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I log into my bank's website every day, so no need to "balance" my checkbook.
But even before the days of the internet, I never balanced my checkbook. Just never interested me. I remember my mother fuming with frustration trying to balance the family checkbook and I didn't see what all the fuss was about (in classic single-earner working class families the wife writes checks on the husband's paycheck).
Not sure what that says about me psychologically!
Maybe it's saying -- it all works out and to be more laid back and relax about those pennies. I check my acct online too and all looks good.
I still use old fashioned paper check registers, it's what I am used to and comfortable with. And yes -- I balance to the penny. I enjoy it.
I also budgeted, and I liked always having the money I needed to pay the very big bills that come up like property tax.
When I was younger, I tried to talk people into my way of doing things, especially when I found they were always in monetary dire straits, but I found they didn't really appreciate my help. Just like I like to balance to the penny, and keep my financial ducks in a row, they preferred living on the edge financially speaking.
I believe, for the most part, we do what we see our parents do. My parents budgeted and kept tight reins on their spending, but still very much enjoyed life. My husband's parents did much the same, and we mirrored that, as did our siblings. My free spending friends learned from their parents spend it when you got it! and it works for them. I've had people ask me how we got where we are, and I will tell them, and I can see the minute I start talking they zone out. It is what it is.
I didn't learn from my parents, I kinda had to make it up as I went. I fouled up my first checking account back in the late 90's something bad. But then determined to do better with the next one (especially since I had to go through a hassle to repay my old overdraft and square things up with the old bank from a couple years back...) I was like 18-20, you live and learn. But then later I went to college for accounting and that made a huge difference. I used a big ledger book for my accounts for a while, then eventually moved it into spreadsheets instead. I now use no paper records, it's all on computers, saved online, backed up. Figure if the grid ever goes down the financial system, which is just numbers on screens anymore, is effed anyhow right?
I even have my household finances sorted into custom reports that are similar to a business's financial reports, Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cashflows, etc. It's tailored to my needs but based on those concepts. My budget, which is just an easily modifiable framework of what I expect to have coming and going, extends well into next year.
I think though, that my system really took off in 2008 because I was in a time of financial stress and difficulty, and the more I fiddled with my numbers, the more in control I felt even though I really wasn't. There was no security but it gave me the illusion of it. But like I said, it's part of how my brain works. I find a lot of comfort in organizing stuff, including information.
I am wondering more about the psychology of people who pull out their check book in a grocery store and let everyone wait behind them while they slowly start writing a check, expecting everyone to wait peacefully because they are dipshytes.
I want to shake them until their head spins and put them into a head lock. Such selfishness is unbelievable to me and it brings my blood to a boil, when I just have 3 items and need to wait 5 extra minutes because they are aholes.
I was behind one of these people and to make matters worse, she didn't even start looking for her checkbook in her massive purse until the total was finalized. If for some odd reason I had to write a check, I would have it all filled out except the amount at the very least.
The only checks I write are to contractors and I'm hoping one day PayPal or Venmo will replace that!
I was behind one of these people and to make matters worse, she didn't even start looking for her checkbook in her massive purse until the total was finalized. If for some odd reason I had to write a check, I would have it all filled out except the amount at the very least.
The only checks I write are to contractors and I'm hoping one day PayPal or Venmo will replace that!
Oh! Hey. I have discovered another online free instant pay thing and I've been using it a while. Just takes debit cards & gmail accounts on both ends. Google wallet. I'm sure most folks are aware of it but I don't know many who use it (compared to say, Paypal.) But I've found it to be a lot better than Paypal. I've encountered no fees, and it is fast. Like super fast. From the moment my ex hits the button to send his (entirely voluntary) child support, to the moment it shows as available in my actual bank account, is a matter of seconds. And we do not have the same bank.
Just thought I would share that. It's made my life a lot easier.
I have never balanced my checkbook pretty much my entire adult life.
I was always frugal and put everything on a credit card as it was easy to track. I would mentally deduct the amount I spent from the money I knew I had in checking/savings. If I could not afford it I would not buy it.
I would always check over my bank statements to make sure nothing unusual was happening. But aside from utilities all of my bills were on the credit card statement anyway. And I always remembered what those charges were for.
Yes it's weird, but I suspect there are many like me. Especially if your expenses are not that complicated.
Last edited by Coloradomom22; 10-31-2017 at 05:18 PM..
When we had a lot of money, we never bothered. We weren't going to run out. After a while, we collected the extra and invested it or donated it.
