OK, I’m anal.
Twice a month when I pay my bills, I write a bunch of checks all at once. Then I add up the total of the checks that I’ve just written, and transfer that amount from my savings to my checking. I leave a $200 buffer in there just in case I make a mistake.
So, my account statement always starts at $200., shows a transfer and then a bunch of checks, and then ends at $200 again. Then cycle over again.
No, wish I did though. It’s too hard. I have my gym membership, phone billl, utility, and visa card acct all taking money out of there automatically, maybe more can’t remember. Balancing would be a nightmare. I try to keep $500 in there too like…some one above here stated. I only write 5 checks a month at the most, so I can tell when something’s weird, I like minimizing stress in my life.
Only bounced one, and that’s because I mailed the envelope with my $2,000 IRA check in it instead of the envelope with my Union contract vote in it. D’oh! Boy, that was a surprise!
NO NO NO!!! Don’t ever let an account that can fluctuate (phone bill or electric bill) deduct automatically. I once had a $300 phone bill (one of those bogus calls to Vanuatu or wherever) and I was able to get the charges dismissed. It would have been a lot harder to get the money back from the phone company once it was gone.
My .02 worth…I visit clarkhoward.com, so my Consumer Warrior jumped out for a second. I just hope you haven’t been burned…