Monitor Financial Statements

Why

Monthly statement reviews are essential for catching fraud, errors, and unauthorized charges early. The sooner you identify problems, the easier they are to resolve. Regular reviews also help you understand your spending patterns and identify subscriptions or services you no longer need.

Action

• Review all bank account statements line by line.
• Check credit card statements for unfamiliar charges.
• Verify all automatic payments and subscriptions are correct.
• Look for small test charges that precede larger fraud.
• Confirm all deposits and payments cleared properly.
• Check for duplicate charges or billing errors.
• Verify interest rates haven’t changed unexpectedly.
• Report any discrepancies immediately to your financial institution.
• Download and save statements for your records.

Remember

Set a specific day each month for reviews, such as the 5th, to ensure consistency. Don’t wait for paper statements - review online as soon as they’re available.