That’s just weird. Over here we expect a discount for allowing a supplier to use direct debit.
For a typical small landlord in the USA, it’s not direct AFAIK, it’s through a third-party service that charges a fee.
For someone who is only handling a few payments a month, the administrative cost of cashing a check is essentially zero, and any other payment methods are going to be judged off of that. (On the other hand, if you’re a power company taking in millions of payments a month, you’d like to get as few checks as possible.)
I never knew what this meant either, now that I do, still doesn’t make any sense.
The idea is that writing checks takes future money out of your account. You don’t know exactly when the check will be cashed. So you keep your own record of your bank balance that includes all the checks you’ve written that haven’t been cashed yet. That way you don’t inadvertently bounce a check. Every now and then you need to ensure that your record aligns with the banks record. This picks up mistakes by you and/or the bank.
Biggish car, medium commute, expensive fuel.
Actually a big car and a small car. The big car runs on diesel and is cheaper on fuel than the small petrol car.
From what I understand, checks are heading towards obsolescence and, if anything is preferred, it’s electronic transactions. At this point, I’m down to using one or two checks a month.
I wrote upthread “back when I wrote checks” but I thought about it and there still are a few vendors that do not take electronic forms of payment. My quarterly taxes are paid by check. (There may be a way to pay it electronically, but I don’t know about it.) I guess my end-of-year taxes in years I don’t have a refund are also by check. My lawn care service only takes cash or check, so I typically do pay cash, but if I don’t have it on me, I’ll write a check. One of my physicians, for some arcane reason, does not have a “pay by credit card” or e-pay option, so he gets a check when necessary. I also write checks as a birthday gift. So I do probably average writing a check every other month (although last year I didn’t have quarterlies, so I wrote a total of maybe four checks.) On the income side, one of my vendors pays me by check, but everybody else uses Venmo or Zelle.
So I understated how often checks come into my life. It just feels like nothing as it’s a fraction of what it was just five or ten years ago.
Yeah, the (very few) places that I still pay by check, I do so because there’s an additional fee if you pay online. This is not just small businesses, but includes a couple of local government offices like my sewer and sanitation bills.
I wouldn’t call it full-scale balancing, but I do keep my own record, and compare it to the bank’s record regularly. Good thing, too. Just this morning I spotted a couple of fraudulent Facebook Pay charges (I have never used Facebook Pay). So now after a conversation with the bank’s fraud department, my debit card has been cancelled, and they’re sending me a new one. Damn hackers. 
I am of a generation that was taught to balance a checkbook, and I still do. However, as others have pointed out, the definition of the term encompasses a lot of other components in today’s world. I like the feeling of control over my money, and knowing how much I actually have spent and is available, and will be available. By using a tool to track purchase details (checking, debit, credit card, venmo, etc.) I am also able to categorize (which helps inform my future spending decisions), and understand expectations for upcoming non-standard expenses. I will say that I often hear about people with poor credit and I can’t help but think they are “just letting it all happen” and missing out on easy steps to keep track of their money. I’ve always said, it is better to get in front of something, rather than get behind.
Control freak? Maybe.
There are lawn/landscaping service people, massage therapists, physio therapists, hair dressers, and other smaller business people that don’t accept anything but cash and/or cheques. Some of those may accept debit.
True. I think it’s less common since it’s become easier to get the little phone card-swipe devices but there are still people who only want a check.
My own check writing was cut dramatically after we convinced the woman who provides our daycare to let us pay via Paypal. And, hey, no more “Crap, I forgot the check I’ll run it by this afternoon” or trips to the bank for her to cash it. Get that money in your account every Friday morning.
I’m much the same way. I insist on getting the paper receipt for each credit / debit card purchase and can then reconcile with the credit card/bank statement for any shenanigans .
Back in the days of paper checks I’d always round the amount of the check up when entering it in the ledger. At the end of the year I’d have some extra money in the account, kind like a self-paid Christmas Club.
About the only checks we write are for our yard people. We’re paying our exterior painter by check also. Credit card fees add up for them.
This was one of the nine checks I wrote in the past 12 months. Sadly, the other eight were for memorials for friends and family that had passed away.
I also manage my family’s small LLC, whose suppliers only accept checks. I use my bank’s BillPay feature, which produces paper checks for them. Much easier that actually writing and mailing a check.
I’ve got an Excel sheet I record all transactions on. I have a record of every penny earned or spent going back to 2009 when I finally got my shit together. It can be a PITA to maintain but it’s worth it whenever I need to use it for anything.