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[wanderer2575]

I still keep and balance my checkbook register by hand, and I have to use white-out tape now and then because I added something wrong or wrote something on the wrong line.

I admire your commitment to staying in the 20th Century.

I think I can count the number of checks I've written over the last five years on one hand.

Don't be so quick to knock it.  My wife does all of hers electronically, importing from the bank into Quickbooks, and more than once there's been a Quickbooks glitch and everything is lost.

I have an Excel spreadsheet into which I import the information from my accounts.

I have never had a glitch going back 10 years now.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly are you tracking? I thought the point of balancing a checkbook was to make sure you didn't have any outstanding deposits or checks that weren't yet recognized in your statement? Since we have online access real time to your transaction history and confirmation of deposits whenever you make them at a branch or using your cell phone, I don't pay too much attention. I do pay attention to my credit cards for refunds and things of that nature.

Real-time access to actual transaction history is great.  But I want a separate register of the transactions I am expecting.  Otherwise, if an incorrect transaction hits my account, how would I know?  I don't write a lot of checks either, but I have a good bit of electronic activity and I can't remember all of it.

[JayhawkCO]

I still keep and balance my checkbook register by hand, and I have to use white-out tape now and then because I added something wrong or wrote something on the wrong line.

I admire your commitment to staying in the 20th Century.

I think I can count the number of checks I've written over the last five years on one hand.

Don't be so quick to knock it.  My wife does all of hers electronically, importing from the bank into Quickbooks, and more than once there's been a Quickbooks glitch and everything is lost.

I have an Excel spreadsheet into which I import the information from my accounts.

I have never had a glitch going back 10 years now.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly are you tracking? I thought the point of balancing a checkbook was to make sure you didn't have any outstanding deposits or checks that weren't yet recognized in your statement? Since we have online access real time to your transaction history and confirmation of deposits whenever you make them at a branch or using your cell phone, I don't pay too much attention. I do pay attention to my credit cards for refunds and things of that nature.

Real-time access to actual transaction history is great.  But I want a separate register of the transactions I am expecting.  Otherwise, if an incorrect transaction hits my account, how would I know?  I don't write a lot of checks either, but I have a good bit of electronic activity and I can't remember all of it.

With regard to my checking account, I only have 6-7 things that come out of it per month -- mortgage, credit card bills, car payments, and a few bills that I can't pay via credit card. I do peruse my credit card transactions (mostly looking for refunds that are due), but incorrect transactions are generally unlikely due to fraud protection and such.

[Scott5114]

I still keep and balance my checkbook register by hand, and I have to use white-out tape now and then because I added something wrong or wrote something on the wrong line.

I admire your commitment to staying in the 20th Century.

I think I can count the number of checks I've written over the last five years on one hand.

Don't be so quick to knock it.  My wife does all of hers electronically, importing from the bank into Quickbooks, and more than once there's been a Quickbooks glitch and everything is lost.

I have an Excel spreadsheet into which I import the information from my accounts.

I have never had a glitch going back 10 years now.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly are you tracking? I thought the point of balancing a checkbook was to make sure you didn't have any outstanding deposits or checks that weren't yet recognized in your statement? Since we have online access real time to your transaction history and confirmation of deposits whenever you make them at a branch or using your cell phone, I don't pay too much attention. I do pay attention to my credit cards for refunds and things of that nature.

Sometimes it can take a day or two for debit card transactions to post, in my experience. (Some merchants don't actually finalize all of the card transactions until the end of the business day.) And, of course, some people still use checks for one reason or another. (For instance, in my experience ACH transfers are inordinately slow, so I tend to transfer money between banks by just writing a check to myself, which gets posted in the receiving account the same day.) If one is trying to answer the question of "do I have enough money in the account to do X", I could see how a balanced checkbook could provide information that online account access wouldn't.

[JayhawkCO]

I still keep and balance my checkbook register by hand, and I have to use white-out tape now and then because I added something wrong or wrote something on the wrong line.

I admire your commitment to staying in the 20th Century.

I think I can count the number of checks I've written over the last five years on one hand.

Don't be so quick to knock it.  My wife does all of hers electronically, importing from the bank into Quickbooks, and more than once there's been a Quickbooks glitch and everything is lost.

I have an Excel spreadsheet into which I import the information from my accounts.

