JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I may be the last person in America who
uses checks.
Well, not, that’s not entirely true. I know Youngest had a
checkbook exclusively for paying her Bangor landlord; she left it behind when
she moved to The Hague, and she informs me the Dutch run a practically cashless
society there. A cashless society! Imagine life without a penny jar.
Maybe I’m the last person in America with a penny jar?
It’s not that I only and ever pay with checks. I dutifully go online for my phone bill, my insurance, and my internet. But co-pay at the doctor’s office? Check. Electric bill? Check. (That’s because they screwed it up TWICE when I tried paying on line. Fool me once, etc.) Before I finished up my mortgage this spring? Check. (They make you pay EXTRA to do it electronically!) Also my fuel oil, because they make me pay a “convenience fee” to reimburse them online. B####, please.
I also never use checks at the grocery store or other retail establishments. Because I’m not a monster.
I just like writing out amounts and sending out paper bills. Out of all the organizational possibilities, paying bills like it’s 1943 works best to keep my finances on track and to make sure I’m paying on time. Sure, I can look at my balance on my credit union’s app, but it’s not the REAL balance. That’s written in pencil (payments in ink) in my register. Which I keep in a monogrammed leather checkbook cover.
No, I don’t have bills set up automatically, because I just don’t trust it. I am, in fact, actually 96 years old.
I also use checks for gifts to nephews and my adult kids, because I think it’s more fun to open a card and have a check fall out than it is to receive a pop-up notification from Venmo that someone’s put $50 in your account. I may be wrong about this; if you are a Youth, please tell me.
My weird antediluvian habits finally started paying off – literally – when interest rates took off in March ’22. I have an interest-bearing checking account (again, credit unions FTW) and I make a few pennies here and there (see jar, above) while waiting for my chimney sweep to deposit the check I wrote him for maintaining my wood stoves.
Yes, I always shake his hand for luck. Me = 96 years old.
How about you, dear readers? Cashless and frictionless or
scratching out the accounts with a fountain pen?
I only write one check, the rest is electronically (for free) and I do not us the auto-pay feature at all. If they were to charge me to electronically pay my bill, that will be a game changer.
ReplyDeleteI think the company handling my payments may have gotten sued because of that policy, Dru.
DeleteYou are not the only person who writes checks, Julia! I write checks and I put them in the mail with a stamp on them. I do pay a few things online, mostly because I was panicking I would be late so I ran over to their site and set it up to pay online, but never with auto pay. I like having cash in my wallet. I like my penny jar.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my Town's water department charges to pay online. No way!
DeleteI make my town payments - car registration, property taxes, dog licenses - at town hall, because it's only five minutes away. They also charge if you want to pay with a debit or credit card, but checks are no-cost!
DeleteI too write checks in addition to paying some bills electronically. In addition, I balance my checkbook to the penny every month, another task that seems to have fallen by the wayside for most.
ReplyDeleteElectronic payment is wonderful for handling my elderly mom’s finances, but I prefer that I, not the bank, get the float when I write checks. Writing checks requires more active awareness and monitoring of finances.
Which is one of the reasons I do it, Anon. I've gotten into trouble when I don't follow my spending closely, so writing checks and balancing the account keeps me honest and overdraft fee-free.
DeleteHey, I do it ALL. LOL. Checks, bank draft, and cash.
ReplyDeleteWhen I reordered checks last year, I went through the rigamarole of calling the company that prints them to ask why no check register, nor an option to order them? The rep told me, most people had told them, they throw them out. #kids He sent me one, for a small fee, of course. Turns out, the reference calendars on the back of the check register were for 2021, 2022, 2023. In 2023. I went on Amazon to order some that had 2024, 2025, 2026 on the back.
The last time I ordered checks, Rhonda, I asked for extra registers and got them for free! Super Value Checks, I can recommend them.
DeleteI do use checks for a few businesses that prefer them, but most of my bills are set to auto-pay. That's not to say I don't keep a close eye on them. Twice a month, I check all my amounts due and the amounts in my bank and Credit Union accounts. Yes, I have both. I want to be sure everything balances out. But I like auto-pay because I know I won't miss a payment if there's some sort of family or medical emergency that takes me out of commission.
