Bank balance does not balance

[Radiance]

To be honest, I don't see how the credit card would be any better.

My bank shows debit charges same day, actually just a few hours later. It even shows charges "pending authorization" on a separate section.

It is only when i am forced to use the debit card as a visa that it takes up to 3 days. This is mainly in places where they dont take debit cards, which, by the way happens to me often at gas stations. It is also common in restaurants, but I need to avoid those anyway...

i dont write checks, but the checkbook I do have has duplicate, so I would be covered.

Some things I find out when checking the bank transactions online is my sunpass, it is always $20 each time it automatically replenishes and I admit I don't reconcile with the sunpass website online. I know it happens 1-2 times a month, I allocate $35 for tolls and forget about it.

cptacek, i like the basket idea.

[cicy33]

I have two checking accounts, one in north carolina and one here in illinois. my one in n. carolina shows the items really fast and the one here is sllloowww. did I mention slow??? That is why I have decided to go with a written check book. I figure I can keep track of that and then balance against the bank as things clear. For example, I wrote a check on monday to a local business. I also mailed a check monday for a cc payment (must get that thing paid off!!!) the check for the cc has already cleared!!!! the check to the local water department? Nope. and I live in a town of about 1000 people. It is really small. I don't understand that. One thing that clinched my decision to run a manual checkbook is when I wrote a check to the secretary of state for tax on my vehicle and it took over 30 days to clear. I forgot about the check, you know how that goes. so when it did clear I was just glad there was still money in the account. so now I will write everything down and hope that helps. One thing I also do now that I used to do years ago when I kept a manual checkbook was to write the check for the amount in the first column but when I deducted it I rounded to the next dollar. I used to be able to save an extra 500 a year doing that. It is amazing how often one will use their debit cards. You don't even realize it till something like that builds up. This might also help to keep a surpluss in the account so you aren't surprised by anything you might forget.

[elessar78]

To be honest, I don't see how the credit card would be any better.

My bank shows debit charges same day, actually just a few hours later. It even shows charges "pending authorization" on a separate section.

It is only when i am forced to use the debit card as a visa that it takes up to 3 days. This is mainly in places where they dont take debit cards, which, by the way happens to me often at gas stations. It is also common in restaurants, but I need to avoid those anyway...

i dont write checks, but the checkbook I do have has duplicate, so I would be covered.

Some things I find out when checking the bank transactions online is my sunpass, it is always $20 each time it automatically replenishes and I admit I don't reconcile with the sunpass website online. I know it happens 1-2 times a month, I allocate $35 for tolls and forget about it.

cptacek, i like the basket idea.

It's easier because when you reconcile your balance, the payment for the credit card is only one line item vs many small transactions with a debit card.

[disneysteve]

It's easier because when you reconcile your balance, the payment for the credit card is only one line item vs many small transactions with a debit card.

Exactly. The credit card creates just one bank transaction on one day even though it might actually represent 10 or 20 or 50 or more actual transactions. If I had to record every transaction that we put on our credit card individually in our checkbook register, that would make the whole process way more complicated because we use our credit cards constantly. Our typical monthly charges are upwards of $3,000.

[elessar78]

I think I would have more success now in learning to balance my checkbook than when I was fresh outta college. What gave me so many problems back then was that I had too many points of withdrawal: checks, atm cash withdrawals, non-member ATM fees (which varied), debit card usage, etc.

Once we pay off our last and only credit card I MAY consider going back to using a credit card for the convenience factor and the cash back.

[JustDave]

We switched to using a credit card almost exclusively, mostly because if you're going to buy something anyway, why not get the rewards for it? I will say that it's not for everyone, however. Some people spend more on credit, so if you're this type of spender, this may not work for you.

A side benefit of this is what others have mentioned - there is only one transaction versus dozens for a debit card. Previously I was updating the checkbook several times a week with new receipts.

One thing I would add, and I think this is what DS was saying, is that I "pay" all bills at the beginning of the month. Most of these are automatically withdrawn, but a few are done through a check. For every bill at the beginning of the month, I mark this bill as paid and deduct it from my checkbook and Quicken, no matter if the money comes out on the 1st or the 31st. That money is earmarked for these bills, so it can't be spent anyway -- as far as I'm concerned, that money is gone. This means you can't rely on the bank balance, since it rarely will match what's in your checkbook. It does, however, prevent me from spending money that I still technically have in the bank, but which is destined for other bills. The balance is what's written in the checkbook, not what the online balance says.

This isn't a perfect system since you will have some bills that are different every month (electric, gas, etc.) and won't know the amount until the bill arrives. In this case, you could withdraw your budgeted amount for these bills and adjust it when the bills comes, or write yourself a note to keep in your checkbook to make sure you don't spend this budgeted money.

[Radiance]

I must be missing something here, please bear with me:

[credit card] It's easier because when you reconcile your balance, the payment for the credit card is only one line item vs many small transactions with a debit card.

You still have to ensure all charges in your credit card are correct, verify each against receipts, etc. What is the difference? I think it is still the same amount of work. no?

[cptacek]

I agree Radiance. I don't get what is better about the credit card solution either

[disneysteve]

I must be missing something here, please bear with me:

You still have to ensure all charges in your credit card are correct, verify each against receipts, etc. What is the difference? I think it is still the same amount of work. no?

Yes and no. Checking the CC statement isn't a balancing process. It just take a minute or two to scan the list of charges and make sure each is right and I'm done.

Balancing the checkbook is more involved. I need to go through the statement and check off each item that has cleared in the register. Then I need to add up all of the outstanding charges and outstanding deposits. Finally, I have to do the math to make sure it all balances. The more individual transactions there are, both cleared and outstanding, the longer that process takes. If things don't balance, the more things I have to dig through and double check to find the error. Also, the more transactions on the account, the more opportunities there are for mistakes to occur in the first place.

If I find an error on a credit card statement, it doesn't impact anything else. I just call and straighten it out (can't remember the last time that occurred - it has been years). If I find an error in the checking account, it throws off all of the numbers until I get it straightened out.

I guess depending on your point of view, there isn't a big difference, but in reality, it simplifies things a lot IMO.