I have never had a glitch going back 10 years now.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly are you tracking? I thought the point of balancing a checkbook was to make sure you didn't have any outstanding deposits or checks that weren't yet recognized in your statement? Since we have online access real time to your transaction history and confirmation of deposits whenever you make them at a branch or using your cell phone, I don't pay too much attention. I do pay attention to my credit cards for refunds and things of that nature.

Sometimes it can take a day or two for debit card transactions to post, in my experience. (Some merchants don't actually finalize all of the card transactions until the end of the business day.) And, of course, some people still use checks for one reason or another. (For instance, in my experience ACH transfers are inordinately slow, so I tend to transfer money between banks by just writing a check to myself, which gets posted in the receiving account the same day.) If one is trying to answer the question of "do I have enough money in the account to do X", I could see how a balanced checkbook could provide information that online account access wouldn't.

I guess I have a slightly different perspective since I don't remember the last time I used my debit card for anything other than "checking in" at the bank or to get cash when I was overseas. Every dollar I spend goes on a credit card as best I can.

[Rothman]

I don't use a debit card.  Everything possible goes on a credit card, which I pay off every month.  Anything that can't be put on the card (I don't pay additional fees) gets the autopay treatment from my checking account.

I've got a savings account with a decent interest rate and have not found ACH transactions to be too slow.

So, I keep track of everything in my Excel file, which is why I find a handwritten check ledger so antiquated and incomplete.  It doesn't project expenses, doesn't keep track of savings once saved, and only has very limited budgeting capabilities, if any.

I wonder if all the online resources and software available nowadays have led to an increase in financial literacy, come to think of it.  Scribbling on paper just seems so error prone, primitive and incomplete.

[Scott5114]

I've tried the "put everything on credit card and pay off at the end of the month" strategy and I've found all that does is make it hard for me to accurately answer the question of whether I have enough money to buy things or not.

[Rothman]

I've tried the "put everything on credit card and pay off at the end of the month" strategy and I've found all that does is make it hard for me to accurately answer the question of whether I have enough money to buy things or not.

That's why I project expenses in my Excel workbook.

[Scott5114]

I've tried the "put everything on credit card and pay off at the end of the month" strategy and I've found all that does is make it hard for me to accurately answer the question of whether I have enough money to buy things or not.

That's why I project expenses in my Excel workbook.

I can't say I've ever had a job where I knew exactly how much my checks were going to be before the pay period closed. (In order, hourly with no guaranteed schedule, hourly with tips, hourly with tips, independent contractor paid by the job.) So projecting expenses wouldn't really do much to help me out, because I'd know what my expenses were but not my income.

[Rothman]

I've tried the "put everything on credit card and pay off at the end of the month" strategy and I've found all that does is make it hard for me to accurately answer the question of whether I have enough money to buy things or not.

That's why I project expenses in my Excel workbook.

I can't say I've ever had a job where I knew exactly how much my checks were going to be before the pay period closed. (In order, hourly with no guaranteed schedule, hourly with tips, hourly with tips, independent contractor paid by the job.) So projecting expenses wouldn't really do much to help me out, because I'd know what my expenses were but not my income.

You could at least estimate.

But, if you're unwilling to do that and your income is that volatile, then you end up with no budget at all, essentially just out of a fear that your estimate would be incorrect.

And that would also raise a question as to how you calculate your W-4 withholdings, since they are based upon projected earnings for a year.

[Scott5114]

I don't have W4 withholdings. I'm an independent contractor on a 1099. I do quarterly estimated taxes (which is more or less straightforward as I maintain a double-entry accounting system for business expenses).

My wife is the one with the W4.

[Rothman]

Quarterly estimated taxes, withholdings -- either way.  If you want to budget (or estimate your taxes), you have to estimate your income and expenses in some fashion.

Anyway, I find a monthly credit card bill easy to manage.  I've got a sheet for my checking account.  My income determines how much I can afford month-to-month.  Put in an amount that fits in my projected balance and keep track of my credit card expenses on a separate sheet to make sure I stay within or at least close to the amount I've allocated for the credit card.

Given online resources through my banks and whatnot, updating the Excel workbook takes about ten minutes altogether.

Last step: Profit.

[kphoger]

ginger ale
RC cola

ground turkey

[CtrlAltDel]

I've tried the "put everything on credit card and pay off at the end of the month" strategy and I've found all that does is make it hard for me to accurately answer the question of whether I have enough money to buy things or not.

