How to Budget a Checking Account

Properly learning to budget a checking account is essential to avoid unnecessary fees and possible penalties from bounced checks. With checks coming through more quickly than ever, the days of writing checks a few days before payday are pretty much over. This makes it more necessary than ever to properly balance a checking account. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to budget a checking account, including traditional pen and paper and computer methods.

Things You'll Need

• Checkbook ledger Receipts Spreadsheets (optional)

Instructions

Directions

1. Write down in your checkbook ledger or on a small notepad every single check written right after you write it. Alternatively, you can save receipts from purchases in one place. However, this will not work for checks that you wrote to a person or mailed bill payments.

2. Note any and all bank withdrawals, ATM transactions or debit card purchases. Saving receipts also really helps with these types of in-person or electronic transactions.

3. Record any deposits made, whether from an in-person counter or drive-through window deposit, ATM deposit or direct deposit. Keeping receipts in these instances is also a good idea to help properly budget your checking account.

4. Write down on a daily basis all deposits and withdrawal transactions made, using your checkbook ledger.

5. Typing information into spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel or budgeting programs like Microsoft Money is also a good way to balance your checking account. However, it is important to know how to use the program functions properly to avoid serious mistakes that could eventually overdraw your checking account. In addition, it is usually still a good idea to write everything down so you have accurate records. This could ultimately create extra work when it comes to bank account balancing.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember that writing a bad check is a criminal act nationwide and that many retailers can change your paper check into an almost-immediate electronic withdrawal. Only write checks if you have funds in the account at the time of the transaction.

• Do not rely on only a computer program to balance your checkbook. Keeping backup copies of any computer files, receipts and handwritten records is essential to prevent losing control of your checking account transactions.