I've probably had my own checking account for 45 yrs and I think once very early on I attempted to balance and gave up. I've never tried again. The bank as far as I'm concerned is "on top of the money in their banks"...

A friend works to balance to the penny and I believe another one works to get as close as possible.

I do most online and still write a few checks.

I've probably had my own checking account for 45 yrs and I think once very early on I attempted to balance and gave up. I've never tried again. The bank as far as I'm concerned is "on top of the money in their banks"...
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You would think so, but if you ever disagreed with their balance, rotsaruck getting them to admit they were wrong.

I'm a creature of habit, I know what my monthly expenses will be, and once a month I go to the bank and withdraw my "allowance" for the month, so other than spontaneous online purchases...I've got a steady beat, finances wise.
So, when I go to the bank, i've got in mind "oh, my balance should be XX dollars short of ideal expectations because I made Y online purchases... and now that social security is my only income, it's a slam dunk, month after month.

every once in a blue moon I'll check the connected savings account, and when there is an exception, it's generally 200-400 over what I expected, forcing me to wonder where the extra cash might have come from.

I know it isn't interest, because interest % have been awful for so long.

I can't imagine not balancing my check book and I have been balancing mine for 40+years. Maybe now with online services, it can be easier to see what you have done. But when I started, one only received a statement once a month and one had to know how much money you had. I like the 2 check system. As for adding and subtracting, it is not that hard.

Over the many years I've found two problems: once years ago a cable company bill was cashed twice, and about four years ago their reader misread the check amount.

Both were corrected, and obviously I remember the more-recent one much better. On that one I called customer service and they read the written-out amount and adjusted it (but sent me a notice that it could be reversed--idiots!)

So is it worth the time and trouble to balance it for two minor errors over the years? I'm forced to admit, probably not. But making sure you balance is a "hard habit to break".

Probably a lot of people just pay their credit card bill, too. My mother used to match up receipts with the bill. To me that's way too much trouble. I go thru the bill online and make sure all the charges are "normal." Then I shred any receipts I have for that bill. I long ago gave up opting to get receipts for places like the gas station.

One aspect that really grew to be irritating was that I never received my second stimulus check, so I ended up having to claim it thru and income tax return. Meaning that I didn't actually get the deposit until September. Finally seeing it when I went to process my October SS deposit.

So, for 10 months I went to the bank each time thinking "okay, after I get my pocket money there is either going to be a balance remaining of $X.00 or $X+ 650.00

With online banking I probably check my account daily, just to make sure nothing funny going on and all is good. Before I retired and in the workforce I spent so much more money on clothes and just everything...retired 17 yrs I know my monthly expenses and don't live close to the edge like I did years back. And I'll get a $88 month increase next month from social security. Hope it's there for you folks and as my dear mom would say to me, save your money. I finally started saving at 40 or so.