where do you keep your checkbook?

March 19, 2020 9:39 AM

Where do you keep your checkbook when you're not writing checks? I suppose the answer for women is "in your purse", but what about for men who don't carry purses? Everywhere I've tried leads to it getting lost.

I had to send my car payment today, and I momentarily panicked because I couldn't find my checkbook. I normally leave it on the bench just inside my door (although apparently I won't anymore), but it wasn't there. Sometimes I leave it in my car, but I just cleaned out my car the other day, and it wasn't there (and that's not exactly a safe place for it). Sometimes it goes in my backpack, which I carry to and from work as a pseudo-man purse, but since I've been WFH the past few days, I haven't done that either. Every once in a while, it just sits on the dining room table as mail piles around it, but we just went through our pile of mail the other day, too. Finally, I realized that, while going through the mail, I'd move some papers and things that had been on the table up to my office, and I was relieved to find it there. But by "my office", I mean "a desk in my attic", so they were really just laying on the floor. That's obviously not sustainable, either.

So where should I keep it instead? Do you have a dedicated place for it on a shelf or something? A drawer in a nightstand?

Even before the coronavirus hit, I just got a new job that's a lot more WFH-friendly, so I've been planning to do a little more with my office anyway. Thinking about a filing cabinet or side table with drawers. Any suggestions about how I should incorporate that? I'd prefer to keep the surface of the desk fairly clean so as to avoid distraction.

Please don't tell me I should get rid of the checkbook. For one thing, I'm not Randy Moss. For another, I've tried the online bill-pay thing before, and I kind of like having a physical checkbook. It feels nice and adult-y. And most importantly, I can't do online payments for my daycare, so that's two paper checks a month that I need to write.

posted by kevinbelt to Home & Garden (40 answers total)

Mine lives in a locked drawer in my office with passports and a few other important items. I haven't found much need to carry it anywhere - like you I'm not writing cheques every day (although I'm in the UK and we tend to use them less anyway).
posted by pipeski at 9:43 AM on March 19, 2020 [3 favorites]

Years ago, it lived in my glove compartment -- but then I was writing a lot more checks. Now, with online bill-pay, not so much; so I store it on the shelf along with all my little personal note- and logbooks - separate from my passport & etc. which are in my bug-out bag (which is my travel back-pack).
posted by Rash at 9:44 AM on March 19, 2020

Mine's on the top of my desk. If I didn't have a desk, I'd store it in a file in my file cabinet.
posted by summerstorm at 9:44 AM on March 19, 2020 [3 favorites]

We do have a drawer with important stuff like this and that is where we keep it. I suggest tearing out 2-3 and keeping them in your wallet.
posted by soelo at 9:45 AM on March 19, 2020 [13 favorites]

A real problem. Door pocket of car or a desk drawer. But sometimes neither, which prompts cursing and self-loathing.
posted by Glomar response at 9:45 AM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

I have on of those fire resistant boxes that all of my stuff like that lives in. I only write a check every 2 months or so.
posted by Tchad at 9:46 AM on March 19, 2020

You might think about a mail station, even if it just a small shoebox. You can keep stamps and envelopes in there, too.
posted by soelo at 9:46 AM on March 19, 2020 [11 favorites]

Have had this challenge. I write MAYBE two checks per month. I keep it in my man-purse: the backpack that goes everywhere with me.
posted by armoir from antproof case at 9:51 AM on March 19, 2020

Or, *went* everywhere with me, before the outbreak. I still keep it there even when the backpack and it’s wearer are inside the house. When I need The Checkbook, I know The Place where it is.
posted by armoir from antproof case at 9:52 AM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

Mine is on a shelf in my home office. The address on the checks is two homes ago. I think the last time I wrote a check was 2017. I have been thinking I should shred the checks and be done with it.
posted by COD at 9:55 AM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

I would never carry a checkbook with me unless I needed it for a specific errand. Mine lives in my desk drawer and is used maybe once a year.
posted by ananci at 9:58 AM on March 19, 2020 [9 favorites]

Mail-station for us; near the front door so it’s where bills get dropped on the way in, stamps are handy for the outgoing mail, sometimes I take the checkbook down the street to the dry cleaners but it comes back to its spot.
posted by clew at 9:59 AM on March 19, 2020

I'm a woman and I keep it in the family desk. We write checks maybe once a month, no need to carry it around.

I do keep one check in my wallet; if/when it's used I just put a new one in there.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 10:04 AM on March 19, 2020 [3 favorites]

My dad would tear off a couple checks and keep them folded up in his wallet for when he needed them.
posted by bendy at 10:20 AM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]

I suppose the answer for women is "in your purse", but what about for men who don't carry purses?

