Meanie

[kyburg]

Well, now you know.

I'm making Jim balance the checkbook this morning. Why? I can do it, sure - until I found out he didn't know how to do it based on the daily report online.

Uh. That's pretty scary. I get hit by a truck, it's all over and all that.

So, frustrating or not - mean, nasty and hey that sucks a whole dick or not - I am getting experience in "doing homework" -

And Jim is learning to balance the checkbook on a daily basis. Without rending garments or eating the checkbook.

In all honesty, he's a quick study. But it's proof that money holds a lot of power - and it gets very psychological. (You live on what you can make at Kinko's on overnights, by yourself, over five years and tell me money means nothing to you. G'ahead.)

Cliff? It made him physically ill to do the finances, hence you see me doing them all to this day.

Well - not all. Not anymore.

That's a bad plan.

And I am a mean, mean lady.

Comments

[caitlin.livejournal.com]

Nope, not mean.

I had to learn to balance my checkbook too... which is why I always keep an excel spreadsheet around with my expenses and what will be coming due in the next few weeks (next pay period)...

This way i know how much I have to "play" with.

*shrug*

Any plans for the weekend aside from class?

C.

[machineplay.livejournal.com]

*facepalm* i don't know how to balance a checkbook. i just keep track of the online account. :(

[poetpaladin.livejournal.com]

I'm not good at balancing my checkbook.


What I do instead is look about twice a week at all the balances on-line and make sure I don't spend more than what I have. I always have a rough idea about how much I have in the bank at all times anyway.


I also pay my bills twice a month to help avoid being late with a bill.

[poetpaladin.livejournal.com]

That said, my credit score is:
http://poetpaladin.livejournal.com/634528.html


Doesn't mean I have a lot of money in the bank, though. Just that I'm good with paying on time.

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I no longer balance the checkbook in a traditional fashion, just track outgo and input. When 95% of your transactions are instant POS, ATM or online, there's less need to keep track of outlying checks. (The only paper check we write on any regular basis is the rent, and that may change, as I think this new apartment may accept online payments.) We don't have credit cards, or I would keep better track.

That said, I handle all the finances, and if I weren't around, he'd be in a bit of a mess. Less so only because his salary would support him-alone a lot better than the two of us. He *can* do it, but he doesn't like to, and I do, so it's one of my chores. I keep him abreast of anything major, mostly.

If we had any more major financial stuff going on - owned property, credit cards, anything like that - I'd make him keep more track of what was going on. And when we do, I will. Your idea is a very good one.

[pseudicide.livejournal.com]

It's a skill you really need to have,a nd seriously, one of those things they should teach in school. Year 11 life skills, how to balance a chequebook, things about leases, teaching about credit cards and interest rates, how to change the oil & sparkplugs in a car, how to read a map, so many things that people just don't figure out on their own anymore.

[bellacrow.livejournal.com]

that's not mean, you're helping him! Now if Ryan and I could get on the same page about this.

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

My teens have had to deal with everything from budgeting money grocery shopping ("Here is $30 and a cart. Buy your food for a week"), to their own bank accounts, to ... ? Anything I could think of since they were young (10?)

Their friends told me they were envious. Writing checks? Using a credit card? Opening a bank account? Budgeting? All that money stuff is new to them.

So is dry cleaning, or traveling by themselves, or buying insurance... or even knowing they need it. Growing up is apparently harder now than it was 20 years ago. Either that, or independence is tougher to find?

Good for you, insisting on teaching a necessary skill.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Funny, I just had a long conversation about this today.

Handling money responsably isn't something I'm naturally good at, it's a skill that took a lot of learning and requires quite a bit of vigilance to maintain.

When I went through a really bad depression, my record-keeping slipped into non-existant for about five years. It's taken me the better part of the last two years to sort out the mess - but two more years of taxes to file, and I'm finally finished.

[washuotaku.livejournal.com]

As a Banker, I better know how to balance a checkbook. ^^;