Seriously. I have never really put much thought in to how much money I should be consistently keeping in my checking account. If you follow my net worth updates, than you’ll notice I have mentioned trying to keep about $1,000 in this account at any given time.
Ask me where I came up with the idea that $1,000 was a good number. I have no freakin’ clue, I guess I just pulled it out of thin air one day. I got to thinking maybe, I have waaaaay too much chillin’ in my account, after all it could be earning 1.5% interest in my online savings account. Or maybe I don’t have enough? Should I be keeping a mini-emergency fund available at all times, say $2K-4k?
Maybe, just maybe, I’m doing this checking account thing all wrong. Shoot it’s kind of like wiping your butt. Have you ever thought maybe you wipe your butt wrong? Seriously, it’s not like you would know that you have bad butt wiping form. Maybe you are a front to back wiper, when the rest of the world goes back to front. Do you go in between the legs? Or sneak attack from the back?
Although, $1,000 seems to have worked just fine for me over the last couple years, I’m curious how much you all keep in your checking. Do you go with a set dollar amount? Do you keep “x” amount of months expenses in it? Do you keep as little as possible in there so you can earn interest on the rest? Contrary to what you may be thinking, I am not concerned with your butt wiping rituals, but would love to know your checking account routine.
I use my local checking account like a mini-emergency fund – 1 month of expenses in the account at all times. This means I don't have to time bill payment to pay periods and I have the flexibility to access more significant amounts locally if needed. Yes, I'm missing out on the higher interest rate I could get in other savings accounts, but peace of mind is worth it for me…
I keep $200 in savings linked to checking, and anywhere from $100-$1000 in checking, depending on time of month
I usually just use all the cash in my account and pay all my accounts/savings. I don't shoot for a minimum since I have my savings as an emergency fund. I do make sure though that I don't overwithdraw my checking to avoid nasty fees!
My chequing (can you tell I'm Canadian) account is for all of my bill paying. It fluctuates anywhere from $0.01 to $3,000 during the month. I manage all of the household bills (ie utilities and rent) for myself and 4 roommates, so things can fluctuate quite a bit. I have no set amount which I make myself keep in the account…
I wish I could say we keep a set minimum in our account…well, actually, does $0 count? Paycheck goes in, expenses go out, fingers are crossed hoping that latter doesn't exceed the former. I feel comfortable leaving about $200 in it for unexpected expenses not planned for in the budget.
If you don't want to know about my butt wiping rituals, do you want to know about how I wipe the kiddo's? You know, for future reference. 😉
I keep $50 in my checking which is linked to the debit card for emergencies. And then a mini EF savings account with $1,000. Then I have an online savings account that holds the majority of the rest of my money. I'm not really sure how I came to those totals. I think the $50 is because it could easily cover my cable or electricity if I biffed and forgot to budget for it and the $1,000 because it is enough to make me feel comfortable.
Heh… I try to keep an amount over $0 in my account at all times. Most of the time it works out. I usually have about $100 reserve in a different account (not my E-fund) that I can pull from if it doesn't.
Thus far, I've never in my entire 29-year long life had an "emergency" where I needed two thousands dollars RIGHT NOW. So I'm totally fine with it sitting in my savings and knowing that if I need to get it, it will be instantly transferred in a matter of seconds.
Right now, I don't really have a system. But what I am planning to do is this:
Every time I receive a paycheck, sweep whatever was in the account before the paycheck into my Emergency Savings account.
I don't really have to worry about bouncing checks due to ING's Overdraft Line of Credit system. You don't get hit with any fees, they just charge you interest for the days you happen to go below $0.
With my old account if I kept a 1000 minimum then they would waive all fees. That was the best motivation for me.
I keep about $40,000 in my checking account. Before you think I've lost my mind, I currently have my checking and savings account combined in a high-yield checking rewards checking account currently paying 4%.
Me and the hubby keep about $1500 at minimum in our checking account as a mini emergency fund. It used to be $200, but $1500 is around one month living expenses for us. We have another larger emergency fund (that we contribute a set amount per month to) in a money market account. Then at the end of the month anything else that we have left in the account over 1500 gets divied up into different categories in the Money Market.