I am a balancer. I balance my checkbook every night. My Dh and I have a place on our computer desk where we keep the days receipts, so that I can balance the checkbook every night. It just something that was instilled in my DH and myself since birth. (our kids do the same thing when they spend out of their bank book)

I was just wondering how many of us are like this. I wish I was one of those ppl that can just do it in their head, but alas, I need it in black and white!!

__________________
Vicki


TLJ Women united in Spirit!

I usually know within $10 what is in our account all the time. I balance it at least 2 x a week. It used to be more before I started school. I write all the checks and handle all the bills for our family. Hubby usually will ask me the balance if he is going to be buying something. He just works SO much that he doesnt have time to keep up with the bills. He used to be the one to handle them when we were first married but I have taken over.


Darlene

__________________
Sell crazy some place else, we are all stocked up here.

I am a balancer but dh is not and he does the bills so our check book has never been balance on paper. He uses quicken and think that is the same.

Oh well I am not too worried

To the PENNY. I balance daily as well.

I once called Joey on his cell and said " $19 for lunch at the Olive Garden??" He said " I'm not even to my CAR yet!!"


LOL!

lol @ cici.

I balance 2 or 3 times a day and to the penny.


but my real answer to the question "do you know what you have in the bank right now?" is

NOT NEARLY ENOUGH!!

__________________
SPJRNTGADL!

Do you know what you have in the bank right now??

Not exactly....but I know it's alot! LMAO

If you asked me what are balances were, I could tell you within about $100 of each one. I do visit the banking sites daily for transferring, paying, etc. I don't "balance". I really don't keep a checkbook register. My register is my online account information. We have savings accounts at one bank, 3 regular accounts at another and another 2 at a credit union so I think knowing within $100 is pretty good I also know what we owe on credit cards as I visit the cc site daily to ensure I am being billed correctly and checking for fraudulent charges (never can be too proactive).

__________________
Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

I've done that too, have used online banking to see when my husband might be close to getting home!

I use Quicken, almost every day. My husband will ask how much is available and I end up going into detail on what is pending, needs to be paid, etc and he gets confused lol.. he's the type to log in to online banking, see $X available and to him that means there's $X to spend! Can't see the checks and things not yet paid like that! I'm hoping to get my brother and sister using Quicken too.

I am a big time balancer......I check online at least twice a day.....first thing in the morning and in the evening.

__________________
"You can never really pay back. You can only pay forward."

Wayne Woodrow “Woody” Hayes

O-H-I-O

I don't balance the check book at all. Heh. I just can't live like that. LOL. Dagnabbit, I wish there was a "NEVER" option on the poll.

I do check my bank and credit card accounts online several times a week and keep a running total in my head. Luckily, I'm good at remembering that kind of thing since I can't seem to remember the kids' names!

My husband is lowkey about it as well. We used to keep a check register and balance it each time a check was written but now, I use the credit card for everything.

Like smurf, I know what each account has within $100.

I honestly don't understand daily balancing. I am financially responsible to a fault, but have am totally unfamiliar with the need for balancing a bank account on a daily basis. Is it because I don't use debit cards? Is it because there is no 3-6 months liquid savings on hand as most sources would advise? Can someone (of the 50% of those who do this) explain the value of balancing an account on a daily basis????

cj/

Obsession. At least in my case lol

no 3 month liquid savings for us... matter of fact, we are paycheck to paycheck now that I get unemployment!

2-3x daily keeps us in check...there are so many things that dh would LOVE to own but I remind him many times that we can't afford it.

Granted, we have absolutely NO credit cards, so ... that's always a plus I think...

__________________
SPJRNTGADL!

We have no credit card debt however, we do have two credit cards. We do use our debit cards daily and we have plenty of savings. Also, we have paid off our cars and house as well. It came with alot of financial planning on our part. I have been balancing since I was 8 years old, my husband as well. I also have a Type A personality. I don't put things off ever. So, thats why I do a daily balance. My grandmother retired as the Vice-president from a major bank and it was instilled and ingrained in my mother and uncle and then me and my cousins and now our children you always keep a daily balance. It just how I was raised. Also, it must work b/c no one in our family has ever had any financial problems.

__________________
Vicki


TLJ Women united in Spirit!

I like watching our money grow We have about 4 months put away but I like to make sure what's going on. With identify theft, etc, you can't be too proactive; I will see a bogus charge or problem right away instead of weeks later after getting my statement

__________________
Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

Thats a great point!!

__________________
Vicki


TLJ Women united in Spirit!

Same here. I am an OCD Control freak. We have a solid YEAR in savings, so that is not the reason. We do not use cash or have a checkbook, we use ONLY debit cards and pay all of our bills through online banking. Joey never remembers to tell me what he spent or where, so checking the account is the only way I can keep track of what is deducted from our account.

And I TA with Smurf. I have had my debit card number compromised no less than six times. So, I am always on the lookout!

What's so funny is that I have NEVER used a debit card LOL I always use credit so I can get rewards (of coarse that only works if you pay off every month and I do)

__________________
Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

You didn't have a category for me. I NEVER balance my checkbook. We live and breathe by our debit cards. My DH hates the fact that I can see what he's spent before he even leaves the establishment....lol

We pay off our credit cards every month. I always know a ballpark amount of what has been charged and what the balances are. We have never been in financial trouble either (knock on wood).

I never use debit cards either. We have three credit cards... I love the rewards on the three cards that we use! I don't go out of my way to spend extra on the cards in order to get the rewards. They are a fun bonus.

