Ok, that's it... time for a confession... I hate balancing my checkbook. I mean, I REALLY HATE it. I avoid it like the plague. Ever since I've started making decent money in software development I've only balanced my checkbook on a semi-regular basis. Maybe twice a month. Unfortunately this doesn't cut it these days when you're trying to plan out huge vacations and income and, whatever, you get the point. I need to balance my checkbook. Plain and simple.
I used to be a checkbook-balancing-fiend. I'd make a purchase, I'd mark the receipt, I'd store the receipt, I'd get home, I'd log it into the register, recalculate available balance, blah blah blah. BORING.
THE PROBLEM
Ya see, my problem with balancing a checkbook is that its too time consuming. It's not a process that I've really automated just yet. As a software developer I'm enamored with figuring out ways to automate all repetitive processes. I get bored quickly, and honestly, I believe, that like myself - programmers are lazy.
So that's my problem. I'm lazy, I don't want to write another line in my checkbook register, I don't need to, blah blah blah. But I do. I need to keep my records straight.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
The Good Ol' Paper Register: Nahhhhh-son, we've already covered this. I can't stand it. Nope. Ain't gonna happen.
Current Finance Applications: I've went down the Quicken/MS Money/QuickBooks bricked paved road before and honestly, its too complicated. I still have to save my receipts, enter them into a register, and then reconcile it with my bank account once the transactions clear the bank account. Its a royal pain in the ass if you ask me.
THE NEED/THE WANT/THE REQUIREMENT
I want something simple. That's all, nothing more, nothing less. I want something simple, yet easy.
And I found it...
THE SOLUTION
While surfing the web, looking for personal finance applications I ran across Clear Check Book.
What is it? Clear Check Book is a FREE check book balancing system that allows you to manage your financial accounts. Right now I'm using it to manage my checkbook but in the future I'll put other accounts in there. You can manage Checking, Savings, Credit, 401k, you name it, you can manage it.
How Does It Work? Transactions are added through a web interface or a mechanism called "checkbot" (which I'll cover in detail in a few seconds). Your balance is automatically calculated. You can specify which category the withdrawl/deposit is for and also review some basic reports on your data.
Therefore you can see that last month you spent $671.31 on restaurants alone (time to cut back on the Margaritas hombre!). You get the point.
Reconciling AKA Jiving - Clear Check Book has something known as "Jiving" your statement. What this means is that you'll match your transactions with your cleared bank transactions. Since you can access your bank online you can do this as soon as you'd like or just batch your tasks to save time like I do. So, once you have found the $5.76 purchase from Starbucks on yoru bank, and you you've already entered it into Clear Check Book, you can now know that the transaction "jives" with what you see at your bank. Therefore, if you have something in Clear Check Book, that is no "Jived" you will know it has not cleared your bank. You know something is Jived once you see a green check mark next to it. See this screen shot for an example.
CheckBot - This, right here, is what sold me on this service. Without CheckBot, this service would be another fart in the wind. CheckBot is a tool that you can use to balance your checkbook through the use of SMS/Text Messages or Instant Messages. By sending a simple text message you can log an entry in your checkbook register.
For example...
Tonight I went to Target and I had to get a few things. I sent a message to CheckBot that looks like this:
clearcheckbook: w 10.49 ck m Target
Now, when I log into my ClearCheckBook.com account, I will have a withdrawl (w) for the amount of 10.40, in my checking account (ck), in the Misc Items (m) category from Target.
I can also make deposits, transfer money, request your current balance, get help and more...
THE SIMPLICITY
The Key here is that I can now make a purchase, send a text message, and my checkbook is ALWAYS balanced. Once a week I log in, and "jive" my accounts with my actual bank statement. I've been doing this for a few weeks now and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. My accounts have been DEAD on, penny for penny, day in, day out.
I've also taught my wife how to use this service. Now we both make purchases out of our joint account, and she updates the account and I update the account.
This right here, is what makes it worthwhile for me. Its SUPER SIMPLE. We're programmers, so lets check out the basic workflow.
- Go to store > Buy some stuff > Send Text Message To Checkbot with withdrawl > Check book is balanced
SECURITY
This is a big concern for a lot of people. But here's the deal. I've spoken to the team at Clear Check Book just because I knew people would be concerned when I wrote this post.
1. Your account only accepts messages from approved phone numbers/AIM/ICQ.
But what about SMS Spoofing? All data is going to be sent back to your phone number. So if someone spoofs a message (as you) to request the balance, its going to get sent to your phone, not theirs. If someone tries to perform a withdrawl/deposit/transfer, they have to know your account codes. These are completely configurable. So they'd have to know your account codes too (such as "ck" above - which is a simple example), which you can make as cryptic as you want. So at this point you're pretty much safe from someone trying get info on your account.
2. What about account number's?
Clear Checkbook does not keep any account numbers, even their import process does not keep the account numbers. They also advise to not keep your account numbers up there. Give your accounts names, such as "Joint Checking" or "Donn's IRA", etc.
CLOSING
In closing, this service WILL simplify your life in regards to check book balancing. Check it out.
And NO, I did not get paid for this... I really think this service is soo good that I had to blog about it.