Since a lot of purchases and bill payments happen online these days, the frequency of someone writing a check to cover — well, anything — has sharply decreased, especially in the last decade. I use my Debit card for almost all of my purchases and I cannot remember the last time I wrote a check. Balancing a chequebook was one of the skills I used to teach in my Recordkeeping classes and it was one that I believed was an important lifelong skill. However, technology has changed that need.
The art of balancing a chequebook — that is, going through your own notes of what you paid out to compare it to your monthly bank statement — is also a thing of the past.
While you may not have a physical chequebook anymore, the logic of financial literacy behind this process is sound. The logic is that you know where you spend your money, and you know how much you have in the bank. Without understanding this simple concept, as a person on a fixed income, you may be one of the many that just shut your eyes and whisper a small prayer that your debit card would have enough funds to cover your purchase. Maybe taking some time to look at your statements regularly and understanding what they mean isn’t such a bad idea.
It can help you spend your money more wisely, and it can
help you notice any signs of fraud.
Unless you meant to buy thousands of dollars in gift cards.
In that case, you do you.
No comments:
Post a Comment