I sit down at my computer with my transactions page for that account open, and compare it to my paper checkbook register. (you can check off cleared checks in your register with a translucent highlighting pen if you have many transactions, make all easy to spot) I fill in any withdrawals for cash I may have made but have not entered in the register and add any deposits I may not have recorded. My bank shows actual check number with the amounts, I don't know if all do. If I have check numbers missing from my checkbook that don't show online either, I may have to wait a day or two more before they show online as having cleared (DH will take checks and forget to tell me, just assumes I have enough :)). Other than those, the balance online and the balance in my book should match. I hope I didn't sound harsh earlier, I just listened to a friend rant about having to spend a whole day straightening out his wife's checkbook this weekend - she's 50 with a college degree and my sympathies for the week may have been used up. I know it doesn't come naturally to everyone and takes a little discipline, which then turns into such a time saver.

Another deadbeat here. I don't use a rewards card since it seems like it would take forever to get anything back, because I'm not a big spender. I have all utilities, insurances, etc taken out of my checking account automatically, which is so convenient for me. I rarely write a check, and recently when I did write one, it was the last check in the book,and when I got a new pad of checks out of the box, I noticed that those checks had been ordered in October '05 and there were still 2 pads left. And of course, if I couldn't afford whatever I put on my CC, I wouldn't buy it. AutoPay and paying off in full each month on my Visa works for me. Sue

Deangreen - thought you would like this story - we were walking the propagation beds at Wilds off Interstate ?? in Southwestern Missouri on a hot day. We met another couple there who were from Siloam Springs. We asked them if they had ever been to Pauline Henry's. The reply was that they had heard there was a lady in town that grew daylilies. Does she sell them? We told them to take a big checkbook if they went there.

PammyFay asked, Lindsey: Do you use an Excel spreadsheet, too? Or some other method? I write a physical check maybe twice a year. Of course, expenditures made with a debit card, or ATM withdrawals should/would also be written in a check register, to keep an accurate running balance. But, I don't write those down, either. (I don't make purchases with my ATM/debit card other than at the grocery store.) If I purchase something "in person" or purchase something online, I use a credit card. I pay my monthly bills (credit cards, cell phone, car payment, etc.) via my bank's online Bill Pay system. That system will also generate and send a physical check (and they cover the postage!). When the money electronically leaves my account and goes to the payee, the deduction shows up in my online account. I don't receive a physical/paper statement each month -- I can view my statement online. I do download the PDFs of the statements to my computer, where they are organized by bank, then account (checking/savings/credit card) then by year, then by month. Paperwork for major purchases, etc., goes into a file folder for that purchase, and stored in the file drawer with other similar folders. When I do write a physical check, the bank does not return the canceled check to me. They quit doing that many years ago, even when I was still receiving a monthly paper statement. I can go into my account online and view both sides of the check, and download a copy of the images, which I do. My PC is backed up to a 2TB portable drive. Every time I make a change to an existing file, or add a new file, it is backed up. And, no, I don't worry about my running balance. I know how much money is direct-deposited to my account each month, and I know how much I have left each month after I pay my bills. Since I use my credit cards more than my debit card, I don't need to know my balance. (I'm 67 years old and haven't overdrawn my checking account since I was 19.)