Comments on: How Much Money Is In Your Checking Account?

By: Sean

Sean — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:38:46 +0000

I keep enough in my checking for that month’s expenses plus about $500. The other day I was at a convenience store and someone left their ATM receipt, and their checking account balance was $210,000.

By: KD

KD — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:16:28 +0000

I keep all of my liquid funds in my checking account as I have a rewards checking account.

By: M. Wanzer

M. Wanzer — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 22:42:55 +0000

I generally have a set amount of money that I try to put in my online savings account every month. Most of the money that I keep in the checking account is usually just enough to allow me to pay my bills throughout the month and have a few hundred for spending throughout the month. I definitely think that moving money into my savings account early one does two things: one it ensures that I save every month, and two, it doesnt tempt me to spend the extra money that is left over after I cover expenses.

By: BT

BT — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:36:22 +0000

I keep one whole paycheck in my checking at all times and the rest in savings. The other day at the airport, I went to the ATM and somebody had left their receipt hanging at the machine. It was one those ATMs that print your balance on the receipt. I glanced down at it and the balance on the receipt was like over $31,000. That’s a lot of money in a checking account.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:13:18 +0000

After seeing the numbers here, I guess I keep a large amount of money in my checking for my age (29). I try to keep things simple with my accounts, so I only have 3: one checking and 2 savings. The checking and one savings account at one institution actually have the same (paltry) interest rate, so I really only have a savings account because they told me I needed one to open a checking account. The other savings is an ING account, and I keep at least 8 months of expenses there.

I always kept at least enough for the “worst month’s” expenses plus a $1000 cushion. I am self employed now, so those “worst months” are now estimated tax time and cost me about $9000 more than they used to. Add in an expensive area to live in plus owning a home, and that amount really swells. To me, its not worth the headache of transferring money back and forth just to get an extra percent for a couple months. That may change if ING’s rates go considerably higher in the future. For now, I’d rather have the peace of mind that the money is there when the taxman comes. Especially when I do get at least a little interest in my checking account.

I have been thinking about getting a second checking account at another institution because of the recent bank failures. Basically I just want to be able to access money until the FDIC or NCUA gets the situation straightened out after a failure. I’m shopping for a good interest rate checking plan to park some money in currently for that reason.

By: Grant

Grant — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:28:13 +0000

My monthly paycheck goes directly into checking.
Every month, I:
– automatically put 15% in my savings account and transfer $(contribution limit/12) to a Roth IRA.
– put most purchases/bills on a credit card to earn cash back.
– have automatically withdrawn things like the mortgage and other bills that can’t go on the credit card.
– automatically pay off the credit card when it’s due.
– take anything that is left over at the end of the month and either transfer it to savings, spend it on something I don’t really need, or, most recently, put it into an online brokerage account where I’ll try my hand at speculative investing.

So, essentially, my checking account is used as central storage for transfer to other places. The balance starts high at the beginning of the month (when I’m paid), and ends the month very low. I suppose I could have an additional buffer, but I watch my account very closely and always know what my balance is, so I’m not too concerned about overdrafting.

By: Jessie

Jessie — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:43:22 +0000

I have my checkbook planned 3 months ahead, with all the usual bills already registered. Then I plan how much to transfer to my savings account each month. I leave just enough to pay the bills and a couple hundred for cash. Like you said, I move money to my savings account as much as I can and as soon as I can so I forget about it and don’t spend it!

By: Stu

Stu — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:50:21 +0000

Similar to Jason, I have a central deposit/transfer checking account at a brick and
mortar bank. This is used for all the auto-pay bills, which includes the auto scheduled
pay-yourself bill that goes directly to savings. Checking has monthly bills + ~$1,000
and the balance is transfered to savings at the end of the month. When the savings gets
to a certain level I transfer to either online bank (ING) for emergency/new car/vacation
accounts, or to Roth IRA (pending what the price is at). This way I normally only “see”
the checking balance, but the same bank linked savings is there if I need it.
Transfering a large sum to the other accounts lets me feel a small accomplishment
of saving “X” dollars for new car/vacation/whatever.

I think the main goal is find something that works for you, pay yourself first, and not
spend all of your time stressing over money and “the best” model to follow…go out, live,
and enjoy life!

By: Kristen

Kristen — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:24:35 +0000

I am a recent graduate, so I don’t have much money to begin with. I have two checking accounts, one for my monthly bills with at least $200 extra. This account has NO debit card attached to it, I can only write checks so that makes it much easier to keep this one apart from my other checking account. The second checking account has my spending money for daily expenses which I have budgeted for. This account DOES have a debit card with it. I find this is the best way for me to make sure I have enough money for necessary bills without the fear of withdrawing. I then have a savings account which the rest of my money goes into. All of my accounts are through one bank with online banking which I frequently check. I also have no credit cards – I’m still deciding about this, but may get an AMEX where I pay off the balance every month – so I don’t tempt myself with an impulse purchase.

By: Samir

Samir — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:14:24 +0000

I keep as little money in my checking as possible, rarely over $500. I always use a credit card, never a debit card. I like getting the points, plus the protection a credit card offers (I always pay my balance in full at the end of the month). Usually, I’ll keep just $500 in my checking account, the rest in savings. I have my both checking savings through ING Direct so transferring money between the two takes less than 5 min. When I’m paying my Visa and Amex bills, I’ll simply transfer the amount needed to cover over to my checking and wait until the payment goes through. Also, ING doesn’t have overdraft fees, they just dip into a line of credit, which, if replenished fast enough, incurs no charge at all.