If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, checking in more than once a week could help you avoid fees. If you are about to leave on a trip, or you are currently on one, it could be better to monitor more closely as well. You may also want to check in if you are about to go into a store or a restaurant where you plan on spending more money than usual. A larger shopping trip, getting the groceries for the week, or a night out at a nicer restaurant would be good examples. While looking once a week is a good minimum, checking in more often is certainly beneficial. Keeping up-to-date with your accounts can help you manage your money, avoid fraud, and spot hidden banking fees.

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• However, by monitoring your checking account and examining each charge that arises, you’ll be able to spot hidden fees like this.
• Give your bank a call if you need an update on your account balance or clarification on some account activities.
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Annually, a checking account holder pays about $475 on average as account fees. This can translate to a substantial amount when accumulated with other accounts held by the same person. Spotting these fees earlier through regular monitoring can help save some amount at the end of the year. While reviewing your account for fees, it is wise to also take note of recurring items and auto-pay charges. For example, a monthly magazine subscription or streaming service that you set up long ago to automatically deduct from your account, but you no longer use. It’s not surprising how easy it can be to forget you’re being billed for these items and services.

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If you’re not used to monitoring your checking account regularly, you could ease into it by logging into your account once or twice a week. For instance, you could scan your account activity in the morning or at the end of the day to see which debit and credit transactions have posted. It’s a simple way to keep up with your running available balance compared to writing everything down in a checking account register for account reconcilement. If you live paycheck to paycheck or are trying to reign in your spending, you’ll want to check your accounts even more frequently.

Paper bank statements arrive by post and are typically received much later than electronic statements since they have to travel via the postal system. The answer ultimately depends on your personal financial situation and preferences. However, experts generally recommend monitoring your checking account at least once a week at a minimum. If you don’t have any checks, you can likely order some for a small fee from your bank.

Helpful Tips on How to Monitor Your Checking Account

I’d make money, spend money, pay my bills, and whatever I had leftover might go towards my Roth IRA and other investments I had. I used my traditional savings account to just store some funds, without much thought behind it, and never used an atm card or checks. I immediately created more bank accounts and split up my business and personal bank accounts entirely. These apps can typically be found in the app store on your mobile device and provide a plethora of uses. You can check on your accounts, download statements, make payments, and send and deposit checks all without the need to visit a local branch.

• Let’s talk about more reasons why monitoring your account is essential.
• There’s nothing worse than handing a clerk your debit card only to have them hand it back with an awkward grimace and tell you it was declined.
• Use a unique password and change it regularly to lock out thieves.
• If you’re wondering how often you should monitor your checking account, know that it’s impossible to check your bank account too often.

But most importantly, regular account checks can help you catch unauthorized payments, fraudulent charges, and suspicious activity before it’s too late. While your checking account is likely to see the most activity, it’s essential to check up on all of your accounts, including your checking, savings, and credit card accounts. Money market accounts may permit deposits north of $1 million, but you’ll want to ensure that all your money is insured under FDIC limits to protect yourself. As a single owner, this means keeping your balance under $250,000 or under $500,000 as a joint owner.

Detect unauthorized account activity

One of the easiest and most accessible ways to monitor your checking account and savings account is by installing your credit union or bank’s app on your phone. Money market checks work the same as other types of personal checks. You can write checks to pay bills, cover purchases or pay people directly. The person or business that receives how often should you typically monitor your checking account your money market check can then take it to their bank to cash it for the amount authorized. Money market accounts (MMAs) can deliver competitive rates to savers, along with more flexibility than the average savings account when it comes to withdrawing and spending money. In fact, many money market accounts offer check-writing privileges.

This is just like writing a personal check from a checking account. Once the check is written and signed, it’s ready to be handed off to the recipient. Keeping tabs on your credit while you travel—especially for long periods of time—is important to protect yourself from identity theft and unauthorized charges. Sign up for free credit monitoring from https://accounting-services.net/fixed-overhead-spending-variance-accountingtools/ Experian to be notified of any changes to your credit report while you’re away. If you rarely—or never—travel abroad, it’s unlikely you’ll get much use out of a multicurrency checking account, for example. See, I’m self-employed, and before I’d have a single bank account for both my business and personal needs (I was a messy sole proprietorship).