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02 February 2011

Reality cheque This morning I discovered that I was completely out of cheques, except for one that had the address of my former condo on it. Which I used, being in a pinch, but of course I have ordered more. The polite young man I spoke to on my bank's customer service line told me they will be $36 for a lot of 100. Good grief. [More:]The first time I ordered cheques (in 1991) they were $13 for 200, the second time (in 2001) they were $26 for 200, the third time (2007) they were $32 for 100, and now $36 for 100. Hasn't printing gotten cheaper with new technology? Of course one can get a lot of payments automated, and I have, but sometimes one does need to write a cheque. What's your experience with the cost of cheques, and have you found any workarounds?
The web has lots of check printers that are far cheaper than buying them through a bank.
posted by Ardiril 02 February | 14:28
They've probably bumped up the price since so few people use them these days. We go through a handful of checks a year.
posted by octothorpe 02 February | 14:31
You have to pay for cheques? They're free here, but are being phased out. A lot of places no longer accept payment by cheque. The last time I used a cheque was about 18 months ago, when I bought something from an old-timey store that didn't take cards. And that was the first one I'd used in at least a year or more. Hardly any European banking is done by cheque any more, it's mostly electronic.

posted by Senyar 02 February | 14:34
One of my most amazing discoveries about Fresno is that almost no doctors here accept credit card or debit card payments. They all insist on checks. Weird. Before arriving here, I could not recall the last check I wrote. Even the pissant Winder, GA water company took a debit card over the phone.
posted by Ardiril 02 February | 14:39
The last time I bought checks (which was about a month ago and I go through a box about every 2 years it seems like, but I pay everything by check except my credit card bill) the website said it would be $19 but all they took out of my bank account (since it was a company that was affilated with my bank) was $9.50. So maybe it won't be as much as you think!
posted by sperose 02 February | 14:54
We don't even actively pay for most stuff, we just setup automatic payments via the PNC Bank website and it all just goes on in the background.
posted by octothorpe 02 February | 14:58
I order from Checks in the Mail. My checks are pretty, and cheap. I need to use one to pay the plumber for the not-so-successful furnace repair.
posted by theora55 02 February | 16:26
We just bought checks from Checks in the Mail for $26 for a box of 100. They would have been cheaper but we get the kind that give you a duplicate.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero 02 February | 16:35
I still use checks to pay rent and utilities. The rent has no electronic-pay option. The utilities charge you extra to pay electronically. I noticed the price is going up, too, because I just had to re-order.
posted by Miko 02 February | 18:09
There are a lot of places online that you can buy checks through. If you can buy checks from Random Internet Companies, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to build your own if you wanted to. Ah, yes. There are computer programs that let you design and print checks from home. Presumably you should also be able to make them by hand, though people might raise an eyebrow or two.
posted by aniola 02 February | 20:56
I haven't used cheques much since the early 90s and I think the last I wrote was about 10 years back. Miko, I am surprised to hear that utilities charge you extra to pay electronically as here, since the mid nineties they charge extra not to (well not quite, they give a discount for paying electronically). I still have some cheques some place but I would be hard pressed to find them.
posted by arse_hat 03 February | 03:03
I stopped using checks the instant I learned of PayPal and that Chase allows you to send checks to make payments, too. They print them and mail them, and I haven't had one lost yet. For monthly stuff, I currently pay my parents (repaying a loan), my therapist, and my tax preparer.
posted by TrishaLynn 03 February | 06:41
Miko, I am surprised to hear that utilities charge you extra to pay electronically as here, since the mid nineties they charge extra not to

I don't know why - it's utterly idiotic. It goes through a third party, too.
posted by Miko 03 February | 09:14
Most banks and credit card companies in the US charge the payee for accepting credit and debit cards. I think it's fair to push that charge back on the person actually using the card (though a lot of companies charge way more than they're paying, of course). The whole system seems highly weird.
posted by occhiblu 03 February | 11:19
That's why I don't pay my mortgage electronically--there's a nearly $11 charge to do it. What I love is the little note on my mortgage coupon each month: Save Money on Stamps! Pay Electronically!

Um, stamps are still, what? 44 cents? (I last bought stamps when they first introduced the forever stamp. I won't run out till the end of the year).
posted by crush-onastick 03 February | 20:23
Beautiful Vermeer || This earbuggy Lisa Mitchell song has been stuck in my head since

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