Available balance
Your current balance minus pending charges, holds, and deposits that have not yet settled — the number closest to what you can actually spend.
Most banks show two balances on a checking account. The available balance is the one that reflects transactions still in flight: card purchases the merchant has authorized but not yet collected, deposits still processing, holds a bank has placed on your account.
A quick example. If the current balance reads $1,240 and there is a pending $92 grocery charge plus a pending $53 gas charge, the available balance is $1,095. That $1,095 is the figure the bank checks when deciding whether to approve the next purchase.
Available is closer to reality than current, but it still has blind spots. A check written last week that has not been cashed, an autopay scheduled for tomorrow, and a restaurant tip adjustment are all invisible to the bank until they land. Available shows what the bank knows is coming — not everything that is coming.
Plumb is financial education, not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice.