For the last couple of years I’ve done something that I find useful, particularly at tax time. Tax time is exactly why I first started.
At the start of the new year I get on the websites for my checking account and charge cards, and download ALL the transactions for the year in CSV format. I create and Excel spreadsheet with one tab for each source. It doesn’t take much work to freeze the top row of column headings, get the columns widths and data types right, and such. The data is easily sortable, and grouping entries by where I spent or paid is makes finding things easy. Anything tax related gets a highlight color to stand out. My memory isn’t what it used to be, and I find myself referring to this regularly for one thing or another.
I assume some tool like QuickBooks would make this redundant, but for me it is really handy.
I write checks for some gifts and very few other things. Bills that do not go on a charge card are paid through the bill pay feature of my checking account. Things that are the same every month - seven of those, including the mortgage - are set to be automatic. If the bank can, it does an ETF; otherwise it mails a check. When a charge card bill comes in I get on the bank’s site and put the amount and date in for that payment. I have a large enough balance that there is no charge for the service. My wife set it up initially when she handled the bills, and now I couldn’t live without it.
I too pay most bills by the banks electronic system. Some by autopay. But annual checks to charities are more trouble than worth to enter in bank system. Still write checks to most of them.
Need to combine your records somewhere. Whatever works for you. I still balance check book once per month when statement arrives.
When I was young my handwriting was horrible. These days my hands shake enough that my printing is almost almost that bad, and my signature is a joke. When I do have to write a check, I sit at a table, with my right forearm resting on the table. I only have to void an occasional check. So if I can use the bank, I do. My typing ain’t great, but I can fix it!
You all might want to check out the U.S. Bank “Smartly” Visa credit card. There are some hoops to jump though (you have to have $100K+ at the bank, including their self-directed brokerage), but you’ll get a 4% rebate. If you pay big estimated income tax, the arbitrage is worth doing.
Just doing some quick math…
If you have to pay $10K the IRS charges 1.75% or $175 and you get $400 back, net +$225
If you pay that quarterly it would be $900/yr
Meanwhile your forced savings account of $100K is earning 3.5% (if I found the right number) or $3500/yr which may or may not be better than you can do elsewhere. But combined with the cc refunds it is effectively 4.4%.
Of course if you are paying $50K taxes per quarter you’d be taking in $4500/yr in cc refunds and an effective interest rate of 8%
The optimal way to do this is to open a self-directed U.S. Bank brokerage account with $100K of assets. You have to park those assets somewhere, anyway.
Yeah, there are the paperwork and transfer “hoops” to jump through, but once you do that, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.
