Balancing Checkbook

[Catholic]

I usually make purchases at supermarkets and other stores with a check card. A couple of times these purchases have not appeared on my bank statement. It is possible I used cash in those instances, but I have no idea, as these transactions took place months or even years ago. Any advice?

 

[Mirror_Mirror]

I usually make purchases at supermarkets and other stores with a check card. A couple of times these purchases have not appeared on my bank statement. It is possible I used cash in those instances, but I have no idea, as these transactions took place months or even years ago. Any advice?

Call your bank!

 

[otjm]

I usually make purchases at supermarkets and other stores with a check card. A couple of times these purchases have not appeared on my bank statement. It is possible I used cash in those instances, but I have no idea, as these transactions took place months or even years ago. Any advice?

I am somewhat puzzeled as to how you could determine that a purchase did not show up on your statement; from the way you wrote it, it would appear that yuo had the receipt for the pruchase, but not a receipt showing that you used the card.

You could certainly contact the bank to see if there were some stray charges that may hve been posted to another acount. anything a yer old I would imagine the bank would simply ignore, as it would not be worth the time/labor cost to attemptt to reconcile their own books.

If you are concerned about the moral implications, one cannot sin if one does not have the intent to sin. Because you do use cash (apparently) from time to time, you do not even have sufficient information to indicate that a charge was actully made and not credited to your account.

I would start from scratch and find a better was of bookkeeping that would solve the problem - keep charge slips in one place, like your wallet, and cash slips in the sack that seems to alwasy come with the purchase. Then reconcile once a month.

Your dilemma is one of the reasons I use checks instead of debit cards.

 

[Benedictus]

Your dilemma is one of the reasons I use checks instead of debit cards.

Things like this are why I haven’t balanced my checkbook in years.

 

[Allweather]

I’ve been using credit cards and check cards for many years, including at supermarkets. I have never, ever, known of such a purchase not to be recorded on my account. I really don’t think it is possible.

OTOH I have had it happen two times that a supermarket double-charged me for a single purchase, for which I had to go back and straighten the thing out.

So, it is much, much more likely that you would be overcharged, than that you’d be undercharged.

 

[Seatuck]

I usually make purchases at supermarkets and other stores with a check card. A couple of times these purchases have not appeared on my bank statement. It is possible I used cash in those instances, but I have no idea, as these transactions took place months or even years ago. Any advice?

I think you’ll want to start your check ledger over-perhaps even getting a new account- with an exact balance and start performing better record keeping. Keep your receipts and check your statement up against them every month. You have a certain amount of days to respond to inaccuracies on a statement. There really isn’t anything you can do if the transaction occurred years ago. Not sure how long stores have to post a debit but there must be an expiration date for that as well. Ask at the bank where you have your account.

 

[ltbpoe43]

The stuff that is months or years old - forget about it - unless they owe you money - but it doesn’t sound like it.

Start today to keep those receipts when you use your debit card. When you get your bank statement match those receipts to your statement activity. Many times debit card transactions are listed in a section called “other charges” since they are not checks or deposits. Many times the match is difficult because the name of the store and the name of the parent company processing the transaction you may not recognize. Example, I buy gas at Freedom Fuel - it comes through as Cracker Barrel - who knew.

Try to match amounts to make sure you have them all. If one is missing maybe you can contact your bank. However they can’t do much about it. It is the responsibility of the merchant to make sure he initiates the transaction to get your debit card processed so he can get paid. It is their responsibility to gather those transaction up, submit them to their bank, and get paid. They may have weak processes involved and drop or miss a few.

 

[MrIrish]

I usually make purchases at supermarkets and other stores with a check card. A couple of times these purchases have not appeared on my bank statement. It is possible I used cash in those instances, but I have no idea, as these transactions took place months or even years ago. Any advice?

Would you be willing to swear on a Bible that you did not pay for these items? If the answer is no, then forget about them and get on with life. If the answer is yes, be more careful about tracking your finances in the future, AND if your conscience leads you to want to make some kind of restitution, I would recommend giving some money to charity. Either way, put this stuff behind you and get on with life as soon as possible.