ReplyDeleteI've taken a chance on my first autopayment, Annette, for Virginia's new international-friendly cell phone account. We'll see how it works out. Honestly, there were a number of years when Ross and I were borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, and auto-pay would have thrown a wrench in our ability to juggle the bills!
DeleteI am a hybrid payer: auto pay, online banking, and the occasional cheque. A service fee for whatever method is a game changer for me: no way will I PAY for the convenience (?????) of doing all the work online for an institution.
ReplyDeleteRight? My fuel oil company used to give me a 1% discount for paying online via my checking account. It was only five to seven dollars, but better than nothing! Then they changed companies, and not only did I lose my discount, but I have to pay a dollar every time. Jokes on them - I still have Forever stamps I bought when they were fifty cents!
DeleteAmanda, I’m with you. Not going to pay a service when paying a bill. Although, I remember doing so once when not to pay it would make my property tax payment late. Elisabeth
DeleteHere in Portugal, we can't use U.S. checks, ditto for online purchases. Everyone uses "multibank" with whatever bank card you use, or pays cash. We've gotten used to it. And you can check your bank balance whenever you wish.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, you can save your pennies here too. And you can even give your "two cents worth." Yes, they still have a two centimos coin. 😊
Glad to hear Portugal hasn't fallen for all that Scandinavian-inspired nonsense, Elizabeth!
DeleteAll of the above. I was an early adopter of electronic banking because a childhood friend was involved in the first services here in Cincinnati, and he was so enthusiastic I started using it. At first it meant paying bills by phone, which was a pain in the patoot, using the buttons on the princess. (Which is what made that possible, by the way--digital phones instead of dial ones). The worst version of that, a nightmare really, was inputting credit card numbers from my hotel room bed/phone in the 1990's when I traveled to consumer shows. It took forever, especially if you got ONE digit wrong. It did take me years, to trust auto-pay.
ReplyDeleteI write at least 4-6 checks a month, or the bank does it for me (some auto-pay still involves paper checks in the mail). And Steve is still paid mostly in physical checks, but now I can deposit them electronically, from my phone. A lot easier than going to the bank. We still save all our change, which I periodically roll up and take to the bank. Usually to much eye-rolling at the old lady. LOL It used to get deposited in our kids' college funds. Now we have dinner out, but not as often as we used to. Less change, higher costs.
When you do write checks, Julia, do you find that your penmanship has suffered?
I do, Karen! I'm not sure if it's because I don't handwrite much anymore (usually just the grocery list) or if it's because I've developed arthritis in the joint of my thumb (again, I am an old lady.)
DeleteYou're a spring chicken compared to me, Julia! My oldest turns, gulp, 54 in two months!
DeleteGosh. 96. You are even older than I am and I was around three days before the invention of dirt.
ReplyDeleteAs for checks, my motto is "Ptah!" I pay by credit card or by cash (cash only if the amount is under ten dollars). I pay bills electronically through my bank account; no way am I going to allow automatic withdrawal from the account -- to me that's just the first step to having the Moldovian Mafia sneak into my home at night and steal the secret stash of cash hidden in my mattress. The last time I paid by check was for a traffic fine for going five miles over the speed limit in a (poorly marked) school zone -- yes, I'm bad to the bone. I did pay by check back in the days when I was a renter, but I would hand deliver the check to the landlord's bank. The problem with checks is that they usually have to be mailed and the nearest post office is over twelve miles away and the corner mail box seems to have gone the way of the telephone booth (I blame the Moldovian Mafia for this also), and to mail them you have to have a stamp and it takes me forty-five minutes to an hour to discover where I had last put the stamps. I am very happy living in my little corner of paradise, at the intersection of Lazy and Don'tgiveahoot.
Jerry, your account made me laugh out loud. I get to put my stamped mail in the box at the foot of my driveway, which makes the whole enterprise much, much easier.
DeleteI make all of my donations by check. We still pay credit card bills by check. We use electronic payments for some services but we only started that recently. I think Irwin set up one automatic payment, and some of my services are automatically charged to our credit cards. No PayPal, venmo or other electronic pay methods. It's easier to keep track with checks.
