Money management question....debate at home!
Jazzyjules71
Posts: 150 Member
in Chit-Chat
I am wondering who out there still keeps a check register....and accurately maintains it. My boyfriend and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum on whether or not to maintain a check register (or account register to be more accurate), when in this day and age you have online banking updated daily, and sites like mint.com to download transactions and catagorize them.
I still think you need to have a register, to look at it, plan , know what's coming and going......and have record of it. But when I tried to defend my opinion, I sort of realized that if you have that online, who really needs it? But I still think I need to have one.
Would love input on that, and any comments about difference of opinion in managing money between couples!
How does this relate to weight? Well I have a slight "self control" issue, and along with trying to retrain my mind in not splurging on food.......I'm also trying to restrain to not splurge with money!
I still think you need to have a register, to look at it, plan , know what's coming and going......and have record of it. But when I tried to defend my opinion, I sort of realized that if you have that online, who really needs it? But I still think I need to have one.
Would love input on that, and any comments about difference of opinion in managing money between couples!
How does this relate to weight? Well I have a slight "self control" issue, and along with trying to retrain my mind in not splurging on food.......I'm also trying to restrain to not splurge with money!
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Replies
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I am wondering who out there still keeps a check register....and accurately maintains it. My boyfriend and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum on whether or not to maintain a check register (or account register to be more accurate), when in this day and age you have online banking updated daily, and sites like mint.com to download transactions and catagorize them.
I still think you need to have a register, to look at it, plan , know what's coming and going......and have record of it. But when I tried to defend my opinion, I sort of realized that if you have that online, who really needs it? But I still think I need to have one.
Would love input on that, and any comments about difference of opinion in managing money between couples!
How does this relate to weight? Well I have a slight "self control" issue, and along with trying to retrain my mind in not splurging on food.......I'm also trying to restrain to not splurge with money!
I never have. Ever. LOL. Not in the entire 22 years I've had a bank account. Maybe for the first month or so.
ETA - but I use a budget program these days to plan everything out, so it's pretty much in there now.0 -
My fiance knows exactly how much he has, because he bank does it the second he withdraws something out. My bank takes 3 days for anything to process, and I try to keep it all straight in my head. I don't keep a log....but I should.0
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Just me. I like the checkbook. Don't like online, don't trust it and for me the old fashioned way is faster and easier. I like buying stamps and put my bills in the mail. Sometimes I do pay by phone if there is no fee.0
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I'm an accountant. And I don't keep a check register of any kind.0
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My wife takes advantage of many online options for managing our money - scheduled payments, email alerts, etc. Still, she has an excel spreadsheet which she uses to aggregate all of that information. There have been several instances where she caught double charges, overcharges, and other issues, because they showed up as discrepancies on her spreadsheet. Its been that way for many years, and it works great for us.
As much as I enjoy the convenience of having information readily available online, I would not trust a single entity, such as mint.com, to oversee all of our varied financial transactions.0 -
We solved it by having seperate accounts, I have about 65% of the bills she has 35% and we each have our own money. I dont keep a check book she writes everything down.0
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I am 28, and I have never used a check register. I use online banking especially with the app on my phone. Never had an issue. I do my budgeting via my bank app or on the computer.0
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I use Quicken and have been doing online banking for 15 years or so. I use Quicken to record everything and project my spending and income for the next 12 months out.0
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I'm an accountant. And I don't keep a check register of any kind.
Ditto. I do go online almost every day to look at my accounts.0 -
Use mint.com. I can plan much easier using that than I can with a check register.0
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I do it religiously now and save so much money taking the money out of each paycheck to pay for monthly bills!0
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I keep a very detailed spreadsheet/budget. I know where every red cent is at every second of the day. Obsessive much? All it takes is one time as the victim of identity theft and you get a little crazy about your bank account. On the flip side, I only make about 4 payments a month out of my bank account so it's pretty easy to maintain.0
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I do. I don't use checks, but I still use the hand written register to balance my account. I have bills that are auto scheduled, and if I don't deduct everything on the register I'll think I have money in my account. It keeps me accountable and in the loop
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As a personal banker who regularly deals with people who keep a check register despite rarely even using checks...STOP IT. lol.
Seriously...your math is going to add up differently because you're recording transactions at a different time than the bank is. While in the end it will all equal out it can create some ridiculously confusing messes. I don't know how many times I've had to go through someones register for them to find out where the information isn't adding up. Every single time it's been an error in their own math.
Let the computers do it for you. I promise when it comes to math a computer works much better than your brain.0 -
I work in Excel all day long so I use a spreadsheet as my check register.0
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I use a check register, I like to be able to see how much I have and not just guess. I used to do that but than I kept over drawing my account. Not fun!0
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I keep my check register updated although I pay most of my bills on line. I like to see how much money I have in my checking account without having to log in my PC (no smart phones for me). My husband pays everything on line and has quick books, so he doesn't keep his register updated.
Yes, we do have separate accounts but they are in both of our names. It works for us.
Edited to add that I balance the checkbook every month and most of the time the bank statement shows that the bank has more money that what my check register shows. I like that!0 -
I'm an accountant. And I don't keep a check register of any kind.
