I stink at balancing a check book too. But that's another thing altogether.
Get Dave Ramsey's book, "The Total Money Makeover" or "Financial Peace." You can get them on half.com or ebay, or Amazon or at the library!!!
He explains how to handle finances better than anyone I've ever heard, and I've read quite a few books on finances! No one makes as much sense as Dave does.
He also has a website
http://www.daveramsey.com
Good luck!
-Jean