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Genuine question that may come across as snark, but I promise it's not! "you don't grow up until you have to balance a check book." Is that just shorthand for

Genuine question that may come across as snark, but I promise it's not! "you don't grow up until you have to balance a check book." Is that just shorthand for "be properly aware your own budget and finances" or are there literally still enough people using check (cheque as I might write) books in the US that this is still a literal task people learn.

tdeck 2y ago
Yes there are people still writing checks in the US. I pay my rent by check (paying by bank transfer costs a fee which I refuse to pay). However I have never used the balance recording part of the checkbook and I think it's completely unnecessary if you know how to operate a computer. There are likely some older people who still balance their checkbooks but I never was explicitly taught to do it. Instead I see it used as a kind of metaphor for personal budgeting in general.
- freedomben 2y ago
  Agreed. I was taught (and forced to) balance my checkbook as a youth, but starting around 2006 when I switched to a bank with a website/portal it became essentially busy work. I would still probably recommend doing it (or an equivalent personal tracking) if you run balances near zero so you don't overdraw/overdraft, but for most people it's only a 30 second exercise to pull up the website or app and check your balance. If you're worried about bank errors then maybe self-balancing might be worth it, but that's not something I worry about and even if I did I don't expect my personal balance to be accepted as any sort of evidence.
  - Symbiote 2y ago
    Since it became possible to deposit a cheque by photographing it from a banking app, there are also fewer surprises from the other side: the busy plumber might not find time to drive to the bank during opening hours, but will pay in any cheques they receive the same day through the app. (From what I remember of my parents discussing this, they would be annoyed if someone they'd paid by cheque didn't deposit it promptly. This was probably before online banking, but when they could conveniently check their balance at an ATM in most supermarkets.)
littlestripes 2y ago
I'm 26 from California, I have never had a single occasion to write a check in my life. Neither have any of my peers to my knowledge, but it naturally doesn't come up a lot.
- trod1234 2y ago
  To pay for things, you obviously must use something. What you likely do not realize is there are additional protections inherent with checks that you likely do not have with what you are using. Payment systems often force you to pay a percentage of the total as a fee, just like using your ATM card at a out of network ATM will impose a fee both at the ATM, but on your banks side as well. That's more than you would pay than if you provided a check. There are also many things inherent in the processes involving cashing checks that protect you from various forms of fraud, and the documentation you generate (with carbon copies) can be used in court to support claims as well when bad actors lie. By utilizing something else because its convenient, you effectively sign away protections you didn't know you had. Not knowing the how's and why's, and not being taught, becomes detrimental to your future without you even realizing it.
pavel_lishin 2y ago
I'm in my early 40s; we very occasionally have to still write checks. Most recently, it's how we've paid for house repairs that were too expensive to feel comfortable paying in cash for.
- Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
  I'm 42 and in the last 10 years, I have written two checks: One to a dentist who didn't have an online billing portal, and one to a car wrapping business who charged an extra 3% to pay with a credit card. Even the $6,000 water main replacement and $24,000 roof replacement allowed me to pay through ACH online and so I didn't have to write a physical check. EDIT: Actually, 10 years would include the last few months I lived in an apartment. I paid my rent with a physical check back then. If I lived in an apartment today, if they accepted online payments of some sort without an extra fee, I'd do that.
999900000999 2y ago
It's a figure of speech. I don't literally write checks. But getting my first apartment at 19 was definitely a great experience. I didn't have my parents paying my rent. Either I was going to figure it out or get evicted a 3rd time. It was much easier back than, my rent was around 40% of a minimum wage income. Now the same apartment is closer to 70%.
- mistrial9 2y ago
  in Santa Barbara, California.. working professionals with credentials and a college degree cannot afford (or find?) an ordinary rental unit. The source of that is a news article that said they may not be able to bring newly graduated doctors or young police to their city.
  - 999900000999 2y ago
    To be abundantly clear, this was a dingy crummy apartment in a rough neighborhood. For the first few months I lived there I literally would hide my monitor whenever I left the house. After a while, I grew to love it. I left the monitor out because I was tired of being afraid all the time, I hugged the floor since it meant the next eviction would be up to me. I have so many fond memories of 2009/2010 KTown, such a great place to live on a budget. It's gone now, you need a six-figure income to live there like anywhere else in Los Angeles
trod1234 2y ago
Its required knowledge for financial literacy. Its more than just balancing the check book. The reason's behind why you do it are many. One is in creating a documentation path of evidence you can fall back to if there are any discrepancies, which do happen both as mistakes/errors as well as maliciously. Rare as they may be, having a teller add an extra 0 to the end of a $100 payment when processing is enough for most people to find out the hard way why you need to do these things a certain way. If the bank refuses to correct the issue, you can take them to small claims court and use your documentation as evidence in support along with other evidence such as invoices, etc. Even memorializing something and sending a copy to the person for their documentation can be considered implicit acceptance when they do not respond which bad actors often will not. If you don't have this, its your word versus theirs. A he-said she-said, and there are presumptions in law that may force you to pay if you do not know. Things like failing to dispute amounts/demands for something owed within a certain period of time, may make you liable for remedying a non-existent credit/debt when it goes before a judge.

