how do you think people kept track of how much money was in their account on any given day?

People historically kept track of how much money they had in their accounts through meticulous record-keeping methods such as ledgers, checkbooks, and tally sticks. Before modern banking and digital systems, individuals often reconciled their spending and deposits by carefully maintaining these personal records daily. Businesses and banks used journals and ledgers to record transactions, and in earlier times, tally sticks—a physical system of splitting notched sticks to represent debts and payments—were used for tracking money owed and paid. Additionally, people would keep receipts or written notes of their transactions to help monitor their balances on any given day. This careful manual tracking was essential for ensuring they knew their available funds and avoided overdrafts or miscalculations.