What Does your Checkbook Say About You?

Imagine that the world is wiped out by a plague. Now imagine that 20 years later aliens come down in their spaceship to study our culture. Upon inspecting our homes they come across our checkbooks--our financial records of our lives. If they came to YOUR house, and discovered YOUR checkbook, what would they think?

Our checkbooks are an insight into our lives: how we spend reveals so much about our inner selves. It reveals our personalities, our wants and our needs, and our inner-most desires.

Do you put emphasis on buying more and more? Do you have a strong burden to giving to charities and the church? Do you eat out often? Are you a saver or a spender? Do you live frugally or frivolously? You checkbook reveals all.

Imagine that this is a typical page in your checkbook register:

 

Date	Description	Withdrawals	Deposit	Balance
3/6	MBNA	$2500		$143.67
3/7	Deposit		$1157	$1300.67
3/7	Sears	$45		$1255.67
3/7	Rent	$1190		$65.67
3/7	Groceries	52.93		$12.74
3/8	Electric	56.09		-$43.35
3/14	Deposit		$1157	$1113.65
3/15	Car Payment	$655		$458.65
3/15	ATM Withdrawal	$100		$358.65

Now in this example we see a person who is obviously in debt, most likely beyond their means, and probably living from paycheck to paycheck. As soon as they make a deposit it is spent, and in some cases overspent! Not what you would call a smart spender or planner.

Also notice what this person is paying in rent, probably in a very nice, upscale apartment, and towards their car payment. Is this person using their money wisely? Should they really be spending that much on housing and car on their salary?

From looking at their checkbook register it appears that this person enjoys the finer things in life. Unfortunately, they are not making enough to support their lifestyle--living the champagne life on a kool-aid salary you might say.

If this person continues with this lifestyle they are headed towards financial disaster. It would be wise for them to cut back on their spending towards their upscale lifestyle, mainly the apartment, car, and credit card debt, and start putting money away towards saving.

FACTS: 43% of Americans spend more than they earn There were 1.66 million Bankruptcies in 2003, a 5.2% increase over 2002

Lets take a look at another example:

Here is a person at the other extreme, a hoarder that hardly spends any money. While saving is never necessarily viewed as a bad thing, excessive greed is. This person hardly ever spends anything, doesn't own a car, lives in an inexpensive condo, and probably never goes anywhere except to the library to check out books and free movies.

This is probably a very lonely person with few friends and little joy in life. I would encourage this person to start a savings account or IRA if they want to store away money. Also, they probably need to get out more, get involved in a church group or another organization that encourages fellowship and interaction. They may also want to consider donating part of their surplus to charity. Remember, you can't take it with you!

And, finally, lets take a look at one more check register:

Hopefully, if the aliens land, this is the checkbook register that they will find to judge us all by. This person led a balanced life. They saved, they gave to the church and to charity, the lived modestly without being extravagant or too frugally, and they still had money left over for emergencies, vacations, dining out, & other causes that may require funding.

This person probably leads a very happy life, has many friends, and is content. Their donations to the church and ministries are given without any hesitation or regret and are probably done with a cheerful attitude.

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