tdeck 2y ago

Yes there are people still writing checks in the US. I pay my rent by check (paying by bank transfer costs a fee which I refuse to pay). However I have never used the balance recording part of the checkbook and I think it's completely unnecessary if you know how to operate a computer. There are likely some older people who still balance their checkbooks but I never was explicitly taught to do it. Instead I see it used as a kind of metaphor for personal budgeting in general.

freedomben 2y ago
Agreed. I was taught (and forced to) balance my checkbook as a youth, but starting around 2006 when I switched to a bank with a website/portal it became essentially busy work. I would still probably recommend doing it (or an equivalent personal tracking) if you run balances near zero so you don't overdraw/overdraft, but for most people it's only a 30 second exercise to pull up the website or app and check your balance. If you're worried about bank errors then maybe self-balancing might be worth it, but that's not something I worry about and even if I did I don't expect my personal balance to be accepted as any sort of evidence.
- Symbiote 2y ago
  Since it became possible to deposit a cheque by photographing it from a banking app, there are also fewer surprises from the other side: the busy plumber might not find time to drive to the bank during opening hours, but will pay in any cheques they receive the same day through the app. (From what I remember of my parents discussing this, they would be annoyed if someone they'd paid by cheque didn't deposit it promptly. This was probably before online banking, but when they could conveniently check their balance at an ATM in most supermarkets.)

littlestripes 2y ago

I'm 26 from California, I have never had a single occasion to write a check in my life. Neither have any of my peers to my knowledge, but it naturally doesn't come up a lot.

trod1234 2y ago
To pay for things, you obviously must use something. What you likely do not realize is there are additional protections inherent with checks that you likely do not have with what you are using. Payment systems often force you to pay a percentage of the total as a fee, just like using your ATM card at a out of network ATM will impose a fee both at the ATM, but on your banks side as well. That's more than you would pay than if you provided a check. There are also many things inherent in the processes involving cashing checks that protect you from various forms of fraud, and the documentation you generate (with carbon copies) can be used in court to support claims as well when bad actors lie. By utilizing something else because its convenient, you effectively sign away protections you didn't know you had. Not knowing the how's and why's, and not being taught, becomes detrimental to your future without you even realizing it.

pavel_lishin 2y ago

I'm in my early 40s; we very occasionally have to still write checks. Most recently, it's how we've paid for house repairs that were too expensive to feel comfortable paying in cash for.

Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
I'm 42 and in the last 10 years, I have written two checks: One to a dentist who didn't have an online billing portal, and one to a car wrapping business who charged an extra 3% to pay with a credit card. Even the $6,000 water main replacement and $24,000 roof replacement allowed me to pay through ACH online and so I didn't have to write a physical check. EDIT: Actually, 10 years would include the last few months I lived in an apartment. I paid my rent with a physical check back then. If I lived in an apartment today, if they accepted online payments of some sort without an extra fee, I'd do that.

999900000999 2y ago

It's a figure of speech. I don't literally write checks. But getting my first apartment at 19 was definitely a great experience. I didn't have my parents paying my rent. Either I was going to figure it out or get evicted a 3rd time. It was much easier back than, my rent was around 40% of a minimum wage income. Now the same apartment is closer to 70%.

mistrial9 2y ago
in Santa Barbara, California.. working professionals with credentials and a college degree cannot afford (or find?) an ordinary rental unit. The source of that is a news article that said they may not be able to bring newly graduated doctors or young police to their city.
- 999900000999 2y ago
  To be abundantly clear, this was a dingy crummy apartment in a rough neighborhood. For the first few months I lived there I literally would hide my monitor whenever I left the house. After a while, I grew to love it. I left the monitor out because I was tired of being afraid all the time, I hugged the floor since it meant the next eviction would be up to me. I have so many fond memories of 2009/2010 KTown, such a great place to live on a budget. It's gone now, you need a six-figure income to live there like anywhere else in Los Angeles

trod1234 2y ago

Its required knowledge for financial literacy. Its more than just balancing the check book. The reason's behind why you do it are many. One is in creating a documentation path of evidence you can fall back to if there are any discrepancies, which do happen both as mistakes/errors as well as maliciously. Rare as they may be, having a teller add an extra 0 to the end of a $100 payment when processing is enough for most people to find out the hard way why you need to do these things a certain way. If the bank refuses to correct the issue, you can take them to small claims court and use your documentation as evidence in support along with other evidence such as invoices, etc. Even memorializing something and sending a copy to the person for their documentation can be considered implicit acceptance when they do not respond which bad actors often will not. If you don't have this, its your word versus theirs. A he-said she-said, and there are presumptions in law that may force you to pay if you do not know. Things like failing to dispute amounts/demands for something owed within a certain period of time, may make you liable for remedying a non-existent credit/debt when it goes before a judge.