ReplyDeleteI use Venmo with my kids, but I learned the hard way to put each transaction into my checkbook as soon as I make it. There's a delay of several days before the money is pulled out of my account, and one time I forgot I had sent my son $$$. It was an unpleasant surprise to check my balance and discover I had $200 less than I thought I had.
DeleteWhile there are some bills that I pay online because of various reasons, I still write out checks for a number of bills. And I still save and roll my coins.
ReplyDeleteI despise the notion of cashless or online only type payments. And I'm curious to know how any business who won't take cash (in the US) gets around that thing on the bill currency about "Good for all debts public and private".
I have no intention of going fully online for paying bills ever.
Jay, most of the arguments against cash boil down to "it makes criminal enterprises easier." So? The entire rest of the country should give up the convenience and anonymity of cash to make life easier for banks and law enforcement? I don't think so, Skippy.
DeleteYay! Julia! Not my job to make life easier for banks or to work in law enforcement. Unless, of course, the bank and the legal authority will pay me for my time. LOL Elisabeth
DeleteAlso, if they think I'm part of a criminal enterprise, they clearly don't know me at all. I'm not that ambitious and have no desire to work that hard.
DeleteI pay for most expenses electronically. Oddly, I had send 2 large cheques to insurance and Canada Revenue Agency ( federal taxes) this summer. They would not accept online payment!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Canada discontinued the penny in 2013. The Mint had to melt down 35 million pennies that were in circulation. Any coins in a penny jar or piggy bank are not usable.
Grace, you reminded me that a check I sent for a state income tax payment somehow got lost, even though the tax return it was sent with was recorded as received.
DeleteYes, I worried about Canada Post safely sending these cheques. I could not send them by courier since they use a P.O. box as the address. I pay my personal income tax online but could not do so for my late father's estate.
DeleteTaxes owed by an estate often get complicated, Grace. My dad died in '22 and his estate is STILL open.
DeleteI used to be a big check writer -- it made me feel like I was completely on top of my finances. BUT then I started reading about checks being "fished" out of UPS mailboxes, then the payee and amount washed and a different payee and much larger amount entered, the check cashed, and bob's your uncle money's gone and not to where it was intended to go ... plus the scammers now have your account routing number. Now I try to pay online for everything I can and if I need to send a check I drop it INSIDE the post office. Only then I read that some of this scamming might be the work of post office staff.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm like the rest of you who don't trust autopay. Because I don't trust them (or me) to UN-autopay when the time comes.
I always figured for autopay - what's to keep the payee from accidentally double dipping? Or changing the payment period from monthly to every 25 days? That latter, by the way, really happened to me. I was wondering why my subscription to the NY Times seemed to be costing more than advertised. It turned out I was being charged every 25 days, adding on two more payments to the "monthly" plan. That's just one of the reasons I cancelled my subscription last year.
DeleteCheques - NOOOOOOOO!
ReplyDeleteI no longer write cheques. The only one who wants them is the wood company. “Do you take e-transfer?” “ No, you can write a cheque or give the driver cash.” Cash it is, because it takes them 6 months to cash the cheque and I then have no remembrance that the money still has not cleared – I don’t have a memory. I need 2 loads. $1280/load. Off to the Credit Union, get the cash, hope I don’t get mugged, hide the money in the house, and hope the truck comes soon. “In 2 weeks or so, we will call the night before..” (By the way we are supposed to be getting a new heat pump tomorrow – compliments of the government. Maybe we will not need the wood – I doubt it – so much ‘warmer’.)
Pay us by cheque – equally NOOOOO!. Harrumper may do clandestine house plans – not admitting to that, but some people may give him a donation for said plans. One in particular pays by cheque. I know you can take a picture of it with the cell phone and do some magic and it will eventually get into the account. (Have I ever mentioned my love for cell-phone technology?) Unfortunately, the last donation was in American funds. Credit Union didn’t like that and called and mentioned that the next time, I have to into the building.
