While I usually prefer to pay with credit card, on occasion I still have the need to use checks. Over the last 10 years though, 5 of those checks have been lost without being cashed yet (2 I handed directly to people and 3 disappeared in the USPS mail). Comes out to just over $1100 worth of checks floating around out there somewhere uncashed. The bank claims checks are good forever, that I need to be prepared to cover them, and a stop order not only costs $20, but only lasts for a year! Do I have to close my checking account and open a new one to avoid having to keep a spare $1000+ in checking just in case those old supposedly lost checks resurface and get cashed?