bluntmoney.com

It seems that balancing a checkbook is a lost art. This actually makes sense at first glance, since the use of checks themselves has declined dramatically.

But while many people just take a look at their bank balance online to decide how much money they have available to spend, there are dangers in doing this.

Balancing your checking account is an excellent idea for several reasons:

• If you don’t balance it, you’re at the mercy of whatever the bank says is your balance
• It’s easier to overdraft your account and rack up fees if you aren’t aware of what has yet to clear — transactions that the bank may not be aware of
• You may overlook unauthorized charges
• You’re less likely to pay attention to your money and what you’re spending it on

Next Sunday’s post will explain how to balance your checking account.

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This post is part of a series. See what everyone should know about personal finance for links to additional posts.

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In honor of the money I’ve spent this month (already!) I’d like to know what your favorite way to spend money is.

Of course I like to do a lot of things that are free (reading, writing, lazing around the house) but there are some things that I definitely get my money’s worth on. For me those things are travel, travel, and travel. Did I mention travel?

And I guess I’ll have to add eating out, because I enjoy doing that as well.

What about you?

Don’t forget to check out a few links, too:

Budgets are Sexy still messes up sometimes. (And don’t we all…)

A car-and-debt-related deadline approaches for Hundred Goals.

Green Panda Treehouse hosts a guest post from My Next Buck called What Comic Book Characters Taught Me About Personal Finance. (Love the Wonder Woman message.)

NCN has some thoughts about thinking.

Money Smarts tells how to actually finish DIY home improvement projects.

For the past couple of years, I’ve answered the question of “how much should I save for retirement?” with “as much as I possibly can”.

But that’s not really a very good answer, although it’s certainly better than what I was doing before. (Nothing.) A better thing to do might be to take an educated guess at how much I might actually need in retirement.

So, I’ll start with the obvious. What do I expect our expenses to be then? At a minimum I imagine they will include health care, long term care insurance, food, water, electricity, property taxes and insurance, household repairs and maintenance. I’d also like to be able to afford internet, telephone, gifts, transportation, travel and entertainment.

Basically the same things we are doing now, with the addition of (most likely) increased health care costs and long term care insurance, and the subtraction of a house payment.

That’s depressing at first glance, because in order for us to maintain the same or better lifestyle, we’ll need at least the same amount of income as we have now (without accounting for inflation.) On the other hand, we won’t be contributing to retirement once we are retired, so that frees up quite a bit of money.

My guess is that we might need 60-70% of what we make now in retirement in order to live our current lifestyle — and less if we get desperate. (Which is a good thing, because right now it’s looking like we’ll only be able to afford a bare-bones retirement.)

Looks like I’ll be continuing with the “save as much as I possibly can” method.

I’m not big on picking favorites, but there is one place that I consider my very favorite store.

It’s right down the street, so I stop in pretty much every week to browse. I usually take home anywhere from one to six things at a time, depending on what I was looking for and what just happened to catch my eye. Sometimes I check out their online store too, just to see if they have what I want before I stop in.

If I need help finding something, their helpful staff will take me right to where it is, and suggest ideas I hadn’t even thought of. Even better, if they don’t have what I was looking for, they’ll special order it for me from anywhere in the country and set it aside. They call me when it’s in, or email me if I prefer that.

They have special events, and even snacks if I feel like getting those. They let me use their technology, hang out, meet people, and they have rotating art displays that I love to check out.

Best of all, every thing there (except the snacks) is completely free.

Have you figured out yet that I’m talking about the library? Books, DVDs, CDs, downloadable audiobooks, maps, references guides, computers, meeting rooms, art displays, tickets to local attractions, information on city services. All free.

Seriously, it’s my favorite store. I especially love the interlibrary loan, and being able to reserve brand-new books that haven’t even come out yet. As soon as they get them in, they’re mine to use. It’s great.