Here's a simple way to, sort of, "hide" money from yourself in your checkbook. It's like a secret savings that you know is there, but you don't spend it. So, you simply take the amount you're going to subtract out and round up to the next closest dollar or add on a few extra dollars.
For example: your checking account entry might look like this:
But you actually enter $17.00 or $20.00, which would make your hidden savings .48 cents or $3.48.
You get the idea, just "hide" a bit with each and every checking/debit account transaction. You can also enter the correct amount in the description area and have a running balance *the real one* so you know it, like you normally would. Just an idea you can use to save a little money, it adds up! I can do a diagram if need be.
Source: My sister told me about it and I adapted it for myself.
By Elizabeth Farnsworth from Los Banos, CA
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We do this too. It's amazing how fast that little nest egg grows!
I've been doing this for a long time and it works out great! Once I have a sizeable amount I transfer it to my savings account, it's like saving painlessly.
That would drive me crazy and would be too confusing. I set up an automatic savings into my ING account... no amount is too small.
My aunt, who worked in a bank, told me she always rounded up her check amounts when she recorded them. It made balancing the checkbook simpler.
We rounded up when trying to track all of our spending of cash, bills, etc. We used an extra calendar (a free giveaway, of course) at the end of each day to write down all money we spent and found it was much easier to just round it up than to remember to the penny.
Like DorothyNYC; I tried it and it drove me crazy! It was too confusing to balance my check register. If my check register is off one cent it drives be nuts until I find out where it is.
I don't want to rain on anyone's parade or discourage saving in this economy. ... but having in worked in the banking industry for twenty plus years, I can tell you that more often than not, it's not a good idea. Having a register that is anything less than accurate only delays the time it takes for you to find out you're out of balance. Any savings you acquire can be gone in an instant and fees growing quickly if there is a mistake that goes unnoticed for any length of time, even a day. Banks now charge in excess of $35. an hour for "finding your error"! A better suggestion might be to get a savings account and add the difference weekly or even monthly when you find that you are in balance.
Hi, I would like a diagram of this please.
Thank you, Erin Hester
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