• Date Started: Oct 30, 2007
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This is why I don't like to budget

6 Responses to “This is why I don't like to budget”

1. disneysteve Says:
   December 13th, 2007 at 03:08 pm
   It is things like this that are exactly the reason you need to balance your checkbook. If your register says one amount and your bank's records say another amount, balancing the checkbook serves to "balance" the two reports and find the error. Perhaps you made a math error in your register. Perhaps you neglected to record a transaction. Perhaps you recorded a deposit as a withdrawal, or vice-versa. I've certainly done all of those things many times, and the only way I found the mistake was to balance the checkbook. Whatever you do, don't assume the bank is correct because you may end up spending money you don't really have. I've had my bank cash checks for the wrong amount. How did I discover the error? By balancing my checkbook.

2. Ima saver Says:
   December 13th, 2007 at 03:28 pm
   I balance mine every month too, down to the penny and steve is right, banks do make mistakes. I had a 40 cents mistake last month and the bank coded the check for $35.00 instead of $35.40!

3. Amber Says:
   December 13th, 2007 at 04:35 pm
   It is funny because I can balance my check book what when I compare it to my budget I am always off (?) I have no idea what I am doing

4. disneysteve Says:
   December 13th, 2007 at 05:47 pm
   Also keep in mind that the online balance is not as up to date as your checkbook register. The online balance doesn't reflect payments you've made that haven't cleared yet. If I write a check tonight, I deduct that amount from my balance, but the online balance won't reflect that amount until that check clears the account. That could be 2 weeks from now or more. That's why I can't understand all the folks who say they don't balance their checkbooks and just rely on the online banking to see what they have.

5. Ralph Says:
   January 22nd, 2008 at 03:35 pm
   It sounds like I am in the minority here, but I tend to take a more approximate approach, so I would not have a second thought about a $40 difference! For me that would be incredibly close! I've found that it's too easy to get lost in the details, when the big picture is what I want. Of course it is a worthy goal to be as precise as possible, but for me it just feels too anal-retentive.
   
   Your thought that you are cutting out the muffins and coffee is exactly the approach I am trying to take, to really think long and hard about ANY optional spending. With my amount of debt, I know I will have no discretionary income for quite some time.

6. disneysteve Says:
   January 23rd, 2008 at 06:07 am
   Ralph - How do you decide how large an error is worth finding and how small an error is worth ignoring? I balance my checkbook to the penny each month. Actually, most months my 12-year-old daughter does it for me. When it doesn't balance, it never takes more than a couple of minutes for us to find the mistake. It really isn't a big deal. If there is a bank error, I want to know about it and get it corrected. It has happened more than once.

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