Do You Write Many Checks Anymore?

[because]

I do 99.99% electronically and avoid paper checks like the plague. Unless e-checks count as "writing" checks.

For all our bills, the only time I see convenience charges is if you pay by CC. Our college tuition bill is like that. % convenience charge if you use a CC. If you do a direct debit from checking (e-check) there is no charge.

The only place I have run into that doesn't take checks is my dog breed club. Drives me batty. The treasurer hates technology so makes everyone else suffer. She would have to raise yearly fees by a whopping $1.32 to offset the fees of a paypal account. Even our tiny lawn service sends a Quicken invoice via email with a button to enter my routing and checking # to pay immediately.

My favorite part of online banking is being able to do deposits sitting in my living room with my phone app.

I am much more in tune with my accounts doing them electronically than I ever was in the checking days.

I personally don't want all my acct info (name, routing and acct#) sitting in some teenager's cash drawer for anyone to see or copy. That is all the info you need to go buy something online using an e-check.

 

[tvguy]

I think they last time I balanced my chequing account was around 1995.

With check software, it is like three clicks on the computer to balance it

 

[wenrob]

With check software, it is like three clicks on the computer to balance it

What they are saying is if you do your banking electronically there is no need for paper registers or checking software. You don’t need to balance your account because it’s already balanced. If you don’t write checks or rarely write them balancing the checkbook is redundant.

 

[U2_rocks!]

Unfortunately there are still some things here that I cannot pay electronically or via credit/debit card. I hate writing cheques so will pay those things in cash if I can, but obviously if I'm mailing it I don't want to send cash.

 

[tvguy]

What they are saying is if you do your banking electronically there is no need for paper registers or checking software. You don’t need to balance your account because it’s already balanced. If you don’t write checks or rarely write them balancing the checkbook is redundant.

Well, yes and no. How do you find an error (either by you or the bank) if you don't balance the account? Or fraud or theft? I'm not just going to accept what the banks say my balance is. A previous bank overpaid one of my transfers by $1,000. I'm not going to let that mistake stand. It was a check for $110 that they paid $1,110.

 

[wenrob]

Well, yes and no. How do you find an error (either by you or the bank) if you don't balance the account? Or fraud or theft? I'm not just going to accept what the banks say my balance is. A previous bank overpaid one of my transfers by $1,000. I'm not going to let that mistake stand. It was a check for $110 that they paid $1,110.

I pay attention to my account. What you spent and where you spent is right there in real time, no waiting for a check to clear to figure it all out. Had that check been an electronic payment (debit, credit card, etransfer) it would have been something you caught right then not days later after the check was cleared. How does catching in online vs a paper log or software equate to letting a mistake stand? Same with fraud, I caught that within hours of it happening a couple months ago because I’m aware daily what’s happening in my account. Much, much more aware and accurate than I was with a paper log or checking software. I no longer have to worry my DH forgot to tell me he got cash or spent money on this or that-it’s right there.

 

[tvguy]

I pay attention to my account. What you spent and where you spent is right there in real time, no waiting for a check to clear to figure it all out. Had that check been an electronic payment (debit, credit card, etransfer) it would have been something you caught right then not days later after the check was cleared. How does catching in online vs a paper log or software equate to letting a mistake stand? Same with fraud, I caught that within hours of it happening a couple months ago because I’m aware daily what’s happening in my account. Much, much more aware and accurate than I was with a paper log or checking software. I no longer have to worry my DH forgot to tell me he got cash or spent money on this or that-it’s right there.

You are much more aware of your finances than some of my co-workers who are always kicking in their overdraft. We now have vending machines at work that take debit and credit cards, and those forgotten snack purchases on a debit card have tripped up more than one person.

 

[wenrob]

You are much more aware of your finances than some of my co-workers who are always kicking in their overdraft. We now have vending machines at work that take debit and credit cards, and those forgotten snack purchases on a debit card have tripped up more than one person.

Well as someone up thread said, that’s the person not the system. I’d be willing to bet they weren’t all that great at keeping up with a register either. The last two times I had banking issues (almost two decades ago) wouldn’t have happened if we weren’t relying on keeping a manual register. One was DH bought a gift for me and forgot to put the amount in the checkbook and one was a math mistake. I inadvertently put in the wrong number. If I’d had online banking back then neither would have happened.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

You can’t register your car online?

Well in the state of California, you can't when you change your address, or when your registration sticker gets lost in the mail. It's a real pain in the butt to deal with, and it's happened to me two years in a row. Once it was lost in the mail, then the next year I changed addresses and renewed online... they mailed it to my old address because their system is super slow and antiquated. Both times I had to pay an additional $20 (via check) just to get a new sticker - that I already paid for online! Now I just register through the mail because it seems to work better for them.

 

[wenrob]

Well in the state of California, you can't when you change your address, or when your registration sticker gets lost in the mail. It's a real pain in the butt to deal with, and it's happened to me two years in a row. Once it was lost in the mail, then the next year I changed addresses and renewed online... they mailed it to my old address because their system is super slow and antiquated. Both times I had to pay an additional $20 (via check) just to get a new sticker - that I already paid for online! Now I just register through the mail because it seems to work better for them.

