Do you write down a physical

[jevs]

yep there are reasons to write a check, I think some people try to act more hip then they are, lol

or their country just doesn't deal with them anymore...

 

[low-key]

or their country just doesn't deal with them anymore...

yes

 

[mrsheppo]

I do keep a ledger. I write down our deposits and pay all our bills online and use my credit cards for all purchases. I write down all my charges and pay them off weekly. I only maybe write a check when DD needs one for school activities or field trips

 

[AustinTink]

I haven't written in a ledger in many, many years. My MIL, however, writes checks for everything and enters the information in her ledger immediately while she is checking out at the store. Sometimes it takes a little while; but she is very organized and efficient.

 

[bluezy]

I log each check so I know who it was for in case it doesn't get cashed quickly (at least I know who's holding it) but I don't keep a balance in the ledger -- I just look at that online. I'd love to get rid of the checkbook but unfortunately there are some places that still don't take credit or online payments so I have to pay them by check. The big ones are the 2 different music studios my children take lessons at. Neither one takes credit cards and both require payments for the full month up front. It's easier to write the check then to go get $250 in cash and then have to worry that someone will break in to the payment box and steal the cash. Also, the music booster groups at our school require payments for fundraisers, trips, t-shirts, etc. to be by check for tracking purposes. And like a PP mentioned, if we're giving a gift of money for a birthday, wedding, graduation, etc. we always pay it by check as we're not comfortable putting large amounts of cash in a card just in case the card ends up in the wrong hands.

 

[kimblebee]

yep there are reasons to write a check, I think some people try to act more hip then they are, lol

What's a reason, in your eyes, to write a cheque?

 

[wenrob]

My DH set me up with Quicken years ago and I would keep track in that but once banking went online I've never entered or manually written down balances again. I just check my account a couple times a week to make sure things are correct. I don't do auto withdrawals for anything and checkbook lasts me well over a year so I don't have to worry about that. My sister refuses to get a square reader so I write checks for our haircuts, the tax man gets a check and there are random checks during the school year. If there's a large deposit that needs to be made for something I'll write a check.

 

[disneychrista]

Balance in your check book ?

You still have a check book? I haven't written a check since my kids got out of school, over 5 years ago.

 

[low-key]

You still have a check book? I haven't written a check since my kids got out of school, over 5 years ago.

good for you

 

[LisaR]

What's a reason, in your eyes, to write a cheque?

I hired out two big projects for our home in the past three months. Both companies only took checks or cash. I wasn't about to hand over thousands in cash. We had a new roof put on our old house right before we moved. Payment options were check, cash, or financing. While we don't write many checks at all, we couldn't give up our checks completely. We've always run into the occasional need for them a few times a year.

 

[kimblebee]

I hired out two big projects for our home in the past three months. Both companies only took checks or cash. I wasn't about to hand over thousands in cash. We had a new roof put on our old house right before we moved. Payment options were check, cash, or financing. While we don't write many checks at all, we couldn't give up our checks completely. We've always run into the occasional need for them a few times a year.

Those are good reasons. Here, most companies take debit so it just doesn't occur to me that some wouldn't.

 

[lilia78]

I work for a small community and am the one who sends out property tax notices. We only accept cash or cheques, with the minimum tax payment beginning at $1000 most people choose to pay by cheque. In our province most places still accept cheques if we chose to we could pay all our utilities, taxes and groceries with cheque, but we choose to pay with a combination of online payments, credit or debit cards and cash. We have even started to pay for our daughters private skating lessons with e-transfers, this was the first year for that. I prefer almost anything to a cheque, I'd much rather have the money clear the account immediately like cash or debit so I know how much we have instantly.

 

[tvguy]

Yes I still use my checkbook register. I have to because my wife REFUSES to log into the bank website to check how much money is in the account. But she will check the register before spending money to make sure we have the money to spend.
I haven't balance my checking account in probably 5 years, but I do check that my balance with the banks balance every 2 weeks on pay day.
I did use Microsoft Money for a few years, but that was just more work that it was worth having to enter debits and checks.
As for writing checks, it seems to come in cycles. Wrote a lot of checks for my son's wedding earlier this year to individual vendors who only accepted cash or checks, and I wanted proof I had paid them. My mechanic is cash or check only. A lot of the mom and pop businesses I frequent are cash only. Barber shop, the beauty shop my wife goes to, small diners, etc.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

Starting about 10 years ago until this year, I wrote checks annually for:

1. The kids school registration fees in July
2. The kids' equipment deposits for their sports
3. The water bill (quarterly)

This year, the elementary school went to an online registration system, so instead of dropping the paper packet/check in the drop box at the school, I registered them online and paid right then and there. DS's high school took credit/debit at the in-person residency check.

