A Balancing Act- Coach Emily

The one thing I wish I had learned before I graduated high school was the importance of balancing my checking account.

When I opened my first checking account, I had already graduated high school and was about to head off for college. I was asked to sign here and initial there, asked to complete a check order form, a debit card form, and then offered a student credit card. (Of course I said ‘yes’ to the credit card…but that’s not the point of THIS story.)

I thought all I needed to do was have my employer set me up with direct deposit and all would be well.

But that’s not what happened.

I did set up direct deposit, but as I made purchases, I never wrote anything down. Sure, during my account opening process I was given a check register…but I was too busy to use it. Besides, if I overdrew my account…all that needed to happen was for money to transfer from my credit card to my checking account….at a low cost to me of $30 per transfer made. (Not to mention the over limit fee on my credit card…again…a story for another time).

The simple point of this is that I never knew what my balance was, and since I did not keep track of anything…I also had no idea how much in fees I was paying. This also made it difficult when I was ready to close my account…since I didn’t know what checks were outstanding.

When I help students at our high school branch, I like to emphasize the importance of maintaining good records.

There are times when their eyes sort of glaze over and I can tell that they are thinking about what they should have for lunch or if they can make it back to class in time…but I hope they leave with one simple equation: maintaining good financial records=saving money.

- Coach Emily