Comments on: Why I Don’t Write Paper Checks

By: Wise Bread

Wise Bread — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 14:45:32 +0000

Top 100 Most Popular Personal Finance Blogs

Creditcard.org recently released the Top 100 List of personal finance blogs to read in 2007. I've re-ranked the list in order of popularity to make it easier for readers who do not have the time to browse through all one hundred blogs. Methodology

By: Savvy Steward

Savvy Steward — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 23:26:59 +0000

I still use paper checks occasionally , but everything else I use online bill pay. Just in case I need to prove payment, I always take a screen-capture of the payment confirmation. (Print Screen is my friend.)

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 09:16:45 +0000

I write one check per month. (OK, sometimes two, but one is an absolute recurring expense, and writing any others is a vanishingly rare event…once or twice a year at the outside.)

I used to pay my rent by check, now I pay my mortgage that way. And I do this because in both cases, I insist on having a receipt when I make the payment (so that if the payee later tries to cheat me and claim I never paid, I can prove in court that they’re lying), and when one wants a receipt, the only alternative to a check is cash. (Well, I could use a money order, but that would mean both carrying cash to Western Union, and paying extra for it, which is the worst of both worlds.)

When the only thing at stake is my (sucky anyway) credit rating, the possibility of a duplicate payment, and possibly some late fees, I’m willing to trust the banks to get it right and my creditors not to cheat. But housing is not optional. Losing a dispute over a payment with my landlord before or my mortgage bank now would mean homelessness, and so I go the old-fashioned way with those payments, to make sure that if there ever is such a dispute, I won’t lose.

By: Jessie

Jessie — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 16:40:12 +0000

I too HATE paper checks. Not only do I agree with the statements above, but I can never tear the suckers out of the book with out ripping them! Stupid but true. I still use checks at one place, the DMV. For whatever insane reason, our DMV only takes cash or check. I can’t use my card and I don’t usually walk around with $200 in cash on me.

By: HC

HC — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 15:45:36 +0000

Reasons I still write checks:

My leasing office doesn’t accept electronic payments. Technically, I could use my bank’s billpay to mail them paper checks (I already do this for one bill), but since the amount is so large, and since I often get paid JUST before it is due, I’d rather have the float (and the receipt).

I sometimes go to events with friends and family in which one person pays the bill via credit card. It’s much easier to give them a check than to round up that much cash, or to lose funds via Paypal transfer.

I have an annual tax assessment that charges me an additional fee to pay online rather than presenting a check at the county office.

But yes, for the most part, I’d just as soon do everything electronically.