I actually sit down and balance it once a month.

But I check it online every morning (along with my credit card statement) and subtract every check I write right then or shortly thereafter (if a calculator isn't handy).

I always know how much I have or very close to it.

Lisa

__________________
"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

My Husband can tell you to the PENNY whats in HIS checking account. He pays all the bills.. Now I have a Checking account and can tell you with in a 1.00 or 2.00 whats in mine. Then we have a Checking account together, ( Small Balance we don't use this account, mainly just drop a few dollars in ever so of fen, I add any refund checks to it as they come in, ect )...

I DON'T carry a checkbook with me, I use my debit card for anything I might need, I also earn points back on MY MONEY. kinda of cool that a bank offers this.

Credit Cards LOL. Too many to count and way too much on the balances. We use them for anything we need, Doctor visit ( I have no insurance ), Rx's, Food, Gas, Clothing. ect ect.

We carry balances on each one. Some we don't owe much on, other's we do. Depends on which card and whats been placed on it. We just about got my Disney Visa paid off, less than 1000.00 from a whopping 7,000 balance..... Funny how we all seem to hate these plastic Little things till we have a Hurricane and NO ONE will take a check from you even if you shopped there for over 10 years, This has happen to us 2 times in last 4years Ivan and then Katrina. I have to say I love my Plastic.. But can and does become a 2 edge sword at times.

__________________
MyCoupons Is #1 for Holiday Shopping

Cuthie and sexysmurf - I'm with you guys. Charge everything on my fee-free amazon and marriott visas so that I get my freebies and the chance to borrow money for free for awhile (from purchase date to payment due date) Pay off every month. Take out some money for pocket change every couple of weeks. Don't use checks or debit cards for the above reason. Just doesn't make sense when I get get more out of every purchase that I'd be making anyways. Not only financially sound, but financially savvy KWIM?

cj/

I know what I exactly have in my bank account at all time.
dh get spaid twice a month ,and I pay bill twice a month,take enough cash twice a month and never use my debit car or checks ....

i am really interested in the ING account but I am wondering : is it safe? why would you get audited for transfering your funds?
put all those "stupid " questions on the fact that I had 2 hours of sleep and lack of a working coffee maker.....

__________________
By the time you make ends meet, they move the ends

We have 3 bank accounts so I reconcile our bank accounts once a month. I could not image doing it more than that, but we don't use debit cards or write many checks. I can tell you about what is in each one but not to the penny.

But I do call up my dh and quiz him on what his charges are on his Visa bill!

Two of our "banks" are credit unions and we get cashback on our debit purchases. You guys should look into those as well.

__________________
Vicki


TLJ Women united in Spirit!

I just took over the bills this week. dh has done a wonderful job thusfar. I am getting ready to start the dave ramesy with our bills..I'm psyched

__________________
Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like. - Will Rogers

Our banking is with HSBC.

I reconcile my checking account online every morning. I have the HSBC website as an icon on my AOL toolbar so it only takes me about two minutes to do

We have the HSBC online savings account which is currently paying 5.05% interest so I'm very happy with that. I like that it doesn't require a minimum balance.

We use a Citi credit card for absolutely everything possible to get the rewards. We don't carry a balance so it works well for us.

I don't check daily. We always have money in the bank for what we need, and I'm pretty much the only one using the joint checking account so I pretty much know what is in there. DH has his own checking acct. that is his money for lunch or whatever. I just whip out my debit card and swipe away!!!!

Now, if you were talking stocks and such, well, now, that I do like to check a bit more frequently, just to see how things are growing!!!

__________________
Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

Never here too. I check daily on line though to make sure nothing is "wrong". I don't feel like I need to balance it when I can check it at any moment on line. I haven't balanced the checkbook in probably 12 years.

In the bank right now is a whopping $27.19 That has to last til DH gets paid a week from Monday. (Actually, it's usually in the bank Saturday... but payday is officially Monday). But at least all the bills are current and we just bought gas and groceries today.

I don't balance the checkbook everyday, but I have to do it frequently during the week or something will bounce.

__________________
I'm in a constant search for the next great freebie or deal.

Never. I use checks about twice a year and have never used a debit card.

I absolutly love your honesty!!

__________________
Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like. - Will Rogers

I never balance my checkbook either

I never balance either. I guess being single, so the only person spending out of my account, makes it easy. I never write checks (one or two a year maybe), and pay everything with my debit card. I just check my account online every day or two for a quick glance to make sure everything is correct. I don't see any point in doing anything other than that (transactions post immediately). I don't have much money, and don't spend much money. I also don't have any credit cards. I tend to overspend and buy things I don't really need when I have credit cards, and I'm much more careful and aware of my finances when I only spend what I actually have.

Of course, back before the internet, online banking and debit cards, I rarely balanced my checkbook. I should have, but I didn't.

I use my debit for almost everything, never balance my checkbook, never keep a register and know within $100-$150 how much I have. I tried to balance but got to frustrated so I stopped. I do check my online site once a week to make sure that my memory is not to far off.

__________________
Laura
Please visit my blog
http://mylifeinlaurasworld.blogspot.com/

I have a good ballpark estimate of what is in each of our accounts but I can't tell you the exact amound and I haven't balanced my checkbooks/bank account in years.
I have on-line banking for the two accounts we use most and I can look at the balances pretty much 24/7. Our spending habits are pretty regular and I always double check before making a large purchase, but I really don't stress about the day to day balances. I also have money taken out each time DH gets paid and it goes directly to savings. What is left is what we can spend.

Sarah.........