Check book usage

[cypher1]

How many of you still write checks? And how many per year?

I'm going through personal paperwork for decluttering, and realized I still have eight books of checks. I literally only write 1-2 checks annually each year for tabs for DMV. I'm debating about keeping maybe 2 books max, and shredding the rest.

[disneysteve]

I probably write 1-2/month, way less than we used to. The main place we used to use checks for was our synagogue but they have an online payment system now that has no service fee so we use that. The only time we can't is for some donations.

I also write checks for DMV. They accept online payments but with a steep fee. We do property taxes online. There's a charge but it's only $.99 so really only $.44 since we'd need a stamp to mail in a check. I'm willing to pay that.

And we will write checks for the occasional wedding or bar/bat mitzvah or graduation gift.

I think each book of checks is 25, so that probably lasts about a year.

[james.hendrickson]

Totally, I write like 3 or 4 checks a year, at the most.

[disneysteve]

I just checked my bank statements. In all of 2020, I wrote 20 checks so exactly what I estimated.

[kork13]

I've been using checks less & less, especially now that Venmo & similar money transfer services are becoming broadly used.

I checked, and over the last year I used 20 checks, mostly for home repair/cleaning services & preschool tuition. However, since September, I've used 2.

Personally, I'd just shred all of the unnecessary checks. That's what I've always done.

[Fishindude77]

Old school here, still pay most bills with checks and snail mail, probably 10-15 checks per month.
I feel like the act of writing the checks balancing check book, watching my accounts, etc. helps me better stay in touch with our spending and overall money management.

[riverwed070707]

3-4/ year. I no longer have a check book. If I need to cut a check, I go to my banks bill pay and set up the individual payee and the check mails direct from the bank. The handful of times I can recall needing a check in hand in the last decade, I just stop at the bank and they will print me a sheet of 3 of which I'll use the one and keep the other 2 in case I need them at a later date.

[ua_guy]

I've written a surprising amount of checks this year. More than my usual 3-4, but we've used a lot of contractors for things this year and it's a very easy to pay them with a paper check.

I prefer writing checks for payment over using venmo or online services. No login or linking accounts. The record of the check and deposit all stay within my existing bank account structure.

[cypher1]

I ended up shredding 6 of the 8. Worst case I simply order more. But at the rate I go for 1-2 used annually, I should be covered for the next 20-25 years.

[disneysteve]

I prefer writing checks for payment over using venmo or online services. No login or linking accounts. The record of the check and deposit all stay within my existing bank account structure.

Venmo is okay but my favorite is Zelle. That's the service used by nearly every bank so it is actually integrated into your account already. Also, unlike Venmo, the money transfers instantly from account to account. We use it all the time at work when we order out for food. One person pays and everybody else pays their share with Zelle.

Zelle is part of your existing bank account. No third party involved. No extra app or log in required.

[HundredK]

The last (and only) check I've written in the last 3 years has been the one for when we bought our car, so that was a biggie. Even still I charged as much as they'd let me to a credit card for those cashback rewards. Before that I wrote checks all the time to the ranch we took our dogs to for boarding - it was the only form of payment they accepted. But we moved away from that area and now our checkbook pretty much collects dust.

[disneysteve]

Out of curiosity, I just paged through the checkbook to see what the last 6 months or so of checks were written for. With the exception of two checks written to buy my car, all of the others were either DMV, sewer bill, donations, or gifts. DMV and sewer can be paid online but with a fee. Same for the donations. The gifts could have been done with cash but mailing cash is never a smart idea so a check is really the only option.

[kork13]

I used to use checks much more commonly, because we each paid tithing to our church by check, and paid our housecleaner by check.... No less than 3 monthly checks, plus other random uses. That made up the majority of our physical checks. But our church started accepting ACH transfers, and after moving, we pay our new cleaner by Venmo. Much simpler... Big fan.

[comicguy]

The only checks we write are our monthly utility bill to my city (CC processing is too high), My twice a year insurance payment, and now my car insurance payment as the insurers website has major processing issues and my local agent wants to charge a fee, so a mailed check it is! and maybe a few others over the course of the year and that is about it (so about 18 - 20 checks per year). Everything else is pretty much paid via CC

[disneysteve]

It's funny how 20/year seems to be a recurring answer, and for the same general things - mostly government agencies.

Maybe I'm wrong but isn't it cheaper and less labor intensive for places to accept electronic payments rather than having to process physical checks? If so, why the big "convenience" fees for e-pay? Or am I wrong about that? What does it actually cost the business to accept an electronic transfer?