That means we are electronic. I had been paying with Debit, but wondered why we had such a high charge for an account for old people – thought it was supposed to $5/month. Apparently, there is a charge ($1/transaction) for over a certain number. I had never noticed because we used it rarely until all the trips for the cancer care. I have gone back to paying almost everything by credit card, and then there is only one bank transaction a month. I did have a better “head” on how much I spent when I used the debit.
Meanwhile, eggs are still $5, at the door, cash. All tomatoes are a gift…
Margo, if you have a good financial head, paying by credit card is the best choice. My mother, who would have been a mover and shaker on Wall Street if she'd been born a few decades later, paid for EVERYTHING by credit card, which she then paid off in full before the due date. She would accumulate enough point each year for several plane tickets and once, a cruise.
DeleteI, however, do NOT have a good financial head...
I use checks for gifts like you. But we pay most bills online. My small business is all electronic. But I am worried about 3 of my kids --all in different cities in the path of the hurricane. I read that if the power goes out they will need cash. And o doubt any of them have much. They do have food and gas so maybe they will be ok for a few days.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to them, Michelle! It sounds like it's going to get very hairy down south. Hopefully your kids have seen one of the many articles/tweets/instagram messages informing people how to prep for a weather emergency. I always take cash out if we have a bad Nor'easter on the way.
DeleteTwo things before I go out to garden (it might rain tomorrow - I hope). 1) I can't understand how anyone can just 'tap' their card, for such small purchases as a coffee or a hamburger. Cash for that please. 2) I hope Lucy is all right if she is back home in Key West. It sounds like it will be a nasty storm.
ReplyDeleteShe's still in Connecticut, Margo, but I know she's worried about some friends.
DeleteI pay almost all bills on line, some using “electronic checks” that come out of my checking account. All my on-going donations are set up that way too. I do feel a little guilty when the offering plate comes round, but the church actually prefers the e-payments. I still write checks for gifts, and will Venmo my twin if I owe her for something. I use mobile deposit when I can. My dentist office told me to bring a check, because they charge more for cards. I also use checks for my hair stylist. I don’t balance my checkbook, just check the balance on line. It’s way easier—I used to be crazy when I was a few dollars or a few cents off when trying to reconcile my account.
ReplyDeleteI think most of my kids use your approach, Gillian. I kind of wish I could be more relaxed about keeping track of every penny! Who knows, maybe when Netflix buys my book series for a three-season show, I'll have enough cash in the bank to go whistle at any errors.
DeleteI write very few checks, one being for property taxes. Things like my mortgage and car loan are paid out automatically from my credit union account, because by agreeing to do that I pay a quarter percent less interest on the balance. I don't like having to buy and pay for new checks - when did they get so expensive? Just for the basic ones? Most things I pay for with a credit card that gives me money back. This month I'm earning 5%. A lot of people earn airmiles that way, but since I never go anywhere I don't need the miles; I'd rather have cash back. I never use a debit card because they are too risky. Unless things have changed a lot since I was first warned about that.
ReplyDeleteI've just started my first auto-pay, Judi, and it's precisely because I'm getting a something-percent discount for doing so. If more services offered that, I'd be a lot more tempted. Except for the electric company. "Losing" my payment not once, but twice, and then sticking me with the late fees? They used up their chances with me.
DeleteI’m surprised that companies charge a fee for electronic payment in the USA.
ReplyDeleteHere, in Quebec, I don’t know of one that does that. So, I only make two or three checks a year to places that don’t offer the possibility of electronic payments.
I don’t have bills set up automatically, I prefer to have full control on my finances. And even if I can and do check my accounts at any time , I continue to write all of my expenses and payments on my monthly planner.
Danielle
I think that last is the most important part, Danielle. I do pay online for over half my utilities, insurance, etc, but I add it to my register as if it was a check going out.
DeleteMy 95 year old mother does not write checks....just sayin.....
ReplyDeleteMy 94-year old mother still does, despite impending blindness and shaky hands. Can't get her to let us do it electronically for her.
DeleteWell, I did say 96, Anon!
DeleteJulia, I loved the SNL video! We do some checks, some online. Neither of us uses Venmo.
ReplyDeleteI found out about that video because BOTH my daughters sent it to me - independently of one another. I guess I have a rep.
