Subscribe to this BlogFive ways you can avoid overdraft fees now
The Fed announced Thursday new rules that prohibit banks from automatically enrolling customers in overdraft protection programs that charge fees when customers spend on a debit card or withdraw from an ATM more money they have in their checking account. The move comes in response to consumer outrage at the fees, which can amount to more than $30 for an overdraft of a few bucks. The new rules, which cover only ATM and debit card (and not checking) overdraft protection plans, don't go into effect until July 2010, but here are five ways you can protect yourself now:
1. Keep a buffer in your checking account. Keep an extra cash cushion in your account at all times so you won't overdraw your account for an emergency expense or if you incorrectly calculate your balance.
2. Sign up for automatic low balance alerts. If you request it, most banks will alert you via either e-mail or text message, that your balance has fallen below a certain level. Once you get that alert hold off on additional purchases or withdrawals until you've got more money in your account.
3. Link to your checking account to a savings account. Once you've established a link, your bank will withdraw funds from the savings account to cover the overdraft. This service customarily costs $5 to $10 per transaction, so while it's not free, it certainly beats a $35 overdraft fee.
4. Consider cash. Check your balance before hitting up the ATM, and only withdrawal what's available. Yes, it may seem obvious, but it's still a surefire method of avoiding overdraft fees.
5. Opt out. While the new regulations will require consumers to opt in, most banks will let you opt out now. You just have to call and ask. But remember, once you've opted out of overdraft protection, your card will be rejected if you try to spend more than you have.
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I, for one, am a part time employee at a state hospital and a full time student, so to say that I probably don't make very much is an understatement.I recently had some extra money and decided to go ahead and pay off my electric bill. I opted for account draft instead of instant payment with my bank card for "just in case". The e-mail i received from the electric company said it would take five business days for it to be withdrawn, so I think I'm fine. I was paid YESTERDAY and I get online tonight to purchase christmas presents and check my account and to my surprise, my ENTIRE measly paycheck off $300.00 is GONE and I owe the bank $157.00. The electric company withdrew the payment the day before i got paid which is what sent me into overdraft. Not only is this NOT MY FAULT, it is completely unfair. there were two purchases over $20 and the rest were under $10.I don't know what to do as I have no money whatsoever to cover this or pay it back. So because of one companies mistake, I am now completely screwed. I have to return all christmas presents tomorrow, sell the very few things I have of value, and I mean VERY FEW, and that's just to pay the fees off. What will I live on for the next two weeks?It is not because I am stupid and it is not because I am irresponsible.It is because someone, somewhere made a mistake and now I have to pay for it. Companies only care about what they have and what they get and care nothing about the "little people".A company says it will be five business days before the money is withdrawn, they remove it in two.I know owe a bank, who was recently bailed out, money I don't have and I'm going to have to sell what small things I have just to make it until next payday. Do I have a minute idea as to what to do, no, except go to the bank and grovel.But according to most of the people on here, I'm just some low class, uneducated piece of trash that spends my money on bonbons all day and cannot do simple math. I think the thing a lot of you need to ask yourself is "when did my horse get so high?"
You can use all the common sense and responsibility you like. But when the opportunity is open they'll figure out a way to steal from you. Example:
"Tricks of the Trade"
Paid my Discover Card once a month charging $14.13 each month. Thought I could save them and myself a stamp with online payments. Process went though but late on their part and now carried a balance with a .50 cent finace charge every month and minum $15 dollar deduction every month. I called asking why am I being charged a .50 cent late charge? "It's not a late charge sir. It's a finance charge for carrying a balance." Why is there a balance I asked. "Because you missed a payment." But I didn't miss a payment. You guys screwed up setting up the online payment process even though you said I filled it out correctly. " No sir. It shows you missed a payment." Okay. Why is it I only charge $14.13 a month and you take $15 dollars. Where is the extra .87 cents going. " It's coming out of your balance sir." I shouldn't have a balance because I have never MISSED A PAYMENT!
No matter the amount, I don't deal with financial thieves. Those who control your money are only looking for loop holes to steal it. Cash and Carry.
I agree with Tom of Camp Pendleton-same thing happened to me and I wound up with 4 overdrafts after an out of sequence debit- Skip the banks and go to credit unions!
To Ron of Fort Worth: I used to think that; but even though it showed a balnce when checked online, B of A took the largest debit (out of sequence) in order to be able to charge me for 4 overdrafts instead of 1. This is typical, and is why the new law was passed. The banks are unethical, to say the least. They are making billions off this. Wake up, Ron!