Oh yeah, I get it. We moved shortly before ours was due and were forced to go in because we waited to change our address until they were due. I suspect we would have had the same problem trying to do that online.

 

[Jaime4004]

The kids school requires check or cash payment for field trips, lunch accounts, yearbooks, classroom parties, school pictures, etc so I usually send in a check. It would be nice if they set up an online payment system because they are slow in cashing checks. Scouts is another area where it's often cash or check. Our GS troop has a paypal account for functions that we can pay with a CC, but sadly not yet for BS.

same here, it's usually kid school and activities that I end up writing checks for.

 

[tvguy]

Well as someone up thread said, that’s the person not the system. I’d be willing to bet they weren’t all that great at keeping up with a register either. The last two times I had banking issues (almost two decades ago) wouldn’t have happened if we weren’t relying on keeping a manual register. One was DH bought a gift for me and forgot to put the amount in the checkbook and one was a math mistake. I inadvertently put in the wrong number. If I’d had online banking back then neither would have happened.

LOL. Like last year when my wife accidentally used the debit card instead of the credit card to buy airline tickets. Operator error but caught when I went to balance the account. Saved me from an overdraft fee.

 

[gillep]

LOL. Like last year when my wife accidentally used the debit card instead of the credit card to buy airline tickets. Operator error but caught when I went to balance the account. Saved me from an overdraft fee.

If that had been on one of my accounts, I would have gotten an immediate text that the purchase had been made on my debit card, and would have caught it instantaneously. There are times that I get the text even before I get to the confirmation screen on the computer for an online purchase, or a POS reader says 'approved' if making an in person charge.

 

[Jennasis]

Just wrote another check right now! LOL

 

[tvguy]

Well in the state of California, you can't when you change your address, or when your registration sticker gets lost in the mail. It's a real pain in the butt to deal with, and it's happened to me two years in a row. Once it was lost in the mail, then the next year I changed addresses and renewed online... they mailed it to my old address because their system is super slow and antiquated. Both times I had to pay an additional $20 (via check) just to get a new sticker - that I already paid for online! Now I just register through the mail because it seems to work better for them.

That is one thing I do online here in California without a problem. I do know you can't renew your registration here until the day after a SMOGCHECK or it mucks up their system, and apparently your situation did too.

 

[tvguy]

If that had been on one of my accounts, I would have gotten an immediate text that the purchase had been made on my debit card, and would have caught it instantaneously. There are times that I get the text even before I get to the confirmation screen on the computer for an online purchase, or a POS reader says 'approved' if making an in person charge.

I have noticed that places like Walmart and my regular grocery store transactions turn up immediately, but others turn up as much as 5 days afterwards. Nobody gets my cell phone number, so texts wouldn't be an option, but I guess e-mail would be an option too.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

That is one thing I do online here in California without a problem. I do know you can't renew your registration here until the day after a SMOGCHECK or it mucks up their system, and apparently your situation did too.

I had submitted my address change to the DMV three weeks before renewing my registration, I assumed that would be enough time. But then when I called to ask about where my registration sticker was, the lady at the DMV said that in the future I should really give it at least two months. I will say that two years prior, I had renewed my registration online with no problem, so I've just had bad luck with the DMV lately.

 

[gillep]

I have noticed that places like Walmart and my regular grocery store transactions turn up immediately, but others turn up as much as 5 days afterwards. Nobody gets my cell phone number, so texts wouldn't be an option, but I guess e-mail would be an option too.

This isn't things posting to the account, this is the actual authorization to the account, I have never had anything not come through immediately via text, no matter where I shopped, online or brick and mortar. My bank and credit card companies already have my phone number, I am not sure that there was ever an option not to give them my phone number, I have just activated alerts so that I can stay on top of my accounts at all times, email is another option for alerts.

 

[tvguy]

I had submitted my address change to the DMV three weeks before renewing my registration, I assumed that would be enough time. But then when I called to ask about where my registration sticker was, the lady at the DMV said that in the future I should really give it at least two months. I will say that two years prior, I had renewed my registration online with no problem, so I've just had bad luck with the DMV lately.

While DMV has a bad rep, not EVERYTHING is there fault. I bought a classic car that had not been registered in 25 years. It had changed hands at least 3 times in that time frame, and somehow the title got changed, but the car was never registered or listed as Non-OP. They tried to hit me with with 25 years back registration fees on a car I had owned for 2 hours! I have heard it is common in the collector car industry for sellers to use a non-DMV service (such as AAA) that is authorized to do title transfers for cars that will not be operated, but don't pay to register or non-op it and these services either don't know you aren't supposed to do one, without the other, or look the other way.
I had to fill out a form called "Statement of Facts" explaining I had owned the car 2 hours, and then the supervisors approved it and I handed over a lot of money for sales tax and registration fees!

 

[tvguy]

This isn't things posting to the account, this is the actual authorization to the account, I have never had anything not come through immediately via text, no matter where I shopped, online or brick and mortar. My bank and credit card companies already have my phone number, I am not sure that there was ever an option not to give them my phone number, I have just activated alerts so that I can stay on top of my accounts at all times, email is another option for alerts.

They have my landline number. For reasons related to my wacky work (and sleep) schedule I have a second phone....the cell....that is the phone I leave on when I am asleep and my family has to get a hold of me. The cell phone number goes to nobody else.