DeleteMost of our bills are paid electronically. For purchases around town - coffee shop, book store, grocery store, etc = Visa card. For contractors/repairpersons, etc. = CHECKS! I love paying by check. There is a satisfaction is writing them. PayPal, Venmo, crypto = a big NO!
ReplyDeleteOne reason I like to use my Visa, even for small purchases, is because we get airplane miles. We've used our miles for many free flights.
DeleteAnon, as I wrote above, that was my mother's MO. She never missed a payment in her life, so everything went on her credit card and she got to cash in on all those lovely miles.
DeleteI also loved the SNL film! But despite the drama of checks, I have to tell you that there ARE no checks in Switzerland. And that isn't a recent development; there weren't any when I moved here thirty-six years ago. In those days, EVERYONE paid for almost EVERYTHING (including cars!) with cash; bills were paid through the post office (which is also a bank, as in many European countries) with cash, and you always got proof of payment on a slip of paper stamped by the PO. Now younger people handle bills electronically and pay for everything else with credit or debit cards or with our Swiss equivalent of Venmo, which is called Twint. I only have checks on my American bank account to pay people in the US who want them. It costs me three dollars in stamps to post a check to the US-, so I'd rather use Paypal. It wasn't as if I decided to reject checks; it's just that circumstances have dragged me (occasionally kicking and screaming) into 2024.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about sending cards to Virginia in The Hague, Kim, and your information tells me I'd be better off sticking to electronic greetings. $3 is a LOT for an envelope!
DeleteAlso, "Twint" is the cutest name for a financial services app I've ever heard. I wish we had it in the US, so I could say, "Just Twint me!"
Still write a few checks and still have a coin jar. Today the title company will take a check for the purchase of our home to our bank and deposit into our account to save the wiring fees that they would charge and the bank would charge.
ReplyDeleteGood for them, Brenda! Those add-on fees for wiring, instant deposit, etc, etc. really chafe me.
DeleteI prefer checks for gifts or some vendor payments. Don't feel comfortable with Venmo, PayPal, etc. Do pay bills electronically from my bank account, but no auto pays there. Any auto pays I set up through a low balance credit card in case someone hacks it. Sometimes I just love being able to hand someone a cash gift. There is something about receiving $50 in cash that makes you appreciate it more than a gift card or check. -- Victoria
ReplyDeleteOh, you're so right about the thrill of cash, Victoria. It's like Christmas and my birthday when I discover a twenty dollar bill I'd forgotten in a pants pocket!
DeleteInteresting Brenda.
ReplyDeleteThe only bill I pay that requires a fee to do so electronically is the water bill. The alternative is to drive there and pay by check or cash in order to make sure the payment gets credited on time. But every month, I still roll my eyes big time over that stupid extra 75 cents. Mostly no autopay unless there was a good financial incentive for using it. Checks still for service calls on furnace, etc.
ReplyDeleteI attend a number of author events where my books are available for purchase--I accept cash, check, tap-to-pay credit cards (using my phone), and Venmo. I may eventually add a card reader for those who prefer to pay with an older credit/debit card. So, I may feel like I'm 96, but trying to stay current! (Flora)
Flora, interestingly enough, for all my antediluvian love of checks, I also love the convenience of Venmo. It make formerly awkward things like splitting the check at dinner so easy. I don't KEEP money in my Venmo account - it's an app, not a financial institution - but it genuinely solves a lot of individual-to-individual payment problems.
DeleteSome checks, some auto pay so I don't miss the payment, someone online.
ReplyDeleteThe modern mix, Deana!
DeleteFor the first nine years after I graduated from college, I worked in the Trust Department of a bank. We were paid by direct deposit to a bank account set up for us when we were hired. Our monthly bank statements were delivered to our desks. All of us immediately set aside what we were working on, and balanced our checkbooks, then went back to work. I still have bank accounts, but none are with that bank. It doesn’t exist anymore and I long ago lost track of which bank it finally ended up with. (It was such a nice little community bank!)
ReplyDeleteBetween paying on the phone and having auto pay for some bills, I just write out checks for my church donations and for my condo common charges.