You don't have to be an idiot to overdraw your account. Recently I canceled all major automatic withdrawals from my checking account due to one more EFT in excess of what was correct. I received a letter in the mail from my mortgage holder, one of the largest banks in the world, confirming that they would no longer execute EFTs on my account. A week later they transferred $3200 from my account nonetheless even though I was several months ahead in paying my $2200 mortgage and had canceled EFTs. Unfortunately my balance at the time was only $1000 but my bank honors the transfer anyway and charges me an NSF fee! Then some remaining small automatic transfers hit such as water bill, email account, etc., each triggering an NSF fee.
I had to place a stop order on the mega-bank and the following month they tried to make another $3200 transfer. The mortgage bank now says they've really stopped EFTs this time but I'll see next month. So the idiocy is not only on the part of the account owner. And I also question the sanity of a small town bank which permitted me to overdraft my account by >$2000 caused by the errant mega-bank EFT.
It's easy, OPT OUT, pull your money out of the bank, get a safe if you have enough money to mandate it, and pay your bills either in cash, or via money order. A 50 cent money order will pay something a check would, without worrying about overdrafts. Live within your means, and don't buy stupid crap when you can't afford it. If you go out to eat, take CASH with you..if you don't have cash, don't go out to eat. It's really freaking simple. The banks can't make any money, if we all just go down, close our accounts, and take responsibility for our financial health. We shouldn't blame the banks for making money off the poor, that's what they have done for ages! We should avoid bank fees, overdrafts, etc… by simply removing ourselves from their control grid. If you have your money in hand, or in your wallet, then the banks can't steal it.
I worked for a small medical clinic at one time and my paycheck actually bounced AFTER I had paid out all my bills for the week. This resulted in 6 overdraft fees of $35 a piece. No fault of my own but I never did get reimbursed from the bank.
How about this novel idea, pay ATTENTION wo what you have in your account. Be a responsible person, and you won't have to worry about overdraft fees! Simple, isn't it?
6. Use a charge card (not a credit card) such as American Express, Diners Club or Carte Blanche whenever possible. They allow you to better manage cash flow.
7. Never allow a business to automatically draft payments from your checking account. Instead, initiate automated transfers yourself.
you people that are blaming the people for "bouncing" don't have a clue to whats going on. Here's an ex: One time I was charged a 30.00 fee for overdrawing. here's the problem the money that was sent to abc corp. was never sent. in other words the bank withdrew the funds, bounced my acc. charge 30.00 and three days later when I contacted abc corp. they still didn't have the money. What a shell game. So where was my money? who had it? was it lost in cyber space? these are questions the bank didn't want to answer either! Geuss what they refunded my 30.00! The money had never really left the bank. Multiply this shell game being played by maybe millions of people and you'll see one reason consumers don't have the money to stimulated the economy right now!
My poor college student son was charged a $1.00 when he used the ATM to check his balnace before withdrawing. He had had problems with overdraft fees in the past as the bank didn't transfer the noney from my acct to his at the same time on a weekly basis. The $1.00 fee from checking his balance overdrew his account and cost him another $30.00 fee. The ATMs should say " You are overdrawn, this transaction will result in a $30.00 fee, do you want to proceed?" In an emergency you may have to but most times you don't.
Banks are "for profit". If you're at the point where you are over-drafting, you're not really doing the bank any favours either, so you shouldn't complain about a bank's rules. Anyway, people who have this problem really have no one to blame but themselves. Know what you have in your bank account, and know what automatic withdrawals are coming up, what the hold time on your deposits are. This is common sense. If you have the internet, then log in to your bank account and check.
That being said, I agree with users regarding credit cards. Get one, and pay it off on time. You might even get some rewards points.
Fees are 100% driven by the way the acct is handled except in the case of fraud. With all the technology to help you keep track of your balance only a true idiot overdraws an account and pretends not to know it and then blames the bank for it. If the money isn't there…don't make the purchase. I thought my deposit was there is not a reason to overdraw an acct. Sometimes I think you should have to be tested to have a checking acct…
Who wants a free loan poster below. Reject the god dam check for nothing. Computers are doing the job so why is there a fee? Let the place of business charge for the extra work entailed. 33.00 charge for a 12.00 check when the person has NO MONEY in their checking account is insane.
Hey a-holes who think everyone is a freeloading loser – those fees that are given to the people at the bottom of the ladder are used to give perks to those at the upper end of the ladder. Do you think those FREE POINTS fall off trees? It is just another way to oppress the lower income individuals because they have no real voice being poor. So WHAT if people down here watch CABLE TV? Good lord there are like 3 stations to watch without cable.
