"Last night I read a book that brought tears to my eyes--it
was my bank book."
- Anonymous Wall Street Wit and Wisdom
Compare your monthly bank statement against your checkbook,
and put a check mark next to each transaction in your checkbook
that is documented on your statement.
Find the ending balance on your bank statement.
Add to that ending balance any recent deposits that are
not checked off in your checkbook.
From your new ending balance, subtract any recent withdrawals,
checks, or debits in your checkbook that are not checked
off.
This final number should match up with the ending balance
in your checkbook. If not, go back and see where you may
have missed a transaction or a calculation. It's there,
somewhere.
If you do this every month, your life will be a lot easier.
Save yourself the monthly anguish of balancing your
checkbook against your statement: Bank online and check
off processed payments on a weekly basis. Since you're
only doing one-quarter of the work at a time, it may
only take 5 to 10 minutes out of your lunch hour. That's
time well spent to stay on top of your spending.