That's why I project expenses in my Excel workbook.

I can't say I've ever had a job where I knew exactly how much my checks were going to be before the pay period closed. (In order, hourly with no guaranteed schedule, hourly with tips, hourly with tips, independent contractor paid by the job.) So projecting expenses wouldn't really do much to help me out, because I'd know what my expenses were but not my income.

I'm definitely in the "put it all on the credit card" camp, but as you point out here, I get paid the same, every check, nine times a year.

[abefroman329]

ginger ale
RC cola

ground turkey

Yes, and among ginger ales, Vernor's is underrated.

93% lean ground beef > ground turkey, but you know what's an absolute PITA to try and work with?  Ground chicken.

[Rothman]

Coy and Vance Duke

[JayhawkCO]

Bo and Luke, far superior as you well know.

[Rothman]

Bo and Luke, far superior as you well know.

Doesn't mean Coy and Vance aren't underrated.

After all, they defeated the Mean Green Machine twice.

[ethanhopkin14]

Bo and Luke, far superior as you well know.

Doesn't mean Coy and Vance aren't underrated.

After all, they defeated the Mean Green Machine twice.

Ah.. Coy and Vance!  The very similar but less attractive counterparts to Bo and Luke.  Coy and Vance had it hard.  Not everyone is willing to come to Hazzard and pick up where the Dukes left off, mainly pestering the local corrupt mayor and over authoritative sheriff while Bo and Luke were negotiating their contract out of town. 

[kphoger]

[JayhawkCO]

After today, southern Kansas scenery. Not that bad!

[kphoger]

After today, southern Kansas scenery. Not that bad!

US-160 in southeastern Kansas, especially.

[kphoger]

shallots

[JayhawkCO]

shallots

Essentially same flavor as onions but a lot fewer tears when cutting. Agreed.

[kphoger]

shallots

Essentially same flavor as onions but a lot fewer tears when cutting. Agreed.

Milder texture and flavor, too.

And, instead of (1) chopping a third of an onion, (2) putting the rest of it in a container in the fridge, (3) forgetting it's there for a week, (4) buying another onion for another recipe, (5) discovering the old one in the fridge and forgetting how old it is, (6) using it anyway, even though it's lost most of its good flavor, ... – you can instead just chop up a whole shallot to begin with.

[geek11111]

Time zones

Huh?  Are people advocating their abolition?

mgk920 here (thread locked): https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=31208.msg2718030#msg2718030

Heck, I wouldn't mind us going to worldwide UTC ('Zulu'/Military) time instead and adjust our personal schedules accordingly.  No semi-annual clock changes, everyone yells "Happy new year!" at the same time and no time zone confusions.  Instead of it now being 1:20pm (1320) Central Daylight Time (UTC -5) as I post this, it would be 1820Z.

 

Mike

There already is UTC and people who need it already use it.

As someone who worked on UTC/Z for much of my career, I appreciate it for what it is. But Time Zones are underrated because of all the good they do. Originally introduced to synchronize train schedules, they help coordinate everything from TV schedules to organizing family phone calls in far-flung cities. Few people appreciate them. It's a lot easier to work together when at worst you're on a different hour but the same minute from your partners in different cities rather than everyone being on their own time even in cities as close as St Louis and Kansas City. I'm sure our phones could handle constantly updating our time for location with every incremental change of longitude but I'm sure we'd all hate it. Most people would be surprised to find out they've only been around for about 150 years.

I love the hilarity of me living in the Central Time zone and if the world run on Zulu time, me coming home from work at what would normally be 6:00 PM but instead the day changes suddenly.

At least the US has multiple time zones. China is one big time zone meaning it can be rough on those in Xinjiang and Tibet which are more than 30° west of Beijing. (Each one hour time zone is theoretically 15° wide.) The same is true of India which, while not spanning as much longitude, is annoyingly +5:30 from UTC.

Actually, the two provinces you mentioned shift their schedule 2 hours behind mid-to-eastern China.
They have lunch at 2, work from 10 to 8, and 0:00 to 1:00 at night is not late at all.
Their peak hours are also shifted 2 hours later, from 06-22:00 to 08-midnight.
This also means they would been pretty convenient for the Black Friday midnight because it's "like" only like 24-2=22:00 (10pm) in eastern Chinese people's biological clock.