You people have a lot of nerve putting down people who are right next to 0 most of the time. Exceptions are those who live large on a minimum wage. I mean a brand new car, an apartment on the good side town, HOW DARE THEY WANT TO TAKE A VACATION, BUY THEIR KIDS NICE CLOTHES. ::rolls eyes::
And then I look at the goverment federal deficit and national debt and think it's all the same.
When they do away with "overdraft protection" – then your debit card WILL NOT work. I would rather have OD protection in case I get stranded somewhere when I need something. I will gladly pay $35 extra if it's an emergency. But if you don't have overdraft protection, if you have a low balance, your card WON'T WORK. And many gas pumps even make sure you have at least $50 available.
This overdraft business needs to be reigned in. I once made a mistake with my balance (admit it…it happens to the best of us), and by the time I learned of this, 6 days after the mistake, I had $300 in charges. I called the bank, and they said as a "courtesy" they covered one NSF payment that sent me into overdraft. I hardly think my paying hundreds of dollars for a "courtesy" that I didn't think existed until that moment was riduculous. I got them to remove me from that overdraft protection, but they were hesitant to do so…they hope you will make that mistake again and be one of the folks who contributes to the billions of dollars the banks make for extending you such a "courtesy".
Some banks, like Bank of America won't even allow you to see your pending purchases like most banks do.
BoA allows you to do exactly this:
"See your pending transactions, including ATM visits, Check Card purchases, and direct deposits."
http://www.bankofamerica.com/onlinebanking/index.cfm?template=what_you_can_do#check
Furthermore BoA also provides the following services:
"Monitor your account activity with free alerts delivered via e-mail or text message to your cell phone or mobile device.
Have your available balance emailed to you daily.
Be notified of suspicious card activity.
Set an Alert to know when a check has cleared, or choose from dozens of other options.
Automatically receive Alerts that notify you about important Online Banking activities and changes to your accounts – like updates made to your contact information or Passcode – or customize the exact mix of Alerts you'd like to receive."
Seriously people there is no reason to be overdrawing your accounts.
My teenage daughter started her first checking acct and knowing she would only be working part-time I requested that her accts be linked to mine in the event of an overdraft. Well, the bank did not link her accts to mine and she overdrafted her acct by $9.95 and the bank refused to take off the fees as a one time customer courtesy and I refuse to pay for the banks mistake. The fees have reached 300.00 so far and the bank charged her $15.00 to transfer $0.13 from her savings then added $0.03 to her savings acct
and charged another $15.00. Banks are a bunch of cut throat pirates!!!!!!
I think we should go cash only and leave the banks out like the people did after the 29 bust, use the tincan to keep cash in, this is the only way to keep the banks from robbing you.
Ok. How about this. The news has had covered many times that banks prey on making those overdraft fees and make millions because of it. The are honest people who make mistakes or the banks play little games that force you into overdraft even when you do balance your checkbook. Some banks, like Bank of America won't even allow you to see your pending purchases like most banks do. And they do it on purpose so you will end up in overdraft. How about this scenario: I opened an account with Bank of American and deposited a large amount of money. The manager of the bank, who didn't seem to know what he was doing. Gives me my account number. Then I asked him for my routing number so I could register online to pay my bills and other cards. At the time I used to travel for work and pay my cards off prior to my trip so I would have them while out of town for work. I went online with the information given from the manager and paid my cards off and everything seemed fine. The morning of my trip I go to check to make sure everything is good with my cards and all of them came back in the negative. I call Bank of America and the guy doesn't answer the phone. I emailed the guy. He says to take it up with customer service. Mind you I have to fly in six hours. I finally go down to the bank and confront him. I have never received such horrible customer service then with Bank of America. Come to find out, the manager gave me the wrong routing number. I received $400 in overdraft just from them alone. Not to include the ones with my credit cards and the fact that it red alerted all my credit cards which I was in perfect standing with. The manager refused to do anything about it and it took me months to get it straightened out with my cards trying to explain what happened. I went all the way to the President of BOA and they would not admit to making error because the manager wouldn't. All he had to say was "sorry I made a mistake" and fix it. That was it! With HSBC I know that would have been resolved the minute I reported it. Banks do many deceitful things to make themselves extra money. I am not saying they did so in this case. But it's ridiculous. They know what they are doing with overdraft fees and whatever else is out there and they do it to make money. Yes there are people out there that abuse it. But there are a lot of people who do keep track and somehow it still happens.