DebRo
What a lovely story, DebRo, and my gosh, doesn't it sound Victorian compared to transactions today? I remember the savings account my mom got for me when I was a kid that came with a little booklet, and you brought it into the bank when you'd make a deposit and the teller would enter the sum and any interest in the booklet. Immediate feedback on how much my savings were growing! It was very impressive to 12-year-old me.
DeleteMy husband, the CPA, pays our bills, mainly electronically. He brings me any bills that need to be paid by check because I have better handwriting. Our gardener takes checks only so that’s one check a month I write. There was a clerical error with our life insurance last December (they credited my husband’s account for two payments instead of one for his account and one for mine) that caused them to cancel my account. Once it was straightened out, I pay by check but send them in two different envelopes! So there’s the cost of an extra stamp four times a year! (Totally worth it if they credit the correct accounts.) Generally speaking, though, we pay online, but not auto pay. — Pat S
ReplyDeletePat, your life insurance payment experience confirms my long held suspicion. That account number you write in the memo is never, ever read by anyone! Elisabeth
DeleteAnd I spend so much time making sure that account number is written clearly!
DeleteI was told that it’s all scanned by a computer. So even though the payment slips were both in there, the computer credited it all to my husband’s account. The hoops we had to jump through to get it straightened out were annoying enough, but the condescending letters we got, saying they were making a one-time exception to reinstating my account when the mistake was on their part! Aaarrrgggh!
DeleteRight?!? I'm someone who goes to the actual symphony box office in town to buy my tickets because they charge one of those GD "convenience" fees...
ReplyDeleteGood grief, Julia! You are not 96 years old. You are an independent person able to manage your own financial matters in manner that satisfies your requirements for safety and convenience and brings some pleasure. Hold your head high: hand over the check or the card or even real cash. Except don’t dump the penny jar on the counter. Gives everyone conniption fits. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteI would never, Elisabeth! I find rolling change to be a zen-like meditation. Only downside is having to wash my hands afterwards - there's no denying cash is dirty!
DeleteIf you still collect change, why don’t you use the bank’s or credit union’’s coin sorting and calculation machine? You dump all your coins in, press process and $ total is calculated. The amount is automatically deposited in your account. My credit union had one available to customers for at least 25 years.
DeleteJulian I totally get what you mean by “fool me once”. A friend and her husband bought a house and they paid their mortgage electronically. It was automatic and they took out the payments twice in one month and there was no money left to pay other bills ! They were very upset about this! My takeaway from this was NOT to set up Automatic payments.
ReplyDeleteThey Banks stopped issuing travelers checks and it made my life easier to use travelers checks.
Yes, I still write checks. Some of us still write checks. I wonder if the Dutch system is different from the system here in the USA if their cashless system works?
Coins? What are coins??? Ditto on something called "balancing a checkbook"????? Thanks for the video, Julia, big snort!!
ReplyDeleteI write a couple of checks a month, house cleaners and yard service (who sometimes doesn't cash them for months, so annoying.) Also for the odd medical bill when paying electronically means having to set up an account with some provider you will never use again. We have autodraft on our homeowners insurance because it is a HUGE discount, otherwise I pay everything electronically as due.
As much as a like my checks, there ought to be a law cutting off those recipients who hold it...and hold it...and hold it... and then cash it after you've forgotten and went with your apparent account balance. I mean, you can deposit using your phone! My credit union even centers and focuses the shot for me!
DeleteI still don’t feel comfortable paying electronically. I use a combination of check, credit card and cash.
ReplyDeleteCredit card for larger purchases. In grocery stores sometimes cash, sometimes credit card because of potential card skimmers.
Credit card bills I save a stamp by walking a check over to the bank which is a couple of blocks away RE tax I walk over to Town Hall which is next door to where I work, another stamp saved.
My paycheck is direct deposit which I’m not happy about since I would prefer to have control over it.
I very seldom order and pay for things online because of the potential of access to the credit card # being hacked. I usually call the company, this way I can also ask a human for information about the product I am buying.
