Always Reconcile your Bank Account

Posted by James Hutchinson Feb 19, 2009

“I can’t be overdrawn. I still have checks left.”

Sorry, that’s not the way it works. The best advice for money management I can give is to do bank reconciliations. Make sure you know how much money you have in your checking account. One mistake in a checking account can lead to expensive overdraft fees, or an embarrassing moment at the ATM.

I know people who don’t reconcile, they just close their bank accounts every few years so they can start fresh. That’s not really a good idea. It’s very easy to make a mistake now that that there are automatic withdrawals, internet transactions and fees hitting your account.

Bank reconciliations are easy if you follow the steps in this article.

Keeping track is smart and easy, especially if you have online access to your account. If not, making a date with your monthly statement is a great place to start.