Now that things are more lean, we have to keep a better eye on it. We use a budget. We do not really balance the checkbook per se. In fact I am not sure we actually write any checks at all. Payments are all EFT and expenses are usually via ATM card. We know how much we have, we know what the bills due this pay cycle are, the balance is what we can spend on gas groceries, or fun.
I was behind one of these people and to make matters worse, she didn't even start looking for her checkbook in her massive purse until the total was finalized. If for some odd reason I had to write a check, I would have it all filled out except the amount at the very least.
The only checks I write are to contractors and I'm hoping one day PayPal or Venmo will replace that!
The local grocery store will run your check through the cash register. It comes out properly filled out. All you need to do is to sign it.
I have never balanced my checkbook pretty much my entire adult life.
I was always frugal and put everything on a credit card as it was easy to track. I would mentally deduct the amount I spent from the money I knew I had in checking/savings. If I could not afford it I would not buy it.
I would always check over my bank statements to make sure nothing unusual was happening. But aside from utilities all of my bills were on the credit card statement anyway. And I always remembered what those charges were for.
Yes it's weird, but I suspect there are many like me. Especially if your expenses are not that complicated.
My dad was a money-minding fanatic. He set his kids up with little allowance bank registers and "accounts" at very young ages. We each had little white cardboard boxes to separate out our nickels and dimes for various monthly expenses. It was a tedious misery having to account for every penny of a couple of dollars each month (I was notorious for sneaking out of the house to hunt lizards on Sunday afternoons when he tended to collar us for the accounting). He spent most of his waking hours fussing with multiple ledger books, reconciling multiple bank accounts, credit cards, investments, nickel and diming every expense and bill. It would take months to get his income tax returns ready as he calculated to the tenth decimal point what every expense might be categorized as. I know a lot of it was habit and reassuring, but it was so unnecessary once he was living on his own. He never ever trusted electronic banking systems or web applications though he whined and moaned about the time and expense all that paper caused him. In his later years I had to help him keep track of all these elaborately balanced accounts but they were so obtuse and confusing I hated the arguments that inevitably came up. After he passed away when I sorted through his home office paperwork prior to selling the house, the mobile paper shredder truck scale weight was almost 3/4 ton. Out of the entire mass we probably needed to keep one document box full.
Though the idea behind ledgering your money was beaten into me way back when, it has never been necessary for me to get that precise. I don't squander money, live within my means, don't share any accounts with anyone, use online tools to keep track of expenses and bills. Its really not that hard to do.
To this day, those little white cardboard jewelry boxes give me a twinge....
I assume you mean track expenses whether in a "checkbook" or virtual.
I assume you want to know the psychology of those who DO "balance", also.
All I have to do is logon to my account and I can see my entire month's activities in seconds.
I also have notifications texted to me with transactions.
AND I put stuff on my calendar to follow up to check. For example, the legal deadline for a refund of a deposit from a rental property. If the landlord misses the deadline, they have to refund your deposit in FULL regardless of the condition in which you left it. Per FL statues.
But the psychology? For me, it's the psychology of being responsible and respecting my money and hard work I put in to get it.
If you don't do alot of financial transactions, it takes 5 minutes a month.
If you DO alot of transactions, it's beneficial because lots of stuff goes unnoticed. Like you registered for a "trial" for something and they keep billing you long after. Or Comcast changed your monthly rate because you forgot you had a promo rate.
etc etc
My mother paid what we call an "odd balance" in the phone company meaning she wrote the check for a weird amount. She carried that odd balance for many months. Something like $9.07. At a certain point the company tries to call you so you don't end up calling a year later, mad about the balance. Which is exactly what my mother did. And when I tried to explain it to her, she said "Oh you think you know it all just because you work there." LOLOL. Yep. I call people all day long about odd balances just like you and get paid for you not tracking your own bookkeeping!
OTOH, since I own and operate a micro-business I have no choice. The IRS rules are so suffocating and demanding, one simple accounting or reporting error can destroy your entire year's income and cause you irreparable damage for that year and even future or past years. It could even put a person out of business. IE depreciations or mileage deductions.
Last edited by runswithscissors; 11-01-2017 at 04:34 AM..
I'm not sure you can separate this out psychologically from other organizational tasks. I don't think it's about money. People who are fastidious about keeping their checkbook balanced perfectly (my brother) are usually fastidious in general. If they get audited, they know exactly where their records are, their shopping list is nice and neat and organized, etc, etc. Others like me are the opposite, my papers are here in my house, but they are a mess and not in order, and if I needed them it would take me a while to get them together. I round up or down when I put an amount in my checkbook (my brother is appalled by this) and am highly unorganized in general.
I also have ADHD, which has much more to do with it than my feelings about money.
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