I will never use autopay. Too many temptations for the companies to have access to more than they are entitled to.. I recently had a by mail prescription co tell me I owed a balance from a year ago. They had never contacted me about it and I always pay in full, I never carry a balance for anything. When they traced it they found out that I had overpaid by a small amount and instead of deducting it from my next order they added it as a charge.
I may be paranoid about some of these paying options, but there are too many people who find ways to have access to money they are not entitled to and I feel more comfortable trying to protect mine as much as I can.
Also, people are too trusting and give out information that should be protected such as social security numbers which were never intended to be a license or medical record number.
Anon, I'm not sure its possible to be TOO paranoid about scammers and electronic thieves. I think the best we can do is figure out what level of precautions we can live with and go forward with those.
DeleteI do a mix of online, automatic, and writing checks. The automatics are set up that way only because the vendor charges extra if you don’t set up automatic payment. Earlier this summer I mailed a check and it took 6 weeks to get to the vendor. It wasn’t small, so this was stressful. But then we got a letter from a vendor that they’d been hacked so the credit card and health insurance data had been seen. Damn’d if you do, damn’d if you don’t.
ReplyDeleteYep, we do a mix of automatic, check, charge card aaannd (gasp) CASH. The latter is primarily at my hubby’s insistence which is ok. We are not quite 96…. Just rookies in our 70s.
ReplyDeleteI like what Anon said- damned if ya do & damned if ya don’t (Heather S)
And wish I could figure out how to use my google account- need to find a savvy 7 year old to help me.
Pat D: I do both. I write much fewer checks thses days since being burned twice byfraudulent checks from my account. I find credit cards can be fixed quicker than bank accounts.
ReplyDeleteOnline for me, but for those few who don't have online accounts, then yes, check. Feels strange to write them, though. Almost like a forgotten muscle.
ReplyDeleteI should add, I wouldn't pay online if there was a "convenience" fee. That wouldn't be convenient at all!
DeleteI'm mostly online...no wait...I'm all online. When the grandparents send the Hooligans checks, they snap a pic and deposit them immediately. That took me awhile to get used to but now I like it not that anyone is sending me checks...darn it.
ReplyDeleteMostly cashless. Bills that can be on autopay are - especially when they are ones like my internet where I get a discount for autopay. Others are paid via websites. I run my checkbook in Quicken, so I can look there to see the balance as I would in a checkbook. Gifts to my kids? Zelle. They prefer it because it's just there and you don't have to cash a check. Charity donations? Recurring direct debit. And when I do the occasional one-off, it's done electronically. I pay my property taxes on the Pittsburgh house via the agency's web site, but I do a bank ACH transfer, not a credit card because there is a fee for the credit card (probably to cover the fee that Visa is charging the agency).
ReplyDeleteThe checks I do write are for things like the down payment on the central A/C. And I'll have to write a check for the balance. I also just wrote a check for the wedding we're attending on Saturday. It's a young couple, but I'm unsure of the etiquette of sending a wedding gift via Venmo. LOL
I'm so happy that my new agent sends deposits by direct deposit.
Some places charge extra if you pay online (my town property tax) or if you use a credit card; it’s to pass along the fees the credit card company charges the business. So those I pay by check. Often small businesses which may run on a tight margin prefer to avoid credit card fees and like either cash or a check, so if I don’t have the cash in hand, I pay by check.
ReplyDeleteI write maybe 2 or 3 checks a year. I love online banking. I think my husband would rather write checks, as I do all the online banking by myself. Oh, and Julia, I have to tell you that my teenage granddaughter seems to really like the cold hard cash, no electronic payment or check. With cash, she can go squirrel the money away as soon as she gets it. With a check, it has to get cashed first. Now, she does like Amazon gift cards.
ReplyDeleteI do write checks for utilities and HOA, and some local businesses prefer checks because of the fees for credit card use, though I usually use cash for them. I also wrote checks for baby shower largesse, and the niblings were fine with it. ;-)
ReplyDeletePenny jar in Alaska, "Need a penny, take a penny; need THREE pennies, get a JOB!" I wish we'd follow Canada's example and eliminate pennies. They just round up or down, and it evens out. ;-)
-- Storyteller Mary