MSE Forum Poll: How often do you check your bank balance?

Dizzycap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82000635#Comment_82000635

@ Afdaff - Thank you so very much for your post which takes great courage to admit having financial turbulance in the past which you clearly worked towards making yourself financially more organised. and relieving the dread of looking at your bank account(s).

There maybe others who are lurking on the MSE boards who may presently find themselves in a similar turbulent financial position as you were in the past who may benefit greatly from your honest inspirational post - Thank you 🤗

J63320

I’m no longer worrying about how much I’m damaging the environment by insisting on paper statements, because at least I’m not adding to my carbon footprint by checking my balance online every day.

badmemory

I was wondering how different this poll would be if it only covered people who weren't on MSE. I suspect it would be quite different.

Rob5342

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82000763#Comment_82000763

It certainly is. I remember getting electricity bills at university and we'd all give our flatmate a cheque for our share which he'd have to bank and then send a cheque off to pay the bill with us all keeping a note of the cheques we'd written to make sure we kept enough in our accounts to cover it. It seems almost unthinkable now that we'd spend a week doing something that could be done in two minutes now.

watsonworld1

Everyday....used to work for a bank, so it became a habit each morning. Now with mobile banking, it's easy.

GenXJoey

Every day. Quite often more than once. Just to make sure I’m tracking and stay in credit . Had a lot of expenses recently so I like to make sure everything is coming out of my account when i can expecting to.

lascem

At least once a day. Partly to watch out for rogue transactions, but also habit. In the early 90s when other half and I were just starting out we had very little money - early in our careers, earning very little, paying first mortgage and full time nursery fees. We had to budget ruthlessly to keep afloat. I kept a running total of income and outgoings day to day in a diary (sticking the receipts on a spike once recorded!). The habit has stayed with me, though mercifully we're no longer struggling. It's much easier to keep tabs on spending nowadays than relying on mini-statements from the cash machine, phone-banking and monthly paper statements!

Spoonie_Turtle

Not often, for me, my life is so limited that I know I'm spending much less than I have coming in (which I know is a massive privilege in terms of not having to worry, but I'd trade it all in a heartbeat to be able to work and live a full life again even if it did mean budgeting to the penny again). I mainly check before larger purchases/donations or if I'm going out for half a day, to make sure there's enough in the right current account. So I put monthly as an average - but I think I probably should be checking my accounts more just to make sure there's no dodgy activity.

The_miser_2

I like to check more than once a day; nowadays, I think I have to as I do not believe the banking systems are safe anymore

This is because, as soon as I notice any suspect activity, I can notify the bank immediately.

It's not just scammers I am wary of, but double-billing from shops, direct debit dates changed without prior notification and companies claiming I have subscribed to a service after making a one-off purchase.

iandy

Daily, but not out of concern - it’s nice seeing investments do well.