I'm an accountant too and I do. I have an excel spreadsheet for my register and another for my 3-year budget forecasts. I also have an entire workbook where I list monthly expenses by category, i.e. housing, utilities, tuition, etc. (Part of it might also be control issues.)0 -
I haven't used a check register in a long time - but I almost never write checks anymore. Used Quicken for many years, but finally decided its budgeting functions were too weak. Tried Mint, but don't like its budgeting any better. Now I use YNAB (You Need a Budget), which is the best budgeting software available, IMHO.0
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Thanks everyone for the responses! Looks like I should climb out of my cave and maybe give it up! I like the idea of an excel spreadsheet, but don't know if I could maintain it.
Thanks for the tips, my boyfriend will be glad to hear he won this debate! lol0 -
I’m old fashioned but I look at my accounts to what is left, where I live not everything gets sent thru daily. So if I spent it I take it off on the register.. I am always ahead of the bank. I have used this for 30+ years and have yet to have an overdraft...
I have other friends who also use a register and haven’t had one either.
I stick with simple things that work.
I have several friends who go with the daily account online balance and 'forget' something they spent and then pay enormous bank and overdraft fees.. More than once and SEVERAL friends.. Let the bank have a computer glitch and you will pay!! You may get reimbursed eventually but.... You wont have that money til its all straightened out..
I like what works for me... it’s simple and it works..0 -
I am a total freak about this! In my home, I am the finance person because I HAVE TO KNOW down to the penny where everything is. I am a planner by nature and I can't plan for things without having the money waiting there for me to spend. My husband has had to learn that when I say we don't have money, I mean we don't have money for that particular thing because it wasn't in my budget. I know when he spends money (not that he isn't "allowed") because I check the bank records with my records at least once a day. It has helped us tremendously, though. There have been charges I caught and got corrected before it even cleared the bank! Also, for someone on a budget, it is the ONLY way to know where every dollar is going. I use Quicken, my online banking, and a couple of excel spreadsheets so that I know exactly what we have coming in, when it got here, and how it will be spent/saved. (I can even tell you exactly how much we spent on our bills two years ago because I like to see the trends!)0
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we use it to keep track some online payment take a few days to register and our debit card usually takes at least a few hours up to a day or two to register. we hardly ever use checks but when we do it can really throw us off if w don't track it. just what we do though, i know plenty of people who don't.0
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My husband and I use an amazing app/website to manage out accounts... ClearCheckbook.com It has a smartphone app that we both have. You can put in there any accounts that you have and its just a checkbook. We have it set up to automatically add in our paychecks, and take out money for all of our bills on each payday. The bills don't get automatically paid, they're just all accounted for so that the only money we see active in our account, is money that we can use for extra things that aren't bills. So each month we don't really have to worry because we know that all of our bills will get paid with no problem. Because it syncs to both of our phones, if one of us spends money and marks it down right away, the other knows that instant what the other spent, no waiting around to get to a computer to check the bank site online. Great app/site, HIGHLY suggest it.0
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I do it religiously now and save so much money taking the money out of each paycheck to pay for monthly bills!
Can you explain this a little, you save money by taking the money out of each paycheck to pay for monthly bills? What do you mean? I mean any chance for me to save money is great!! 0 -
I keep a very detailed spreadsheet/budget. I know where every red cent is at every second of the day. Obsessive much? All it takes is one time as the victim of identity theft and you get a little crazy about your bank account. On the flip side, I only make about 4 payments a month out of my bank account so it's pretty easy to maintain.
Do you have to manually enter, or does it import some how?0 -
YES! (I was a banker for 5 years, and had this conversation with my customers many time!)
So...I use Mint, have spreadsheets and my bank has a mobile app...all that said, a register (weather an old fashioned check register, spreadsheet, budgeting tool like Mint) is essential ESPECIALLY if you write checks and/or don't necessarily carry a high balance.
Banks make mistakes, contrary to popular belief, ALL the time...they just usually fix them before you notice.
So, I think you are absolutely right...keeping an account regster is essential so YOU know how much YOU have in YOUR account AT ALL TIMES. That's your responsibility, not the bank's...and who else should have complete control over your money (well besides your spouse 0 -
I used Quicken for years on my computer but then my computer kept crashing and I kept losing my info....so....that sent me for a online search for one that I could use and I found clearcheckbook.com that I can use wherever I have computer access and I won't lose my info if my computer crashes again. Best thing...I don't have any personal info in there like bank acct numbers or anything. So it's a check register, but it's an online one! We have so many payments coming in and out on a regular basis that I would never keep it straight otherwise!!!0
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I keep a very detailed spreadsheet/budget. I know where every red cent is at every second of the day. Obsessive much? All it takes is one time as the victim of identity theft and you get a little crazy about your bank account. On the flip side, I only make about 4 payments a month out of my bank account so it's pretty easy to maintain.
Do you have to manually enter, or does it import some how?
I manually enter it. My nickname is "the tracker". I log things first thing in the morning so it isn't cumbersome. I lay out the budget for the entire year so I know what I'm working with.0 -
I still keep one
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