried Quicken a few years back, but didn't really see that it offered me anything more than what my bank already did online for free.  

 

Back in the day, there was a need to balance a checkbook to make sure that you weren't writing more checks than you had money in your account.  But I a) don't write any checks (my bank will issue a check if a payee has no method for receiving electronic payments), and 2) I always know how much is in my account, thanks to the Internet.

[devHead]

18 minutes ago, warwagon said:

I only write 1 check a month. But I still download my bank statement into quickbooks and balance it every month. It's great, because after I do that i can run all sorts of reports to find out how much money I spent in X location.

See, my bank has all those features online.  There's no need for me to download it into another app that will do the same thing they're already doing.  But that's my bank. (Wells Fargo)

[devHead]

27 minutes ago, Louisifer said:

Is this a US thing?  Over here in the UK people only use cheques if they don't have the money and nowhere accepts them. every bank here offers online banking so you can see every transaction as soon as it happens to your account.

I think checks are more of a US thing than in other countries.  When I lived in Bulgaria, there was no concept of personal checks and checkbooks.  And of course, all ATM bank cards had chips in them (something that is just now coming to the US).  But I reckon most banks nowadays have good online features.

[+Warwagon MVC]

9 minutes ago, devHead said:

See, my bank has all those features online.  There's no need for me to download it into another app that will do the same thing they're already doing.  But that's my bank. (Wells Fargo)

True, but put it in quickbooks along side my business so come tax time all the ducks are in a row.

 

As far as checks go, yes I still carry a checkbook in my back pocket along with my wallet. Though my wallet has my debit card. So if I forget my wallet I can still write checks. If I forget both of those at home, I still have a stash of money in my car for emergencies. Not a lot, mostly just enough to fill up my car with gas.

 

It came in handy one day. After doing my deposits I stopped at the local coffee shop for a mocha. but then realized both my checkbook and my wallet were at home! DOH! So I took $4 out of my emergency cash supply, which I replaced once I got home.

[devHead]

Just now, warwagon said:

True, but put it in quickbooks along side my business so come tax time all the ducks are in a row.

Well, if you have a business, then I can see the usefulness of that.

[techbeck]

I keep track of my funds.  If I am off, I dont  bother spending the time figuring out the mistake.  I know it is my error.  I have alerts on my account to notify me of any transactions of $1 or more.

[+Warwagon MVC]

6 minutes ago, techbeck said:

I keep track of my funds.  If I am off, I dont  bother spending the time figuring out the mistake.  I know it is my error.  I have alerts on my account to notify me of any transactions of $1 or more.

in my case if my checking account doesn't balance I download the bank statements and go back month by month until I find a month were I balance, then step it forward, crossing off item by item off the bank statement until I find the error. It's actually really fun, in a sick and twisted kind of way. But it's a great feeling to find the error and to balance at the bottom. My last big balance mystery, was an entry in my checking for a reimbursement  check from a friend. It came in on the import but accidentally got deleted as I was deleting a different deposit, so I was off by $45.

[techbeck]

13 minutes ago, warwagon said:

in my case if my checking account doesn't balance I download the bank statements and go back month by month until I find a month were I balance, then step it forward, crossing off item by item off the bank statement until I find the error. It's actually really fun, in a sick and twisted kind of way. But it's a great feeling to find the error and to balance at the bottom. My last big balance mystery, was an entry in my checking for a reimbursement  check from a friend. It came in on the import but accidentally got deleted as I was deleting a different deposit, so I was off by $45.

If I am off by a hundred or more, I may spend more time looking for it.  But 20 bucks here and there....no.  I will also keep track of my checks.  I have a car payment from a previous employer who screwed me over.  MY little way of making them work a little harder for my money.    I could easily pay electronically.  Plus, I bought way to many checks several years back.  Anyway, I make sure I do not miss a check.

 

And fun, no. Rather get a boot to the head.

[cork1958]

8 hours ago, warwagon said:

I only write 1 check a month. But I still download my bank statement into quickbooks and balance it every month. It's great, because after I do that i can run all sorts of reports to find out how much money I spent in X location.

I pretty much only write 1 check a month also but occasionally have a doctor bill come in that I pay with check in the good ol' snail mail.

 

Will NEVER use an app on a phone for checking account or will never simply sign into my bank account on a phone. Just don't trust that crap enough, especially seeing as phones almost never get any security updates. I think people are way to lax about that stuff. 

[Tomo]

I just log on every few days and check that I know what each transaction is.

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

I started to balance my checkbook when I paid my Maryland State Income Tax and the check Bounced. That was in 1968 so ever since.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Added a 3rd Question. I was going to create a poll, but then remembers I may have already created one.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

I don't need to balance my accounts. If I want to know how much money I have in them, I just log on and take a look.

 

It made sense in the past, but with Internet banking it became outdated and with the rise of smartphones and data connections the practice is now ancient.

 

Then again, I do know some people who are terrified of Internet banking, so I guess for those people it still makes sense.

[Draconian Guppy]

if by balancing you mean clearing out on month end to pay bills, then yes.