New account. Went to set it up in my newest version of Quicken. Wouldn’t let me do it on my computer, wanted me to give my bank information so Quicken and my bank could talk to each other and input the info automatically. Sounds great, for anything except financial stuff. It’s bad enough all that info is already out there on my bank’s website. Now it should be on, let’s face it, another corporation’s website? And won’t it be harder to find incorrect transactions if the bank inputs the info in my Quicken?

Yes, I know so far nothing has happened to compromise anyone’s money. The key words being “so far.” I have a rather active imagination—usually a good thing for a writer. Maybe I’m over-thinking this, but maybe not. Better safe than sorry, no?

I’ve been using Quicken for about fifteen (yes, 15!) years now. Twice in all those years, I found a bank error. Both times for the same monthly transaction where they read my 0 for a 5, weirdly enough. Fifty cents each time. That was years and years ago. Every month I faithfully reconcile my balance and spend a lot of time inputting the info into Quicken. Every month, everything is okay.

So, do I trust the bank, or do I let another entity have my financial info, too? How much time will I save if I just check on-line, say once a week, to see if anything looks really off? Or even just check the amounts against receipts—shouldn’t take too long. Can keep the receipts, which I already do, anyway.

I love being efficient. In the beginning, I loved Quicken because it did the math for me. But the bank also does the math for us. How much time can I save by making this change? How much anxiety will I produce in myself if I do? How much of a control freak am I, anyway? Time will tell.

Not to get too personal, but what do the rest of you do about keeping track of your finances? I figure I can do a quick and dirty spread sheet for certain items if I want to keep track of how much we’re spending on, say, gas or groceries. But most bills are the same or close to the same every month. A glance will tell if they’re off. I think I’m going to go for it.