Do you still use checks?

[sohccammer427]

No more personal checks. I will, however, use an official bank check on occasion when for what ever reason when only a check will work. They are no charge at my bank for a few a month. Last time I got one was to move a large sum on money from my bank to a credit union.

 

[ATex7239]

Yes, cause I have kids in school and there is always some last minute trip that require weird amounts. Check is easier than sending a kid with $7.23 cash.

 

[DwightFrye]

I still write checks to pay some bills by mail, maybe 6 or 8 per month. My internet service does an auto debit from my checking account each month. I figure the less parties that have my checking account information, the less chance I have of getting hacked. I only use my debit card for groceries since I usually average around $250 each time I go shopping.

I prefer to always have some WAM (walking around money) in my wallet to pay cash for gas or incidentals. Although with the price of gas around here ($6.80 for premium as of a couple of days ago) I will need to increase the amount of cash in my wallet at any given time.

My bank charges no monthly service fees and I only pay for printed checks. The small quantity of checks that I write and limited use of my debit card means a minimum amount of time spent reconciling my statement each month. Works for me.

 

[JustinH]

my online bill pay sends my payees checks every month. Nobody has my debit card number. I personally do not hand write checks. The last time was to put a earnest money on a house or something like that.

 

[CKN]

If you had used Mobil 1 for 83 years and never had a problem and someone decides to tell you that you need to quit using it because it will ruin your engine, you (or I) would probably act the same way!

Well..the fact of the matter is checks have all your banking information and increase your chances of having issues many times over. No matter how rationale the reasons for not dong it-it's a shame when some reach a certain age they are not open to new ideas-even if it possibly benefits them. I'm at a stage in life where my goal is to NOT BE THAT WAY!

 

[sohccammer427]

I found some of my parents checks from the 1980's and they had my dad's name, address, phone number and SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER printed on the checks. That's a no no today.

 

[PF52]

I pay all my recurring bills via check, except for car insurance which somehow got switched to online payment some years ago. But in the interest of stubbornness, I'm going to increase my use of checks.... At the grocery store, restaurants, etc.

Maybe I'll do like the old ladies do at the grocery store: I'll write the check for twenty dollars over so I'll have some "mad money" for the week.

 

[Duffyjr]

I know I'm showing my age here but does anyone remember when blank checks were given to business by the banks for customers to use. When I worked at the grocery store in the early 70's they had them for all the banks in town and most small towns around us.

 

[Wolf359]

I found some of my parents checks from the 1980's and they had my dad's name, address, phone number and SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER printed on the checks. That's a no no today.

Oh yeah, I remember those days, the cashier or teller use to ask for your driver's license which had your social security number on it and then they'd write it on the check. I guess having the number printed on the check saved a step.

 

[Shel_B]

I keep one in my wallet at all times just in case, you just never know. My barber only takes checks or cash to avoid all the costs associated with taking credit/debit card payments.

All you guys that say you pay for plates/tags with checks doesn't your county have an online way to pay? My wife works at the court house and I still renew my plates online rather than make her do it or drive 20 miles.

California accepts online payment for registration and other fees. There's a surcharge of 2.5% if a debit or credit card is used. But the state also accepts payments drawn directly from a bank account, which I have done, and there's no surcharge for that.

My auto insurance accepts online payments, and it's $5.00 less per payment if made directly from a bank account rather than using a credit/debit card.

 

[AutoMechanic]

I don’t use checks. I have them but don’t use them. My parents use them once or twice a year to pay personal property taxes that you have to drop in the drop box at the county office. That’s the only checks I’ve seen them write in probably at least 2 or 3 years when they used to write one for my lunch account at school.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

I keep one in my wallet at all times just in case, you just never know. My barber only takes checks or cash to avoid all the costs associated with taking credit/debit card payments.

All you guys that say you pay for plates/tags with checks doesn't your county have an online way to pay? My wife works at the court house and I still renew my plates online rather than make her do it or drive 20 miles.

Here in Missouri you can renew plates on line I think, but you still nabbed with credit card processing fees.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

She's very much set in her ways. She's 83. Very stubborn. There is no amount of information or evidence that would ever change her mind about anything.

