<< Back to all Blogs
Login or Create your own free blog
Layout:
Home > I Need Help

I Need Help

November 29th, 2007 at 08:08 pm

I got my credit card a couple months ago (don't worry, this isn't going where you think it is). And to ensure that I don't spend money that I don't have, I've been recording each credit card transaction in my checking register.

But this is causing me a big headache. Every time I check my checking balance online, the balances are always different and I have to go through each transaction to make sure my balances are correct. It gets more annoying when I've written checks and they don't clear right away.

There's nothing wrong with this method, it's just that it's starting to get annoying. I don't like spending 15 minutes every week going through my checkbook.

Do you have any tips on how I can simplify this? I'm very good with my credit card-I buy gas and groceries every week on my credit card and I always pay my bill the moment it arrives in the mail.

Posted in Credit Card | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “I Need Help”

  1. debtfreeme Says:
    November 29th, 2007 at 08:19 pm 1196367570
    1196367570

    Do you mena you list the charges for your cc in the checking account or you have a debit card linked to the account that you also write in teh check rigister?

    One way to keep clearer track: put the cc entries in a different color than everything else (like red so you know they are charges and not direct withdrawls.). that way you would know right away what is a charge on the card and what is checks or debit done with a debit card.

    I do something similar to track my spending monthly: my bank gave out a little card holder to protect the magnetic strip and it came with a little booklet the same size and i write all the charges in that. every couple of weeks i make a payment to the card to clear it and highlight where the payment was completed and i know that everything above that line was already paid off the card.

  2. scfr Says:
    November 30th, 2007 at 12:35 am 1196382911
    1196382911

    Sounds like a good idea. If I were following your system, I'd probably keep 2 checkbook registers, a "real" one (where I recorded only the transactions that would also show up on the bank's record) and a "pretend" one (where I would record all of my credit card purchases). The pretend one will help you keep your spending in check, and the real one will give you less headaches when balancing your account.

  3. Cassandra Says:
    December 3rd, 2007 at 10:01 pm 1196719276
    1196719276

    Thank you both. I was thinking of keeping two registers, like you suggested scfr. I also like your idea of highlighting the last charge of a period, debtfreeme. I can keep better track of what I'm spending and what I've already paid off that way.

    Thanks again! You two were lots of help!

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]