Designing a Checkbook Cover
Sep. 20th, 2006 06:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebToday I decided I should make a checkbook cover because I keep track of my credit card purchases as well as my check purchases in my check register.
Here are my current design ideas. On one side will be a pocket in which to insert the back flap of the checks. On the other side will be pockets for the credit cards so that you can see each one peeking out the top. There is a trade-off between how many cards you can fit in and how much of each card you can see, so I still have some thinking about this. I used to want only one or two credit cards, but those days are over.
I want to include my credit union debit card, which I use to withdraw money from ATMs. And my credit union credit card which I use for emergencies because it has a low interest rate. And my rewards card which pays me back 5% for gas, grocery, and drugstore purchases and 1% for everything else in $50 increments. And my Handyman credit card, which was my first rewards card, paying me back 1% of my purchases in $25 increments. I was going to get rid of this card, but in just the nick of time they upped the percentage to 3% for items purchased from home improvement and home decor places (not including Target, though). So I'd like five slots. And I do keep an eye out for other credit cards because of these kinds of crazy deals, so maybe I should have one extra slot. Or two. Because I have this LLBean card which gives me free shipping. And my favorite co-op grocery store is introducing a card which I think will be like those donating cards--the store will get 2% of every one of my purchases or something.
I was thinking of having these credit card slots on the front of a pocket to hold my checkbook register. But that might make my checkbook holder deeper than I really want it to be. So now I'm thinking I might just hold the register in with a rubber band. Then there's the question of how to hold the register open to the page I'm at. Duh! Paper clips!
Then I was thinking that an elastic band to hold a pen might be nice. If it's on the inside, the checkbook cover might be a bit deep anyway.
The outside will be made of fabric from some dark green jeans that I really should get rid of because of the big holes in the extreme upper inner thigh. The pockets (and lining?) will be made of a coordinating lighter-weight fabric in a print of some kind.
After making this item, I'm hoping that it will take less time to put everything away at the register after I've paid. You have to wait until the very end before you can swipe the card or know what total to record, and then it's time to get out. So instead of trying to store my receipts and credit card in my wallet and my pen in my checkbook and stuffing them both back in my purse, this might be a little better.
**
I already make my own checkbook registers. It all started when I hijacked one of the columns to show how much money was coming into and going out of my "spending" budget. When my paycheck was deposited, I would enter the entire amount into the total column but only the amount I was allowed to spend for fun in the spending column. Things like rent and groceries would be subtracted only from the total column. Things like movies and pretty paper would be subtracted from both columns. When the spending column was down to zero, I knew I was done, even though there was still money in the account. If something really great came along at the wrong time of the month, I could even go negative, so long as the real total was enough to cover it. Then when I added the next month's budget to that negative number, I ended up with a lower starting point, just as I should.
I don't actually pay that much attention to my "spending" budget anymore. I just have a feeling about how much I can afford. I'm not sure that's the greatest idea, but there it is. Meanwhile, I now have one column for my checking account and one for each of my two rewards cards. On the back pages I use one column for my savings account and one for my money market account. With most of my transactions not involving checks, I run out of register before I run out of checks, so I've just started making my own custom registers. The hardest part is lining up the pages properly to staple them.
Here are my current design ideas. On one side will be a pocket in which to insert the back flap of the checks. On the other side will be pockets for the credit cards so that you can see each one peeking out the top. There is a trade-off between how many cards you can fit in and how much of each card you can see, so I still have some thinking about this. I used to want only one or two credit cards, but those days are over.
I want to include my credit union debit card, which I use to withdraw money from ATMs. And my credit union credit card which I use for emergencies because it has a low interest rate. And my rewards card which pays me back 5% for gas, grocery, and drugstore purchases and 1% for everything else in $50 increments. And my Handyman credit card, which was my first rewards card, paying me back 1% of my purchases in $25 increments. I was going to get rid of this card, but in just the nick of time they upped the percentage to 3% for items purchased from home improvement and home decor places (not including Target, though). So I'd like five slots. And I do keep an eye out for other credit cards because of these kinds of crazy deals, so maybe I should have one extra slot. Or two. Because I have this LLBean card which gives me free shipping. And my favorite co-op grocery store is introducing a card which I think will be like those donating cards--the store will get 2% of every one of my purchases or something.
I was thinking of having these credit card slots on the front of a pocket to hold my checkbook register. But that might make my checkbook holder deeper than I really want it to be. So now I'm thinking I might just hold the register in with a rubber band. Then there's the question of how to hold the register open to the page I'm at. Duh! Paper clips!
Then I was thinking that an elastic band to hold a pen might be nice. If it's on the inside, the checkbook cover might be a bit deep anyway.
The outside will be made of fabric from some dark green jeans that I really should get rid of because of the big holes in the extreme upper inner thigh. The pockets (and lining?) will be made of a coordinating lighter-weight fabric in a print of some kind.
After making this item, I'm hoping that it will take less time to put everything away at the register after I've paid. You have to wait until the very end before you can swipe the card or know what total to record, and then it's time to get out. So instead of trying to store my receipts and credit card in my wallet and my pen in my checkbook and stuffing them both back in my purse, this might be a little better.
**
I already make my own checkbook registers. It all started when I hijacked one of the columns to show how much money was coming into and going out of my "spending" budget. When my paycheck was deposited, I would enter the entire amount into the total column but only the amount I was allowed to spend for fun in the spending column. Things like rent and groceries would be subtracted only from the total column. Things like movies and pretty paper would be subtracted from both columns. When the spending column was down to zero, I knew I was done, even though there was still money in the account. If something really great came along at the wrong time of the month, I could even go negative, so long as the real total was enough to cover it. Then when I added the next month's budget to that negative number, I ended up with a lower starting point, just as I should.
I don't actually pay that much attention to my "spending" budget anymore. I just have a feeling about how much I can afford. I'm not sure that's the greatest idea, but there it is. Meanwhile, I now have one column for my checking account and one for each of my two rewards cards. On the back pages I use one column for my savings account and one for my money market account. With most of my transactions not involving checks, I run out of register before I run out of checks, so I've just started making my own custom registers. The hardest part is lining up the pages properly to staple them.