http://youneedabudget.com/blogs/99kby2011/2008/03/29/betrayal/ Follow along as I try to pay off 99k in debt by 2011. Sat, 11 Oct 2008 01:53:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 http://youneedabudget.com/blogs/99kby2011/2008/03/29/betrayal/#comment-31 RL Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:08:22 +0000 http://youneedabudget.com/blogs/99kby2011/2008/03/29/betrayal/#comment-31 Hi again, I fully understand the dual software routine to balance the checking account. Before YNAB I used excel as my check register, and I have a little formula on the side of the page that quickly "reconciles" my account (checks that haven't cleared + actual balance = bank balance). I am still using my excel register to make sure my bank account is accurate (and YNAB is accurate). This also means I'm entering every checking transactin twice (once in YNAB and once in excel) but ce la vie. Even if I was living Rule #1 (and we're not either yet), I still want to make sure my checking account balances. A few other points: 1) I use separate register tabs in YNAB for different accounts: checking, ING savings, AmEx (where most of our monthly expenses are charged), and cash. I always make sure the total on my YNAB checking tab matches my excel spreadsheet to the penny. Then I know I haven't missed anything. 2) We just switched to the Schwab High Yield checking account, which I love!! This was primarily motivated by YNAB... we have $3000 in buffer (which is also serving as our emergency fund), and it helps to have that sitting in the checking account to "sort of" live Rule #1 (enough so that I can pay bills whenever and not worry about spacing them out across the month). But, I didn't want to sacrafice the interest I was getting when the buffer was sitting in ING (my bank of america checking was paying 0.2% inerest, or something horrible like that). Solution: Schwab checking. It's totally free - no monthly fee, no min. balance, free checks, free online bill pay AND unlimited ATM fee rebates (=awesome), PLUS they pay 3.01% interest on your checking balance. Basically equal to the ING rate (which is 3.00% right now). So this was a no brainer. Schwab has been amazing so far. Excellent customer service. You do have to open a brokerage account to get this checking product, but it's painless, you don't have to fund it, and there's no fee on that either (so ours will just sit there at $0). I know I sound like a commercial, but this has really worked well for us. So don't feel guilty for using quicken - whatever works! Hi again,
I fully understand the dual software routine to balance the checking account. Before YNAB I used excel as my check register, and I have a little formula on the side of the page that quickly “reconciles” my account (checks that haven’t cleared + actual balance = bank balance). I am still using my excel register to make sure my bank account is accurate (and YNAB is accurate). This also means I’m entering every checking transactin twice (once in YNAB and once in excel) but ce la vie. Even if I was living Rule #1 (and we’re not either yet), I still want to make sure my checking account balances.
A few other points:
1) I use separate register tabs in YNAB for different accounts: checking, ING savings, AmEx (where most of our monthly expenses are charged), and cash. I always make sure the total on my YNAB checking tab matches my excel spreadsheet to the penny. Then I know I haven’t missed anything.
2) We just switched to the Schwab High Yield checking account, which I love!! This was primarily motivated by YNAB… we have $3000 in buffer (which is also serving as our emergency fund), and it helps to have that sitting in the checking account to “sort of” live Rule #1 (enough so that I can pay bills whenever and not worry about spacing them out across the month). But, I didn’t want to sacrafice the interest I was getting when the buffer was sitting in ING (my bank of america checking was paying 0.2% inerest, or something horrible like that). Solution: Schwab checking. It’s totally free - no monthly fee, no min. balance, free checks, free online bill pay AND unlimited ATM fee rebates (=awesome), PLUS they pay 3.01% interest on your checking balance. Basically equal to the ING rate (which is 3.00% right now). So this was a no brainer. Schwab has been amazing so far. Excellent customer service. You do have to open a brokerage account to get this checking product, but it’s painless, you don’t have to fund it, and there’s no fee on that either (so ours will just sit there at $0).
I know I sound like a commercial, but this has really worked well for us.
So don’t feel guilty for using quicken - whatever works!

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