I never balance my checkbook but I always have a good idea of how much money is in my accounts. I use mint.com to keep track of all accounts. It's great for budgeting.
I second that for Mint.com, I enter things on a daily basis. We worked very hard a few years ago to become debt free (Exluding the Mortgage). we budget everything and now all the bills are paid for normally buy the 5th in the begging of the month. Budgetting is really the Key. without a budget do you really know where you money is going?