I was thinking this morning, which is always a dangerous thing to do. I was placing an entry in my check register this past Tuesday and thinking out how infrequently any of us use a checkbook anymore. And certainly not writing checks when there isn’t enough in one’s bank account to cover the amount. We (those of us who were adults back then) certainly were writing checks in the 60s, 70s, and probably 80s. Knowing how much one had in their checking account was critical A $20 overdraft fee was painful – especially in an era when you could fuel a VW beetle for about $3.50.
I am not exactly sure when credit cards took over from checks. We were living in Europe from 1993-2015. For the first decade or so, Germany was still pretty much a cash economy, at least at most stores. Even this past summer, I noted more people using cash than cards when we were visiting George’s cousin.
In today’s world, between credit cards, PayPal, Venmo and various other monetary transaction methods I think it might be even more difficult to manage money, plan a budget, and know exactly where one’s money is at any one particular time. For some of us, we have enough of a cushion that it might not be critical. For others? Every penny, cent, or centime is critical. And if you don’t live in an area where cell phone coverage is ubiquitous, keeping track of finances can become even more challenging. Rural areas, remote areas, traveling don’t lend themselves to easy (or at least reasonably priced) cell phone coverage. Banks now assume that we are all connected 24/7 which simply isn’t true. Log in? They want to txt you a code. Doesn’t work if you have Wifi but not cell phone coverage.
It is way too easy, as a result to not check on bank status on a regular basis. When was the last time YOU checked your banking app?
