Checkbooks and a Gold Standard

I grew up "old school" when it comes to managing your checking account.  I balance everything to the penny.  I learned how to reconcile my bank statement against my check ledger when my first account was opened.  It was very important when the money never seemed to go as far as the needs and you had the issue of "float" to deal with.

Today, it seems many people don't worry about balancing their check register or reconciling it against their bank statement.  They just look online to see what they currently have available at any given moment.  Their paycheck is deposited electronically and most of their payments are handled electronically.  Checks are something to be avoided and what isn't automated is handled with plastic -- either by debit or credit card.

I know such ways of doing business are time saving and convenient, but I haven't adopted them for the most part.  We do use a credit card for most purchases, but it is because we get "points" by doing so that can then be used in exchange for other things.  Our preferred is with Cabela's/Bass Pro.  With the credit card purchases, though, we save every receipt and reconcile them against the statement when it comes in.  We don't carry a balance on the card because interest on consumer items makes no sense at all.  For other purchases we write a check, record it in the ledger and reconcile it against the monthly statement.

Occasionally there is a surprise.  Occasionally a number is transposed or recorded incorrectly and the balance has to be corrected after reconciliation.  A worse surprise to me are the items like an auto-renewal on the anti-virus subscription for our computers.  It happens annually and isn't like a regular monthly item that you know to expect.  At least they e-mail you a receipt.

Banking has changed a lot in the past few years.  Almost everything is done electronically.  Even checks are turned into electronic images.  Trade between businesses is done electronically as is transfer of funds between countries.

Once upon a few centuries ago, it was a matter of lugging around bags of gold and silver coins.  In the case of large transactions, it might require a chest or two.  Eventually that became paper which represented the gold and silver.  Now the paper represents something more nebulous -- it represents a theoretical value established by the marketplace.

The U.S. Gross Domestic Product -- the value of annual goods and services produced by this country in 2018 is expected to be $19.4 Trillion.  There has only been $7.5 Trillion worth of gold mined in the history of the world at the current price of $1,250/ounce.  It's a good thing we aren't still trading in gold coins.