When I first moved out of my parents’ house and got my first job, tracking my spending and my income was a breeze. I had no more than four bills to pay per month and my job was salaried, so I made the same amount of money every two weeks. It never occurred to me how important checking your bank accounts was until I got a bit older.
Three years later things have definitely changed: I have several more bills to pay, a few investments, and income from about four different gigs. Basically, the older and richer I get, the more complicated my finances also become. Not that I’m complaining exactly, but it does make it more difficult to track my spending and make sure everything looks as it should in all of my bank accounts.
Case in point, my HB was looking at his bank account yesterday to check to see if he paid me back for something and he noticed that something didn’t look quite right. The balance in his chequing account looked a bit lower than the last time he checked it, and it turns out it’s because someone stole his money! Someone in Miami of all places! I guess someone somehow got a hold of his card number, went to a Moneytree in Miami (my HB googled the address), and then stole $400 right out of his account!
Luckily his bank is great and when he called to explain the situation, they said they would send him a new card and refund him his money right away. But it just goes to show how important it is to check your bank accounts (and credit cards too) regularly.
I’d say checking it once a week is probably a good idea, though me being a personal finance blogger and somewhat obsessed with my finances, I check my accounts through Mint.com every few days. Good thing we got everything sorted out before leaving for our California honeymoon tomorrow, that’s all I gotta say!
How often are you checking your bank accounts? Have you ever had money stolen right out of your bank account?
