“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”

Internet is wonderful for many many things.  However, having always used a paper check register (the kind that comes with the box of your checks), is a personal preference. You can ask for one at your bank.  You can also make your own either on your computer or on paper.

Understandably, clicking a button, and getting your latest information at a glance is a time saver, and that’s a good thing to keep if it’s how you’ve set up your bank, but having a backup of a paper check register or spreadsheet is a good idea.  Actually, it’s the only way I do my banking, the only way I’ve ever done it. And….I have never paid a service charge or an overdraft charge…. ever.

Online Example: You have $500.00 in your checking account.  You pay a couple bills, and Tom’s birthday is coming up.  You write a check for $50.00, but Tom puts the card and check in a drawer, where it sits until Tom cashes the check two months later. But the $50.00 still shows in your online account as part of the balance of ‘being there’.  It shows in the Ending Balance (because it hasn’t left your account yet).

Now you pay another bill, and because you think you have what the ending balance shows, you write yet another small check.  But no sooner do you do that, when Tom finally cashes his birthday check.  You get an overdraft charge, because the last bill you paid, really didn’t have enough money to cover it, because Tom cashed his check just before you paid that bill.  You are now hit with an overdraft charge.

This happens too if you get a paper statement, but if you are diligent about keeping your paper check register/spreadsheet up to date (and always check your addition and subtraction figures), you’re all set. The balance you show in your paper check register is what you have in your account….. because you have already deducted Tom’s $50. check two months ago.

Check Register Example:  You have $500.00 in your account, and as you write a check out, you deduct it immediately from your register. The balance you now show is the money left after paying out the check(s) you’ve written out.  You write Tom’s birthday check, and immediately deduct $50.00 from the running balance you show…. Tom can leave his check in the drawer for a year, that’s okay.  You have already deducted it, so what shows as your balance is what is there.  You won’t write out that last small check, because you know what you actually have, because you deducted Tom’s check two months ago.  Once you deduct the amount you paid out, that money ‘isn’t there’.  No overdraft fees involved.  Simple. Old fashioned, but it works.

You can still use online banking if you prefer to pay your bills without using paper checks, but you can also, as a back-up, use a paper register.  And, if you’re diligent… writing in the check register whatever you’re paying online as you are doing it, the balance in the paper check register is the amount you have left after paying your bills.  Or if you choose to make a spreadsheet as a register, just a click to update your payments will be the amount you actually have in your account. If you’ve ever paid an overdraft fee, this will stop those wasted expenses. Bank fees are yet another waste of your hard earned money, you get nothing for it… well, maybe a headache and stress.