Not all women carry purses; I don't. My checkbook lives in an envelope in my closet, alongside my passport and a few legal documents. I write <2 checks per year.
posted by shb at 10:29 AM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

I have one in a fireproof bag with all the passport/car title/etc stuff and one in the same drawer where I keep stamps and pens. I write checks so rarely that they need to have a place to live or I would never be able to find them.
posted by assenav at 10:29 AM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

I have a drawer in my desk that has my checkbook, envelopes, stamps, return address labels. If I'm writing a check, I'm usually mailing it.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 10:34 AM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

We keep the checks in a fireproof box with passports and other important documents. This box lives tucked into a corner of our hall closet and is easy to grab in case of an emergency/need to evacuate.
posted by larthegreat at 10:35 AM on March 19, 2020

In a desk drawer with office supplies and mailing supplies.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 10:35 AM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]

Agree with other women above—the prevalence of ID theft mandates not carrying a checkbook on your person. Plus I use a card for daily transactions anyway, and mortgage and utility payments are electronic. Our neighborhood is adjacent to a high-crime area and some people recently jumped into our backyard and made off with our patio umbrella. They didn’t break in, but it struck me how close they were to my checkbook that was lying a couple feet away on the kitchen table. Now I’m thinking I should locked it up as others are recommending. If you do use checks, don’t have your phone number printed on them.
posted by cartoonella at 10:41 AM on March 19, 2020

Like pretty much everyone else here, in a desk drawer. I write so few checks, I can't imagine toting it around with me.
posted by XtineHutch at 10:46 AM on March 19, 2020

The drawer we keep it in is the one that also holds stamps and envelopes, as well as tickets to events that still mail you physical tickets. It's a little drawer in a credenza in the dining room.
posted by gideonfrog at 10:48 AM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

I have a backpack with a couple of small internal pouches that were presumably designed to hold small, items like that. So my checkbook lives there. I can't remember the last time I used it, though, my bank has a billpay service that will print and mail a paper check if the recipient can't receive payment electronically.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:51 AM on March 19, 2020

I write 2-3 checks a month; checkbook lives in a drawer in the dining room. I usually have a check in my wallet as well but they usually disintegrate before I get around to using them.
posted by mskyle at 11:02 AM on March 19, 2020

I write exactly one check per month: to our daycare. I write the check at home, put it in my purse, and deposit it in their locked mailbox. I would never carry the actual checkbook around with me; we have a little wall-mounted rack in the kitchen where I toss bills and other papers I might need to reference, and it lives in there.
posted by anderjen at 11:06 AM on March 19, 2020

Even though I am old and cranky enough to still regularly write checks (all of my local utilities' websites & online payment options are just nightmares), I have literally never walked around with my checkbook on a daily basis. The whole idea is really foreign to me, and I'm 51. Cash & debit card for daily walking around money, anything that requires me to hand a check to somebody in person I specifically bring the checkbook with me in a pocket (and put it back as soon as I get home) or I pre-write/pre-sign it and stick that one check in my wallet.

So the checkbook always lives on a rear corner of my home desk.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:10 AM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

I have a drawer which holds various household administrative stuff - checkbooks, spare cash, non-everyday cards, stamps, etc. One check lives in my wallet, but I rarely have a need for it.
posted by mosst at 11:58 AM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

I keep two or three checks in my wallet and the rest of the checkbook locked in a safe.
posted by zdravo at 12:13 PM on March 19, 2020

Is there a bag that always comes with you when you travel? And so that's always in, let's say, the same city as you? If so, that's where I'd keep it. You rarely need your checkbook on short notice day to day, but you might well need it if something comes up when you're away from home for longer.

(I have a messenger bag that I use as my lady-manpurse and my One True Carryon, so it lives in there. And there's a specific pocket where it always lives in there, so if it goes missing I'm more likely to notice. Also in that pocket: my passport and my pill case.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 12:19 PM on March 19, 2020

To me, it's a 'stationary' or 'bill pay' item, so it lives in that area. I write maybe 8 checks a year.
posted by MountainDaisy at 12:56 PM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

Fire resistant box, along with my passport, some important papers (vax record, last will, living will), and a couple storage media with some major passwords.

I write about 3 checks a year, to the point that I shredded about half a box of unwritten checks. Checks will probably be completely obsolete before I run out. I do use online banking and the bill-pay system which generates physical checks in some cases that get mailed to my recipients, and that's mostly the reason.
posted by Sunburnt at 12:59 PM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

In a top drawer in the desk in my office at home.
posted by cool breeze at 1:00 PM on March 19, 2020

I kind of like having a physical checkbook. It feels nice and adult-y.

I'm in my 50s, and I remember when that seemed adult-y. It's like how the men in Mad Men wore hats. Quaint but no longer really a thing.

Is it possible that you are conflating keeping a checkbook and keeping a checkbook register? Keeping a register, tracking your funds, and doing the math helps you maintain control and mastery of your money, and that is very adult-y.

