 Trust your banking app your balance could be lying to you. Here's how some transactions like credit card payments Don't show up immediately and some pending transactions like restaurant tabs increase before they become final It's also easy to forget when certain recurring charges are scheduled and all of this could lead to Overdrafts return item fees or embarrassing card declines if your balance drops too low solution Go old school and keep some kind of physical checkbook or register or use an app where you can put in all your transactions manually