Okay, okay, I probably started out a bit too harsh with the title of this article. Checkbook Balancing Programs are probably not useless, but they certainly aren’t necessary. Some people get really defensive when I say such things. It’s just the honest truth. As a matter of fact:

You don’t need to balance your checkbook.

Which is why you don’t need a program for checkbook balancing either. Don’t waste your money, and especially, don’t waste your time.

Why Checkbook Balancing is Unnecessary
Several years ago, my wife and I married. At the time, we were both in school full-time, with part-time, low-paying jobs. ‘Tis the life of college students. And when you’re married, even though you’re combining two incomes, you seem to be even poorer.

Since we married we have never, ever, worried about checkbook balancing. And we’ve never overdrafted on our account. Not once. I’m not saying this to brag. I’m just telling you how things developed. At the moment, I’m still in school full-time and working part-time. My wife is taking care of our 8-month old son full-time (she’ll attest to how busy he keeps her!).

So what I’m saying is, it’s not like we’re making a lot of money. As a matter of fact, we’re pretty excited to be graduating in a year to begin making some “real money”. And we don’t balance our checkbook. Checkbook balancing is just not something we worry about. So when I saw a lot of checkbook balancing programs on the internet, I thought I would write a bit on the subject.

Make your time with your finances COUNT!
Not many people enjoy balancing their checkbook. However, everyone likes to have plenty of money in the bank. Nobody likes to pay overdraft charges, and everyone likes a bit of peace and assurance when it comes to personal finances.

How you spend your time in planning your finances is crucial.

Before my wife and I married I recognized that we would need to watch our finances very, very closely. We were going into marriage in love, but broke (we’re still in love, but not broke). I knew that budgeting would be the key to a successful financial situation. I also knew that budgeting would spare our marriage of plenty of stress and headaches when it came to “money discussions.”

I began developing a system of Personal Budget Excel Spreadsheets to help us along our path. As we progressed in our experience managing our finances together, we noticed little things we could do to change and tweak the program. About a year later, I realized that the tweaking was done. What we had was a unique set of inter-related spreadsheets that worked together in such a way that it enabled us to spend a minimal amount of time (1-2 hours per month) budgeting and managing our money. I also noticed that checkbook balancing was not an issue.

A Program for Checkbook Balancing became Useless
Sure, we check our balance online – which takes about thirty seconds. But we just do this to make sure we’re the bank didn’t make any mistake with our money. The system we use, which I’ve affectionately named YNAB (You Need A Budget), has helped us get past so many of the mundane tasks that go along with managing money; the biggest one being balancing a checkbook. Program after program is released that supposedly makes this easier. My system of Personal Budget Excel Spreadsheets makes it unnecessary.

Take a look around the site, and please don’t miss the Four Steps to Cash Flow Management as outlined on the main page. This visit just might change how you manage your finances forever – and for the better. Read carefully and keep an open mind.

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