Balancing Your Checkbooks

I'm always surprised that people I know don't balance their checkbooks. My mom says, "as long as they say I have more money than I think I have I'm good". What??

Some people I know call the automated system two or three times a day checking their balances and trying to find out if certain checks have cleared. I don't understand it.

Keeping track is very simple. You add deposits and subtract withdrawals (checks written). If you only have $100 you don't write a check for more than that amount.

I write my deposits in blue ink and withdrawals in red. When I balance my checkbook I put a checkmark need to the entry with a pencil. I tear out the carbon copies and staple them to that months statement and file the statement away. I draw a line under the last entry in the register with the date I balanced it. This way if there is an error the following month I can easily see where it was last in check.

Balancing your checkbook is not painful and only takes 10-15 minutes.

$15.00 doctor co-pay