Believe it or not, I have met several adults that think it is perfectly ok to choose not to balance their checkbooks. Are you one of these folks? Do you know what goes on in your checking account or are you clueless? Do you think that the amount that your ATM receipt shows on it is the amount you are free to use?

Without doing a proper reconciliation between your bank statement and your check register you run the risk of bouncing checks and blowing your credit. Despite the importance of this act, many choose not to do it because they consider it too hard.

But balancing your checkbook isn’t really hard at all. It can be done by following these simple steps.

1. Go through every transaction shown on the statement and check it off in your check register. If the transaction is there and the amount is correct, place a little checkmark by it to show that it’s ok.
2. When you’ve gone through all transactions on the statement, go to the balance on the day in your check register that corresponds to the statement date. For example, if the statement was cut as of January 31st, then take note of what your check register balance is as of the last transaction on the 31st.
3. Then add to that balance all checks or charges that are outstanding (those that didn’t receive a checkmark), and subtract all outstanding deposits. The resulting amount should equal the ending balance on the statement.
4. If you find that it does not equal then you do not balance and you will have to do a little investigation to determine just where you went off course. If you balance your checkbook every month, you’ll find it very easy to quickly reconcile your check register to your bank statement and you can rest assured that you are a wise user of your checking account.

So don’t be a clueless check-writer or debit card wielding consumer. Find balance in your life, or at least your checking account, before you do something that could ruin your financial future.