Reminds me of my great aunt when I was kid back in the 60's. She only kept her money in a bank with "First National" in the title and proper name of the bank. She said it had something to do with the reserves that the bank had to have on hand. My Dad would try to explain to her about FDIC and FSLIC insurance, but she lost some money in the depression due to a "bank run" , remember the seen in the movie, It's A Wonderful Life"?.

Anyway we never could convince her otherwise.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

But in the interest of stubbornness, I'm going to increase my use of checks.... At the grocery store, restaurants, etc.

PF, better check those businesses wisely beforehand. The chain establishment where I get my hair cut, just stopped accepting cash. No C.O.H. (no cash on hand) at all.

 

[Jimmy_Russells]

I write maybe one or two cheques a year and it's almost always to a contractor who doesn't want to take a credit card.

Businesses haven't taken personal cheques here in a long time, probably 20 years. I think the only exception really is little old ladies at the grocery store.

 

[fisher83]

Reminds me of my great aunt when I was kid back in the 60's. She only kept her money in a bank with "First National" in the title and proper name of the bank. She said it had something to do with the reserves that the bank had to have on hand. My Dad would try to explain to her about FDIC and FSLIC insurance, but she lost some money in the depression due to a "bank run" , remember the seen in the movie, It's A Wonderful Life"?.

Anyway we never could convince her otherwise.

I visited her today and I noticed that she had Kleenex taped over her cable TV outlets in her house. I asked about it and she told me that she doesn't trust that the cable company really shut things off and she thinks they can listen to her through the wires. She also reminded me that nothing I said could convince her otherwise. I didn't bother trying. You can't use logic to convince someone of something when that never entered the equation when they were developing their belief.

 

[Chester11]

Wow - I must be a weirdo. I still write hardcopy checks for things I need keep a record. (Payment to contractor, the government, any large payment - like a big loan payoff).

I just reordered checks for my primary account, and was a bit surprised at the cost. (~$40).

 

[Electromotive]

I found some of my parents checks from the 1980's and they had my dad's name, address, phone number and SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER printed on the checks. That's a no no today.

Until some years ago, the state of GA driver's license number was a person's social security number. What a stupid idea. People who had a GA drivers lic. with their soc. sec. number on it could go to the DMV and have a new one issued with a different number than their soc. sec. number.

 

[hank2]

I also use personal checks for a few things. I have one monthly billing that has to be paid with a mailed check. Not sure why. Paying by check is the only method accepted for my two sets of annual property taxes. Except, I suppose, a pile of cash on the few days that personal payment visits are permitted. I also use checks for items requiring proof of doing to various people for regulatory things like required septic pump outs. Solid fuel deliveries require a check or cash.

I sometimes voluntarily pay businesses like an auto shop or tire place that treat me well by check to save them the additional bleed of credit or debit surcharges. The ultimate bankers dream of making money on everything everyone spends money on has unfortunately largely come true. The only thing stopping them slightly short of that is the 7 million or so Americans without a bank account. That number has shrunk very dramatically in the past 40 years.

PA. has always had unique driver's license numbers. However, a credit union that I've used for 40 years used your SS no. as an account number for many years. Even after they offered a unique number, they didn't make it mandatory for many more years. My CU still has free checks if you don't mind plain ones.

 

[eljefino]

Reminds me of my great aunt when I was kid back in the 60's. She only kept her money in a bank with "First National" in the title and proper name of the bank. She said it had something to do with the reserves that the bank had to have on hand. My Dad would try to explain to her about FDIC and FSLIC insurance, but she lost some money in the depression due to a "bank run" , remember the seen in the movie, It's A Wonderful Life"?.

Anyway we never could convince her otherwise.

She's onto something, there are a few different styles of bank charters with different rules. Yes they're all FDIC insured but it gets unpleasantly complicated.

I'm spit-ballin here, but one type of charter is required to cash "on us" checks without a fee while others are not. I cannot fathom the logic of how they can get away with this-- I feel a check is a contract with the account holder ordering a bank to pay the payee the amount shown.

Sorry for drifting off topic.
I still write checks for stupid school things, $20 here and there. The PTO puts them in a file cabinet and cashes them six months later.