Our water bills are now online. Log onto the village website and pay right then and there. No need to drive the bill and a check up to the Village Hall or throw it in the drop box anymore.

I am on the board of the kids' sports league and collect all of the equipment deposit checks as well as being responsible for the uniforms (as a matter of fact, they just came in for the girls so I'm leaving in a little bit to go sort and get them ready to distribute this afternoon). It is silly for me to waste a check to write it out just so I can hang onto it until November, then rip it up, so I don't even bother.

Other than that, I can't remember ever needing to write a check for anything else in the past year or two.

 

[jam217]

Nope, don't record checks. I don't write a lot of checks and try to pay as much online as I can. My assistant at school still balances her checkbook.

 

[ronandannette]

Haven't had a chequebook since I can't remember when. I check our balances several times a day with the app so if money went missing, I'd know within a few hours.

Have you ever had money go missing? We had our debit cards "skimmed" once and all the funds drawn out of one of our accounts through a bank machine in Asia. Our bank recognized it before we did and called us. All we had to do was sign an affidavit stating we had not been in Bangladesh and our money was replaced within hours.

Even 20 years ago when I still wrote a lot a checks, I rarely physically balanced the checkbook. When the monthly statement came in, I'd glance at it and say, "looks OK."

Bank statements are online now, but I still don't keep track of the dozens of monthly debit purchases or ATM withdrawals. Just look at the balance to make sure it looks reasonable.

I might write 4 or 5 checks a year now for miscellaneous things.

DH does all the banking on-line, I only log on if he asks me to for some reason and I literally can't remember the last time I opened one of the monthly paper statements the bank mails. Even years ago when I was on my own I simply relied on a mental tally of how much I had v.s. how much I was spending - no problem. I've never really understood how people can actually lose track of stuff like that...

 

[loves to dive]

I've heard people say that no one writes checks anymore but that not's entirely true. Being in a service business most of our payments come in check form.

Most businesses still deal with it with business to business and small businesses most likely don't accept credit cards so people have to use checks or cash with them. We used to accept credit cards but only 2 of our clients paid that way and it just didn't make sense to me to pay the monthly fee when they were small customers so we stopped. Even for work I don't write but 3 physical checks a month, everything else is paid on line through the bank. I pay our rent with a check, only because our landlord is across the street so it's just as easy for me to print a check and walk it across the street as it is to go on line and submit it, it takes our bank at least 3 business days after you submit it for them to actually either send a physical check or do an online transaction. Two of our employees insist on getting pay checks instead of DD, funny enough we are a computer consulting company and the two employees don't trust having them done on line - the boss and a computer tech. The tech says he doesn't do it because we make them sign a form that says if I make a mistake and accidentally deposit too much into their account I can go debit it back out. The boss just doesn't trust on line banking, even though I do it to pay the bills for the company. 95% of our clients still send us a check, two of our bigger ones deposit to the bank. 50% of our clients let me email them their bill, the others prefer to have them sent through the regular mail.

The tag office in the county we live in only accepts checks or cash, no credit cards. That is just about the only check I write a year and I don't write it down in my checkbook, I just know I've written it and check my account to make sure it clears. The water department in the county I work in accepts credit cards but they charge a fee, my son lives in that county so he has to pay with checks.

 

[MrsDuck]

Not anymore!

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I admit to keeping a register and balancing it every few days, as well as balancing to my statement every month. Disclaimer: I'm a bookkeeper.

My husband and I use our debit cards almost daily and he never gives me receipts, so I check online to see what he's spent on gas, lunch, etc. When I log in and check the transactions online, I total up a current balance on my register and make sure I can account for the difference. It's just my nature.

I write checks to the yard guy, to our church and the schools for various things. I can give online to our church, but if one of the kids is going on a trip or I need to pay for t-shirts or books, I just whip out the checkbook and write a check. Easier for me than remembering to post it online later. I usually write checks for school pictures, school trips, etc.

I know I'm an anomaly and antiquated. I don't care. It's what works for me. Years ago I tried Microsoft Money, I tried Quicken. Hated both. Got behind by months and we never knew how much money we had. I'm way better organized about it doing it by hand.

 

[acebatonfan]

Yup. I do electronic checks for my school's tuition (there's a pretty hefty service fee for using a debit card). I only balance my checkbook once a month so I can make sure the official balance statement is accurate. Otherwise, I keep a running balance of withdrawals/deposits with the sticky notes app ("8/1 -withdrew $40 @ This ATM").