If you check your balance online or on the phone, you’ll often have charges pending that are not accurate. For example, a lot of fuel purchases show up on my account as $1, instead of the actual amount I spent on gas (say $40) and the actual amount doesn’t show up correctly until it posts. Same thing w/ eating in restaurants where you leave a tip on your debit card - the amount of the meal shows up as pending ($20) but the $4 tip I might have left won’t show until it posts. If you don’t keep proper track of what you’ve spent, you could check your account and be way off on the amount you really have available and end up with overdraft charges.
Well those are good questions. But I’ve never had a problem in 7 years. Whenever I get the next month’s statement for a bill, it always shows that the payee received the check and deposited it.
Because I just visually scan over my day’s purchases and if anything seems off, I grab the receipt and double check it (FWIW: I have never found even one mistake). Why should I bother spending money on third party software or, if it’s something free like Mint, waste my time fiddling with it every day when I find my bank’s online system to be perfectly acceptable?
That’s why I always make a mental note of such transactions. Are you guys really spending so much each day that it’s difficult to remember these things? I’m not saying that I remember exactly that I spent $24.34 at Pita House, plus a $3 tip- but I make a mental note that I spent about $30 at Pita House.
I guess I’m fortunate enough to keep a false zero amount in my account ($500 for my checking), so a few bucks here and there while account holds are being adjusted really aren’t going to throw me into the horrible world of over drafts. Getting to that $500 when I was younger was a HUGE pain in the ass to do, but my accountant dad insisted I do it for my own good and he was 100% right that I should (it started at $100, then he said $250. Now he thinks I should have $1000 in there and he’s probably right).
Yes, that’s true, but in my case I almost always pay in cash for things like gas, going out to eat. If I do use my card, I just remember the full amount and subtract it. Even if I forgot, I always have at least a few hundred dollars as padding.
True. You just struck me as the type who holds up the line in the grocery store writing a check. They are usually blue hairs.
Maybe it’s simply that I have a more complicated financial system, but I see errors constantly and I want to know what my situation is constantly. I’m keeping track of a lot of accounts. I just counted it up and I track 26 different accounts of various types.
I probably catch 15 errors a year although most relate to credit cards. I’ve maybe had 2-3 bank account errors in the past year. The most common error I see is a credit card charge I make never being processed. Of course that is an error in my favor.
I use a credit card for 99% of my transactions.
Well, I’d say 26 accounts isn’t exactly typical. I’ve got:
[ul]
[li]My main checking for everyday stuff at BofA[/li][li]My savings at BofA that I keep some extra money in just in case I need anything, but otherwise it goes unused.[/li][li]My investment account at Schwab[/li][li]and my checking account at Schwab that I use as a backup (and it’s linked to the investment account).[/li][/ul]
My friends all comment how cuh-raaaaazy I am for having two checking accounts. Granted, I’m 25, so my station in life is a bit different than yours from the sounds of it. Still. . . 26 accounts?
Well, maybe it is a credit card issue. I’ve got one credit card that I make a purchase or two on a month just to keep current and build my credit or whatever, but I pay it off each month and, well, it’s easy enough to remember the one transaction on it and whether or not that transaction’s accurate.
Well with 26 accounts, I would probably use some sort of software too. You neglected to mention that. I have a checking account, and two savings accounts. Doing everything online works just fine for me.
I only have three checking accounts. I will probably move down to two shortly. I have a checking account with one of the larger banks so I have international access to an account; I have a transaction account with a local bank, so I get better service and rates. I have an old transaction account that I am winding down.
I have one money market account that I primarily use as a pseudo escrow account for future tax payments.
I have two credit cards: an American Express for most purchases and a mastercard for places that don’t accept American Express.
I have eleven investment / retirement accounts: two brokerage, two traditional IRA (wife and I), two Roth IRA (wife and I), one SEP IRA, one Rollover IRA, One 401K, two 529 accounts.
I have two cars, one car loan, one house, one house loan, one catch-all personal effects account.
Two investment accounts in a closely held businesses.
Actually, that’s only 25. I do have several accounts for the two businesses that I own, but I am not counting those. I will get rid of one of the checking accounts soon, and you are probably not counting assets such as houses or cars as accounts. I keep track of them though as I need to be able to provide personal financial statements periodically so I make adjustments to the value of those assets. You also aren’t counting loans as accounts.
This year my credit card transactions on my primary account have ranged from as low as 73 up to 125 per month. My secondary accounts has had between 7 and 12 transactions per month.
I don’t own a house, my car is paid for, and I have no loans. My credit card balance stays under $200 a month, which is immediately paid off. I have zero debt, so it’s a lot easier for me to track things.
I have a mortgage and a car note, but no credit card debt. I don’t consider monthly bills accounts. Just bills I pay each month through online banking.
[QUOTE=Living Well Is Best Revenge]
I have a mortgage and a car note, but no credit card debt. I don’t consider monthly bills accounts. Just bills I pay each month through online banking.
[/QUOTE]
But what is the rationale for not using your credit card as often as possible. I pay off my balance monthly as well, but the rewards make it a no-brainer to spend as much on a credit card as you can.
I just popped in here to see what was going on with the last page. For another data point:
I write maybe 2-3 checks a month. As much as I can pay online, I do so. The only big check is my rent check, and it is easy enough to keep that in mind. The rest are super little ones. Checks are outdated and are really only good for person-to-person payments. Hiring someone to work on my house eventually? I just wouldn’t trust them if they couldn’t take a credit card. I’d honestly rather pay a little more and get someone in I trust.
I never go below my $500 mark and really never go below my $1000 mark. I just don’t spend it if I don’t have it. I mean, I am going to DC next month. We bought the plane tickets two weeks ago so that by the time DC came around we would have already had the “hit” of the tickets and next month we could spend with some impunity on the actual vacation.
I have no house and my car is paid off.
I have a credit card, and do use it, but I don’t make an effort to use it a lot. I use it for most of my daily purchases, but that’s because I am trying to build up my credit. I never use it to the balance, though.
I don’t have a register or any payments. My accounts:
Joint checkings account at a bank
savings account at a bank
savings account at a credit union
I have a 401K
I don’t check any of these daily, but the first three, weekly. I’ve never, ever had an error, and yes my bank shows “pending” payments.
My rationale is that I used to get carried away with credit cards and now only use them for online purchases or special stuff. I spend less when I use cash, basically. With cash, I think “do I really need a $5 latte?” When I am using plastic, I don’t even hesitate to buy it. I know i am missing out on rewards, but it’s not worth it to me.
I get paid twice a month. 60% covers my bills, 20% goes in savings, and 20% I withdraw in cash and spend for food, gas, and going out money.
I’ve never had anyone express a problem accepting cash.
Recent bills I’ve paid:
[ul]
[li]New roof for house: Cash deposit, cash for balance at completion.[/li][li]Farrier (horse shoer): Cash left in barn an an envelope. Long time method.[/li][li]Cleaning lady (monthly): Cash[/li][li]New tires for car: Cash[/li][/ul]
My gf pays many things online, or as automatic withdrawals from her checking account. The last check I needed to write was to give my daughter money to take to school.
I hope that happens here quickly. Between us my partner and I have 5 credit cards and only one has no annual fee. One od them inparticular irks me- an annual fee of around $140, and interest rate of around 19% simply because it gives FF points. I kept it because I thought it would be useful for buying air tickets but realise that it is not worth it for the fees I cop.
Make that an annual fee of $65. Not as usurious as I thought.