Shortly after my wife and I were married, I decided it was a good idea to lay off my anal-retentive checkbook balancing that had gone on for many years as I dug myself out of debt.
In fact (and I'm ashamed to admit this) I almost entirely stopped tracking our expenses altogether. I figured we were making a decent amount of money that we really wouldn't have to “worry” about registering our debits and credits.
Fortunately enough, this phase didn't last long. Mainly because it didn't work very well.
Now, I know there are many of you who are great with their money and don't keep a budget. Nor do you track your expenses on paper. Perhaps you have automated everything and you use the online bank statement as your “register”. That's great.
This just does not work for me.
I love my checkbook register
I love having an updated account of things coming and going – in real-time. I don't have to wait for money to “clear” or checks to be cashed. What I have available for funds is determined – to the minute – by what my check register says.
I don't foresee ever going back to the register-free days. And looking back, I can't imagine living like that again!
The advantages to using a checking register
I recently read a report that said 90% of folks still write checks every month. And, that more than a third believed they will always need to write a check.
I thought this was good news. Now, I don't know if the folks writing checks are registering what they are spending – but indications appear as though the checkbook will continue to be a fixture in our everyday personal finances.
There are several benefits to keeping a check register. Among them:
Real-time account info. As I mentioned – nothing is more reassuring than having up-to-the-minute stats about your financial well-being. When you keep a register, there is no second-guessing or wondering. What you have in the account is what you have.
Track it all. In my checkbook register, I keep everything related to our finances. Deposits, checks, check card transactions, ATM, and other withdrawals. It is the playbook of our finances.
Budget aid. At the end of the month, I love being able to easily sort through my register and put our expenses and income on an Excel spreadsheet. The information from the register provides the info needed to build an accurate and reliable budget.
Record of payment. Going along with the real-time benefit of using a register – having a “record of payment” can be very valuable. My online bank statement does not provide me with the name of the payee on my checks until the monthly statement. And if I need to find out who a check was written out to – the info is easily accessible in my checkbook.
They're free. Most banks will give you free check registries simply for the asking. They'll also provide a checkbook cover. Can't beat that.
Are you using one?
I'm curious – are you still using the check registry? Or, have you found a better method for tracking your finances in real-time?
You may want to check out our 2 Checking Account System for automating your finances. It's worked wonders for Charlie and his family.
7 Comments
That’s where US residents actually have an advantage.
Ever heard of mint.com? I used to use a checkbook register and was quite fond of it and like you said used it to record atm transactions, debit card, credit card, etc. Now, I keep all my financials in a free software google app called mint.com and it is fabulous. My husband loves the security and privacy but it groups all of our financial accounts and updates them everytime we log in. I do still have a checkbook register but I only have it to record checks written and then mark them when cleared so it doesn’t function as my financial status report as it used to.
Hey Katy – yup, Mint is great. I used it a year or so ago, but grew frustrated with it because it didn’t have a lot of my accounts on file, so I was constantly updated them. I’m sure they’ve gotten better since then.
Yes I still use the checkbook register and probably always will! Like you said, I like that I have a real time look at what is going in and out. In addition to keeping the checkbook register, I also manage my spending online w/ Adaptu so I can see if I’m keeping in line with my budget.
Hey Jenny – I’m glad I’m not alone in this :)
I use a check register for transactions I do while I am away from home, but then record them in Quicken. For things I do at home (Billpay, online payments, etc.) I just record directly in Quicken.
I’ve heard a lot of people like Quicken. Would like to try it out someday.