Reviewing Your Monthly Statement

The monthly statement you receive from your bank - either through mail or electronically - detailing your activity.

• It is important that you carefully review your statement and make sure your records match the bank's records.
• If they don't match, contact your bank immediately as you could have been a victim of identity theft.
• Below are the elements that make up the account summary, which is usually a snapshot of your account's activity.
• Make sure to reconcile your bank statements as this will give you a better idea of your spending habits as well as could alert you to any suspicious activity on your account

Elements of an Account Summary

Deposits &  Additions

• Money added into or returned to your checking account
• Could take the form of several things:

- Deposits: Direct or Cash
- Transfers from savings account
- Interest earnings

ATM &  Debit Card Withdrawals

• Any time you take money out from an ATM or use your debit card to make a purchase
• Be wary of transactions that you do not recollect, match with your records, or are in a location that you've never been - it could mean that someone has your card information

Checks Paid

• Checks that you have sent out that have either been cashed or deposited in the recipient's account
• Be sure to keep a record of the checks you write because they won't appear on your account summary until they are cashed. Sometimes this could take a while!

Fees & Other Withdrawals

• This is where you would see things such as monthly service fees, overdraft fees, ATM fees, returned check fees, etc.

Reconciling Your Statement

Reconciling your bank statement means making sure that the transactions and amounts in your account summary match your records. You can keep your using one of several methods:

Receipts

• This is a time consuming option, especially if you make a lot of transactions with your debit/credit cards
• But, if you can keep track of your receipts, then you can concretely know where your money has gone during the billing period

Excel Spreadsheet

• If you're better at dealing with computers, or always lose track of your receipts, then you may want to create an excel spreadsheet
• You need to be diligent about entering the correct information into the spreadsheet

Phone Apps

• You can track your inflows and outflows with phone apps
• Very convenient for people who are always on the move

Check Register

• Though they are uncommon nowadays, this is another method to track your inflows and outflows

As mentioned above, you can use one or all of these methods. It will take some time getting used to tracking your cash inflows and outflows, but the most important thing is to keep a record of it.

Additional Information:

• By reconciling your statement, you achieve several things: First, you can make sure that no one has stolen your money and identity. Second, you can better understand where your money goes. Third, from your spending habits, you can create a budget plan*
• If you are prone to identity theft, you may want to opt to get your statements only electronically, which leaves less of a paper trail
• Once you are completely done checking your statement, make sure to get rid of it properly since there can be sensitive information on it