Today I tackled a job I've been putting off for a while. I used to do it every month, but in the last few months ... not so much. I needed to balance my checkbook.
I can hear the collective groans. The thing is, I used to be really good at recording every expense. Treated every debit card transaction like a check, recorded it right away. Then my habits changed and I started saving receipts when making a debit card purchase, (this to avoid perfect strangers behind me in line from being upset at having to wait while I write down the amount! wow. Reality check: how codependent is that??) intending to record them later. Most times I do. Sometimes - and this is usually the case especially with those pesky automatic payments - I forget. This results in what some call "slippage." A missed transaction or two doesn't seem like much. But it can be dangerous!
To my surprise, when I finally dug my check register out today, I discovered I had not reconciled it to my bank account in about six months. Ouch!! This wasn't going to be good.
After carefully verifying every transaction the bank said I put through, I ended up having a few hundred dollars less in my bank account than I thought. (Talk about slippage!!) Not a nice feeling to be sure. A little unsettling (pun not intended) as a matter of fact. But, I bit the bullet ... made the change in my check register, and now everything balances, although the balance is less than I would have wanted. Before I sat down with my wallet today, I thought I was doing pretty well. That's the trouble with slippage. It adds up.
It's sort of a relief to know where I stand, though. To know that I'm square - that I won't be caught short of funds when I have to make a payment in future. But lessons learned: the arrival of the bank statement is the perfect signal for me to make time to make sure I've been scrupulously honest with myself. And speaking of honesty - this putting the recording off until that evening or the next day ... has not been working for me: with all my other daily duties, I easily forget about the paperwork, and before I know it, I have a whole whack of receipts falling out of my wallet. So - perhaps it's time to get a little more meticulous about my record-keeping - to take the time to do it at the checkout as I used to do. It's another way of looking after myself, of reminding myself that I have the right to take up space in the world. Even if I have to slip around to the far end of the checkout after paying, for the twenty extra seconds it would take to record my purchase.
It's just that easy to fall behind, to not be as diligent as I once was - not only in my paperwork, but also in my inner life. I once heard someone say, "Keep short accounts with God." I'd say that applies to all relationships including the vertical one. I talk about it ... but when all is said and done, I do tend to let things slip. I "coast." I don't live intentionally - and that results in spiritual slippage. Fortunately, I don't have to wonder if my Record-keeper made a mistake. If there's a discrepancy, I know I'm the one who goofed. And although it's humbling, it's better for me to reconcile with God ... and with anyone else for whom I have not been "present" ... so that my life is balanced.
Balanced is good.
I can hear the collective groans. The thing is, I used to be really good at recording every expense. Treated every debit card transaction like a check, recorded it right away. Then my habits changed and I started saving receipts when making a debit card purchase, (this to avoid perfect strangers behind me in line from being upset at having to wait while I write down the amount! wow. Reality check: how codependent is that??) intending to record them later. Most times I do. Sometimes - and this is usually the case especially with those pesky automatic payments - I forget. This results in what some call "slippage." A missed transaction or two doesn't seem like much. But it can be dangerous!
To my surprise, when I finally dug my check register out today, I discovered I had not reconciled it to my bank account in about six months. Ouch!! This wasn't going to be good.
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| Source of this image: http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo- 775368-checkbook-register.php |
It's sort of a relief to know where I stand, though. To know that I'm square - that I won't be caught short of funds when I have to make a payment in future. But lessons learned: the arrival of the bank statement is the perfect signal for me to make time to make sure I've been scrupulously honest with myself. And speaking of honesty - this putting the recording off until that evening or the next day ... has not been working for me: with all my other daily duties, I easily forget about the paperwork, and before I know it, I have a whole whack of receipts falling out of my wallet. So - perhaps it's time to get a little more meticulous about my record-keeping - to take the time to do it at the checkout as I used to do. It's another way of looking after myself, of reminding myself that I have the right to take up space in the world. Even if I have to slip around to the far end of the checkout after paying, for the twenty extra seconds it would take to record my purchase.
It's just that easy to fall behind, to not be as diligent as I once was - not only in my paperwork, but also in my inner life. I once heard someone say, "Keep short accounts with God." I'd say that applies to all relationships including the vertical one. I talk about it ... but when all is said and done, I do tend to let things slip. I "coast." I don't live intentionally - and that results in spiritual slippage. Fortunately, I don't have to wonder if my Record-keeper made a mistake. If there's a discrepancy, I know I'm the one who goofed. And although it's humbling, it's better for me to reconcile with God ... and with anyone else for whom I have not been "present" ... so that my life is balanced.
Balanced is good.
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