Personally, I write one check per month, for rent, so there's no reason for me to carry my checkbook, as I only write that check from my desk at home. Everything else, I use online bill-pay, either through my bank or, when applicable, from the company's website. But even if I have to write an ad hoc check, I'm going to know enough in advance that I won't have to carry it around with me.

But I absolutely still keep a register. I use my debit card for standard purchases, and a credit card when it's appropriate. At the end of most days, I take all of my receipts out of my wallet and note the debit purchases in my register. (I do not ever use cash except when traveling, so there are no ATM receipts, but those would be logged the same way.) It allows me to see, immediately, if what shows up in my pending debit purchases matches the receipt. Keeping a checkbook register has become a lost art in some (younger) circles, but I still encourage my organizing and productivity clients to do it.

Thus, as a professional organizer, I advise my clients to keep their checkbooks next to where they pay their bills, and to (generally) only pay their bills in one place. My checkbook registers -- I have three (one for my personal account, one for my business account, and one for the checking account of a parent for whom I pay bills) are each in a different color/style register cover, so I can see which one I'm grabbing at a glance. The calculator sits atop the small stack of registers, which sits to the right of my computer riser. Nobody has access, but if I had visitors in this space, I'd keep them in a locked drawer.

Finally, just because you have to pay your daycare by check doesn't mean you don't have options:

a) Write both checks on the first of the month, from your desk. (Put it on your calendar to remind you.) Then put both checks in your wallet. When you pay the day care, hand them the appropriate check.

b) Use your online bill pay from your bank to pay your day care. The vast majority of small businesses paid by online bill pay RECEIVE actual printed paper checks. The only issue is knowing how far in advance your bank requires you to schedule the check. Most banks will show you that information right on the screen. (Like, "If you pay today, your check will be delivered on X date." Add your day care location right now and see what your bank is saying is the lead time.)

c) For payments that are not the same each time, ask to be sent an invoice. If you're calling it daycare and it's actually just a random person, just ask them to text you the amount the day before it's due, and you can write that check from your desk, too.

Checks were absolutely adult-y, until being an adult meant embracing technology. I get it. I still VASTLY prefer my landline and a great big receiver I can stick between my neck and my shoulder. But if there's a chance of you losing something important -- because losing the checkbook is a pain, but losing a well-kept register can be catastrophic -- then embracing technology may take a minute to accept, but it'll eliminate a lot of worry.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 1:21 PM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]

I keep mine in a decorative box on a bookcase, and I keep one cheque in my wallet just in case.

A general tip: For keeping track of things I need to be able to find on short notice but use infrequently, I keep a note on my phone called "FIND STUFF" about where it's kept. I make it kind of cryptic so that no one can figure it out if they get into my phone. For example, the cheque book note says: "Cheques - in box Marietta brought back from Spain."
posted by Frenchy67 at 1:38 PM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

in the catchall kitchen drawer where also live things like scotch tape; household keys; notepads; rubber bands etc.
posted by fingersandtoes at 1:39 PM on March 19, 2020

In the same place I left it 2+ years ago when I last wrote a cheque. I've written two actual cheques in the last five years, but used three others as voids for account verification in that time. Given the number of cheques I have and the fact I'm 50, I fully expect not to finish my chequebooks in my lifetime. I'm very happy about that.
posted by scruss at 1:44 PM on March 19, 2020

I have a "desk checkbook" ... basically a 3-ring binder full of checks, printed 3 to a page and perforated. When you order checks, you can get this style instead of the now-common pocket style (1 at a time and perforated at the top).

It's a lot harder to lose a binder than a small checkbook, and it fits well on a bookshelf. I labeled the spine with a labelmaker to make it stand out, and just have it on a bookshelf in my office with other household-related / bill-related things.

Worth a try if you're willing to commit to several hundred of them the next time you run out of checks.
posted by Kadin2048 at 2:27 PM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]

I write two checks a month regularly and very occasionally another. I have an old wooden cabinet in my room that's about 5.5 ft tall, and 1.5 x 1.5 ft. It's my shirt cabinet, has a door and shelves. The top of the cabinet is where the checkbook and my special work keys live when I'm not working. It's too high to get clutter, unlike the desk in the other room or the dresser in the bedroom.
posted by mareli at 5:13 PM on March 19, 2020

> I have a "desk checkbook" .

Same -- it was the cheapest way to get checks last time I ordered them, through Costco. I have a blank check in my wallet and if I write a check when I'm out and about I take a photo of it, then write it down (or put it straight into my money-tracking application) when I get home.

So the checkbook register lives with my cookbooks, because they're all household stuff.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:30 AM on March 20, 2020 [1 favorite]

2-3 in my wallet, the remainder in a desk drawer. When I use the last check in my wallet I immediately set an alarm to remind me to move checks from the checkbook to my wallet.
posted by Orrorin at 3:23 PM on March 22, 2020