3 Big Reasons To Check Your Bank Account Once Per Week

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It’s not always easy to make decisions regarding your monetary situation. Sometimes, you need to consider whether certain financial options make sense for you. For instance, you might consolidate multiple debts into single monthly payment plans if you owe a balance on several cards that you’re carrying from one pay period to another.

There are some financial moves that you should make regularly, though, because there’s no possible downside. For instance, it makes sense to check your bank account at least once per week, if not more frequently than that. We’ll go through some reasons why in the following article.

1. Fraudulent Activity

Checking your account to monitor it for potentially fraudulent activity is one of the main reasons you’ll want to get into this habit. An identity thief might get their hands on your login information one way or another. You can take steps to prevent that, but it’s still not impossible that a fraudster might figure out your login information and password.

Once they have it, they’ll usually try to make a small test purchase to see whether you’ll catch it. If you don’t, the next step will be to make a much larger one.

If you monitor your account closely, it won’t take you long to notice a purchase or withdrawal you didn’t make. You can report the activity to the bank and change your account login and password or pin number. That will usually solve the problem.

2. Checking Your Emergency Fund

Many individuals don’t have an emergency fund they can turn to if they get hit with an unexpected expense, like medical bills or a major car repair. You might think you have more in your account than you do. When you look at your account to see if you have enough cash for that unexpected bill, you may be surprised.

Checking your account balance at least once per week will remind you how much is in there. You’ll know what kind of bill or unexpected expense you can handle if you suddenly have to deal with one. If you feel your balance is too low to sustain a big hit like that, you can work to build it up.

3. Hidden Fees

You might also have money in an account with a bank that likes to charge you fees in certain situations. For example, maybe your bank will charge you for paper statements, balance inquiries, or monthly maintenance fees. They might charge you a minimum balance fee if you don’t have much money in that account. ATM fees are likely as well if you’re using banks other than your own to withdraw cash.

If you look at your account and see that your bank is hitting you with a lot of hidden fees, you may want to switch to another bank. You might also change some of your habits to make incurring these fees less likely.

Checking Your Account Regularly Makes Sense

Most financial advisors would agree that checking your account once per week makes sense, if not more often than that. You should do so to make sure no fraudulent activity is taking place. If you see a charge or withdrawal you don’t recognize, you can quickly contact your bank to make them aware of it.

You should check the account to see that you’re not getting hit with a lot of fees from your bank. If you see that, you can change your money habits or switch banks. You can also check your account to make sure you have enough in savings to cover any unexpected bill that comes your way.

Checking your bank account doesn’t take long, and it’s a way to stay on top of your finances.