Can The Average Joe Save Money Without A Checking Account?

pearlbrown | Sep 26, 2012 | 2,298 posts since 2010

The story comes from the Yahoo contributor network, so it is a first-person "here is my story" article. Like you, Ken, I hope this type of thinking is not representative of how the average American handles a checkbook, but suspect it may be more common than we believe. What a sorry state of affairs.

There have been many lively discussions on this forum about our country's education system and the fact that many people can't do simple math without a calculator. The author of the article sounds like she can do the math ("Instead of spending around $750 a year on overdrafts, we can comfortably spend the $36 fee to keep the Visa") but may lack either the discipline or confidence to keep the check register updated.

If the person can't handle a checking account, then at least going to what amounts to cash-only (aside from the $36 annual expense for the Walmart VISA) is preferable. I shudder to think how they handle other financial obligations, though.

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Answers

darkdreamer4u | Sep 26, 2012 | 350 posts since 2010

I never use a checkbook - how antiquated! Excel spreadsheet is the way to go: faster, more accurate and the 3s and 5s are different enough;-)

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darkdreamer4u | Sep 26, 2012 | 350 posts since 2010

I guess like not every student is destined to go to college (all the bullcrap of the No Child Left Behind Act), not everybody seems to be able to handle a checking account - maybe they shouldn't...

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paoli2 | Sep 26, 2012 | 2,641 posts since 2011

I have never had to pay Overdraft or any other checking account fees. However, our checking account was my biggest headache each month because I would always be out of balance by just a few pennies. It meant readding all the figures with my adding machine and always finding the error but a great aggravation until I finally realized what my problem was. It had nothing to do with lack of education because I have handled all manner of tax forms, book keeping and accounting all my life without a problem. However, I had a habit of scribbling all the figures in my checkbook and my fives and threes looked alike and caused me to add figures incorrectly. Now I have tried to write much neater in my checkbook and I hope to eliminate the problem. No matter how much education we have, if we don't pay attention to writing the figures clearly in the pad, we can have mathematical errors. I have been fortunate that my errors were always in the "pennies" so I never got overdrawn and had to pay any fees.

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dunker | Sep 30, 2012 | 137 posts since 2010

I neither write checks nor use ATM machines. My rent is paid through bill pay. For just about everything else I primarily use reward checking debit cards (as credit cards) or occasionally credit cards when I can get 5% cash back. For my minimal cash needs I get cash back at grocery stores. I never have less than $10,000 in any account so overdrafts are never a problem.

And I regularly follow my accounts online, so I don't keep any written check tallies or spreadsheets of my individual expenses. Once a month I fill out a simple spreadsheet totaling each of my accounts so that I can keep track of my net worth.

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