How much extra do you keep in your checking?

[Deleted]

After we merge all accounts (checking/savings) I started leaving about $500 extra in the checking account to serve as a cushion
(expenses she may have charged and did not give me the receipt yet, expenses that we did not budget for, etc).

I know other couples use credit cards to make it easier and just pay it off every month but we are in the process of paying down her credit card so we don't charge anything on it. I use my credit card to pay for work related expenses that I get reimbursed for. But definitely thinking about going that route once we are done paying that card by the end of the year.

[illinicheme]

We usually leave ~$2000 as a cushion. If it starts to build up more than that, I transfer the extra to savings.

[Gardening Grandma]

I keep our "reserve" funds in the checking account. That's the money being set aside for the property tax, ins, and other annual and semi annual expenses. It is usually in the range of $2500. The checking account does pay a small amount of interest and it also serves as a cushion.

[sbcalimom]

I keep $100 cushion in our primary account since I usually keep the balance pretty close to just the necessary bills. Our other checking account now has an extra $500 in it (that was our ST EF) because of Chase's new regulations. That account doesn't have any direct deposits so I need to be sure there's an average balance of $1500/mo in it. Since there's usually about $1K at a minimum, I figured combining accounts would make it more likely the average balance would stay high enough.

[thyme4change]

Right now we have $16,000 in checking and I can't figure out why. I'm thinking I haven't paid bills in 4 months.

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2011 12:35:57 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Right now we have $16,000 in checking and I can't figure out why. I'm thinking I haven't paid bills in 4 months.

Recent pay check? Tax returns?

Currently I have $4,376 in my checking and that is because I got paid yesterday, my wife got paid today and we got our Federal Refund also today.

But my Tuesday should get back down to about 1K or so when every is transferred where it should be.

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

I keep short term emergency funds in my checking. It varies from five to six months expenses.
I really should lower that to roughly three to four months.

[souldoubt]

Obviously depending on the timing of payments it fluctuates but when all is said and done and bills are paid I have about $1,000 in checking as a cushion.

[1wisdomseeker]

Around 15 years ago we somehow came into an extra 1,000.00. We've just kept that in the checking account. Because of that, we have not had an overdraft in many years.

[Deleted]

I try to keep between $1500 - 2500 in my checking account. Once it crosses $3K, I transfer a couple grand to brokerage accounts for investing.

[runewell]

$3,000-$7,000 although I would keep it closer to $3,000 if money market or CD rates were actually worth anything.

[runewell]

$3,000-$7,000 although I would keep it closer to $3,000 if money market or CD rates were actually worth anything. Once it gets closer to $7,000 then $4,000 goes into investments, back to $3,000

[Clifford]

We keep about 1 month's worth of expenses in there. May be too much, but we are a single income household. If there was an event I/she would have 30 days to make new arrangements with my lenders and vendors.

[Cookies Galore]

I have an unaccounted for $400 in my account, so that's my cushion. I must have made a drunk deposit or something, because I don't know where it came from and it's been a long time.

[boosmom]

I like to keep a $2000 cushion in the online checking account in which all the auto-drafts/bill pay gets issued. The local checking account has some cash too, in case of an emergency.

[cronewitch]

I am paid twice a month so keep enough to last until the next payday for things I know about plus about 400 in case I have a higher bill or forgot something. Bill payer is set up to auto pay my gas and electric and do schedule payments for other bi monthly or quarterly bills so I could forget and pay a water bill or something that was just not on my mind. I can afford all my bills and it is really not a problem if I overdraft but I don't like to. My overdrafts just do a margin loan,

[Deleted]

Our checking does not pay interest, so we don't keep a cushion at all.
Sometimes, right before payday, it can have $25 in it.......

[973beachbum]

Feb 11, 2011 13:06:21 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

I have an unaccounted for $400 in my account, so that's my cushion. I must have made a drunk deposit or something, because I don't know where it came from and it's been a long time.

[Tiny]

I'm single and a few days after payday (when the money has been redistributed/bills paid) there's typically between $50 and $200 in checking - with that money on "reserve" for some bill that's coming up... There's no interest on the account (and no minimum balance) so I try to not let the "daily balance" drop below $50... I can quickly and easily transfer money from a savings account (first line of my EF) if I needed to.

I think this "system" is why I can't be trusted to manage a Debit card...

[Tred]

I usually keep 1-2 months worth of expenses in case there's an unexpected interruption in my income. It's a good buffer, and gives more than enough time to transfer money from savings if needed.

When I was in high school I had a checking account that was free if I maintained a $1000 minimum balance, so that got me in the habit of keeping a cushion.

[bugeater2919]

We keep an $500 dollar cushion in our primary checking account. We pay most of our bills (except mortgage and student loan) by credit card and pay-off the credit cards twice a month.

I have another ING checking account which I transfer money from our irregular expense accounts when needed. We keep $1000 cushion in the ING account.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I keep about $500 more in checking than we need for our bills each pay period. But we do have a savings account linked to our checking account and we keep $1000 in there to serve as a cushion/overdraft. All other "extra" money lives in our Money Market Account that earns slightly better interest.

[lisaa]

Only $250.

I do know exactly where my money goes, down to the penny, so that's why I can keep such a low cushion. $250 is the amount of on-line bill payments that I could not cancel or postpone in time if for some reason my pay check got messed up and was not direct deposited into my checking account as normal. So this cushion allows me to avoid overdraft fees, even in the event of a minor disaster.

[Deleted]

I have a high yield checking where the bulk of my money is, $20,000 and that is the only checking that we use our debit cards for (less than $1000). That however is savings for the wedding and is only in there because it is the best rate. I pay my bills monthly and therefore have about $100 more than the max bills do at all times as well as money before it is transferred.

[ca]

$3000 to get free services. Canada banks are expensive relative to you guys.

[fuel100]

I get nervous when we have less than $1000. We usually keep between $2,000 and $4,000. I have money direct deposited into money market, and IRA and a taxable mutual fund (Vanguard). Of course my 401K contribution comes out too. I transfer money to the money market account if we get above $4,000.

[resolution]

We keep a cushion of $1000 in checking. We charge all of our expenses on one credit card that gets paid off every month from checking and our housing expenses are paid though electronic bill pay. If the account looks like it will go below $1000 I transfer money in from savings. If the cushion is more than $2000 I transfer money out to savings.

We keep $15,000 in savings, which is our emergency fund. When it gets above $20,000 I pull out $5000 and find something to do with it. I am kind of cranky right now because I just brought us back down to $15,000 and my husband wants to donate $1000 to a cause he supports. I hate hate when it gets low, but I guess it will motivate me to do some home cooking until it builds back up.

[katkuddler]

My checking account pays 4% interest up to $15000 so that is where all my extra money is. About $18000 right now. You have to jump through a few hoops but I feel its worth it. Making over $50 monthly interest on it

[schildi]

We have a pretty constant $30,000 in one checking account. It pays 3% interest on balances up to $30K.

[Deleted]

Every month, I return my checking balance to $2000. It usually stays above that amount all month, but I like to maintain that cushion.