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Original poster

When was the last time you wrote a cheque? Did you know it would be your last?

131 replies

piintheski · 07/10/2023 20:09

I honestly can't remember when it was, and no I didn't know it would be my last. I do remember paying for childcare by cheque over 20 years ago, so I suppose one of those was my last. It became so difficult with the nursery being unable to predict when they would pay the cheques in that I switched to cash.

A spelling lesson with year 7s, the words "check" and "cheque" came up, and the puzzlement and confusion around the room when I tried to explain 😂

It made me realise for the first time that I haven't written a cheque in decades, and don't even know when I last owned a cheque book, or what happened to it.

I bet there are Mumsnetters who have never written a cheque!

OP posts:
Original poster
piintheski · 07/10/2023 20:12

Reminds me of the time I was acting as rent guarantor for my student daughter and asked her to post me the contract to sign.... she had no idea how, and I realised she had never posted a letter in her life ! And she was very unsure about the whole idea of leaving it in a round red metal box in the middle of the street and expecting it to reach me!

OP posts:
RaeHitsEbSire · 07/10/2023 20:13

A few weeks ago, to move some money to my husband's account. I'll be writing him another one shortly for some dental work he needs. I much prefer quickly writing a cheque to faffing around with security codes etc. online - takes half the time.

Frodedendron · 07/10/2023 20:15

I do still write them once in a while. I prefer bank transfer but my daughter's Rainbow unit only accepts cash or cheque subs so I wrote one then.

Ghastisflabbered · 07/10/2023 20:17

20 odd years ago? I think I paid for my uni housing deposit with a cheque…maybe.

My nan still posts cheques when she’s sending birthday money. Thank god Barclays lets you pay in cheques via the app else they’d never get cashed (although it’s still a ridiculous process) - I don’t even know where my local branch is anymore to pay it in in person.

MintJulia · 07/10/2023 20:17

Haircut 5 weeks ago. It won't be the last, the salon only takes cash, or cheques from regular customers. It cuts their costs.

ComtesseDeSpair · 07/10/2023 20:18

I was issued a chequebook when I opened up my first current account at 17/18 back in 2003/4. I don’t think I ever actually wrote a cheque from it and lost the book shortly after. Amazed at the previous poster who still writes them, I didn’t realise they still existed as a payment method!

CandyCaneLane0 · 07/10/2023 20:19

I'm 33 and have never written a cheque

Ragwort · 07/10/2023 20:19

I'm about to write one now, I want to make a charity donation, I can't give cash as the recipient is not local, I could use JustGiving but hate paying online and the fact that they take a %.

Autumnunmasks · 07/10/2023 20:19

Years and years ago. I can't imagine not getting to grips with on line banking, that's how people get left behind and isolated. Our chippy only takes cash which I find weird but oblige 😕

MichaelBurnhamFan · 07/10/2023 20:20

Maybe 8-10 years ago? For ages my dentist only took cash or cheque and it was well into the 2010s before he got a card machine.

Autumnunmasks · 07/10/2023 20:21

RaeHitsEbSire · 07/10/2023 20:13

A few weeks ago, to move some money to my husband's account. I'll be writing him another one shortly for some dental work he needs. I much prefer quickly writing a cheque to faffing around with security codes etc. online - takes half the time.

Can I ask how old you are? Just curious. Even my 90 year old mother uses electronic banking! I realise that's unusual but ...

Tequilamockinbird · 07/10/2023 20:21

I write at least 1 Cheque every month at work.

Ragwort · 07/10/2023 20:21

I love the faux naïvety (or maybe it's genuine Hmm) that cheques are no longer legal tender.

Watto1 · 07/10/2023 20:21

It was probably dd’s primary school as they only accepted cash or cheques for dinner money/trips and I never had the right amount of cash in the house. She’s 15 now so a few years ago. No idea where my chequebook is.

PermanentTemporary · 07/10/2023 20:22

Great thread! I don't remember either... probably something to do with a voluntary group i helped to run about eight years ago.

I remember my mum always preferring to write me cheques and let me pay bills online for her. The relief when I realised I could scan the cheque at home...

Original poster
piintheski · 07/10/2023 20:23

Ragwort · 07/10/2023 20:19

I'm about to write one now, I want to make a charity donation, I can't give cash as the recipient is not local, I could use JustGiving but hate paying online and the fact that they take a %.

quite incidental to the thread, but you can opt of letting justgiving take a percentage

OP posts:
Longwhiskers · 07/10/2023 20:23

Few years ago now. But recently I needed to get a new driving licence and was really puzzled about the DVLA’s demand for a cheque to pay the £19 fee. I talked it over with the person in the post office (as I didn’t have a cheque book anymore) and we settled on a…postal order! They still exist. So archaic sounding!

Ragwort · 07/10/2023 20:24

I agree *@RaeHitsEbSire - I loathe paying for things online, of course I can if I have to but it's such a faff .. and older people (like my 90 year old DM) are really left out of modern life as so much is expected to be 'online' these days.

Ratfinkstinkypink · 07/10/2023 20:24

A couple of weeks ago, I sent it off with some prize draw ticket stubs for the local hospice's raffle, there was no option to pay by card/bank transfer.

linziere · 07/10/2023 20:25

I remember my mum showing me how to write one and being excited for when I'd be a grown up and need to write cheques. Never happened!

Ragwort · 07/10/2023 20:26

@piintheski - that's interesting... but I would still prefer to wrote a cheque, a personal note and stick it in an envelope with an old fashioned stamp !

LividGas · 07/10/2023 20:27

Bought a leasehold house recently.

Ground rent £1.20 per annum.

Company wrote a very strongly worded letter saying pay them the annual fee immediately, by cheque or postal order.

Thinking it was a joke, I emailed and asked if they had bank details I could pay to as I hadn’t owned a chequebook for a decade.

They very sternly replied once again the options were cheque or postal order.

So I waited a fortnight for the bank to send me a chequebook, at which point I realised my stamps were unusable as they didn’t have barcodes on.

So I had to schlep to a post office with my cheque in an envelope and I’m still salty like it was 1992.

PuttingDownRoots · 07/10/2023 20:27

Earlier this year for a Scout camp.

We were amused it had my unmarried name on it (but correct account number on it). Been married 13 years!

RaeHitsEbSire · 07/10/2023 20:27

Autumnunmasks · 07/10/2023 20:21

Can I ask how old you are? Just curious. Even my 90 year old mother uses electronic banking! I realise that's unusual but ...

Show quote history

Nearly 50. I do use online banking, but it's quicker to write a cheque than: get out laptop, boot up laptop, put in password, put in one-time code they send to my phone, type in amount I want to pay, answer online questions to screen possible scams, close down laptop, put laptop away again.

Compared to scrawling in the appropriate places: "Mr RaeHitsEbSire" "One hundred pounds only" "£100.00" "7.10.2023" "RaehitsEbSire" which takes about 60 seconds, it's a no-brainer to save time.

Ragwort · 07/10/2023 20:28

@Longwhiskers thanks for that, I wondered if postal orders still existed .... I wanted to give a donation discreetly- no cheque with a signature so a PO would be a useful alternative.