Right now, this instant, reduce your check register balance by $200. If you don't have enough in your account to do this, you are already at risk.
Record EVERY check, debit, ATM transaction, etc. WHEN THE TRANSACTION IS MADE and BALANCE your account AT THE SAME TIME. Get a cheap calculator (solar powered).
If you use auto-pay, reduce your register balance by the average of your monthly auto-pay amounts. Check the auto-pay bills to be sure when the withdrawal is going to be made. They have to tell you in advance how much and when the payment will be taken from your account.
My husband and I have found a way to avoid bank overdrafts entirely. We moved all of our money from the corrupt banking system into the , for service not profit, credit unions. It has been so nice not getting nickel and dimed to death by bank "fees".
yeah this is all great. I work in a banking call center. The best way that you can avoid an overdraft fee is to know how much money you have. It is called a check register. We are way to dependant on technology and think the bank is always going to know if we have enough money. well if it is our money I think we should be the ones to know exactly how much of it we have and don't have. Seems rediculouse to go buy from the McD's dollar menu when that sandwich is going to end up costing you $25.00 or more. So bottom line is know how much money you have.
You know what annoys me about banks? Is that they'll deduct a purchase from your account right away but take 3-5 business days to put refunds back into your account. Does anyone have an explanation for that? If the store can charge my account right away for a purchase why does it take so long to see a $5 refund in my account? How convenient.
I agree with what some of you all are saying, but I keep track of my acount weekly, due to making sure that someone is deducting money they shouldn't. I had a Electric and Gas company deduct from my account 5 days before they were suppose to and sent me into overdraft. and that cost me 225.00 of overdraft fees. So it doesn't have to always be someone who just doesn't keep up with their account or spend money they don't have.
Automatic overdraft is/has always been dangerous. If a thief starts draining your checking account, the automatic overdraft will enable the thief to also drain your savings account. Plus, your bank will gladly charge you fees. You may eventually get your money back, or you may not.
The best thing to do is to just say "NO !" to automatic overdraft. It's too dangerous.
How about this —
STOP BUYING CRAP
I am amazed when I see how much money people waste — processed food & garbage from the supermarket, fast food, dunkin donuts, new clothes every day because they are 'too busy' to do laundry.
And if you have a check register or excel equivalent you should enter each time you swipe your card, write a check, take money from ATM. With everyone owning both an Iphone & Blackberry there must be an 'APP' for this right??
Overdrafts are due 100% to personal irresponsibility & laziness.
The bank should just close the bank account after the 2nd or 3rd occurance.
There is only one way to avoid overdraft fees: don't overdraw your account. The article might be more properly titled "Ways to Warn You if in Danger of Overdrawing Your Account".
It's funny — they make a rule to not allow automatic enrollment in a plan to protect you should you overdraft, when the complaints were mostly about the fees charged for overdrafting (supposedly because they didn't have the overdraft plan). wow
–George
"Don't spend money that you do not have."
–Diana
"Why would anyone overdraw their accounts. Don't you know what you have available in your accounts before you buy something or write a check."
I agree, Seems reasonable to me. Yes overdraft fees are high, but consumers should be responsible enough to know what they have in their account before they spend it. Check your balance every day or as often as needed to have a good idea of what you have in there. If you know you're low, then just don't spend anymore until you can afford it.
Its YOUR money so there should be no excuse to "unknowingly" over draft your account because you didn't know how much you had.
I'll just remind some of the insulting commentators here that many services require or at least request a credit card number and can charge it at any time without notice. People without credit cards will be having these somewhat random charges coming out of their checking account through their debit card.
Still, most services will let you disable automatic charging so you can choose to pay only when you DO have money in your account.
But by far the easiest solution is to use a credit card for everything, and pay it off (IN FULL) every single month.
@Anne, Rochester – the reason your deposit was held is because you made it through an ATM. I understand you probably had to make the deposit at a time when the branch wasn't open, but keep in mind, that ATM deposits don't exist until they are picked up and processed by a human being. Cash deposits don't count at an ATM. I know, I work for a bank and have serviced ATMs in the past. I'm sorry you had that experience 
To everyone else – there is no such thing as a hidden fee. Banks are required to disclose everything to you in writing at account opening and at least once a year – so read the fine print so you can make sure that you are playing by the same rules as your bank.
And people STILL think I'm crazy for paying only with cash or money orders. The bank won't allow me to take out more cash than I actually have, and with the money orders the money is already gone. No worrying about what checks and charges are floating around in cyber no man's land.
Have you ever heard of a free loan…probably not, so why should the bank give you one? If you're not responsible or intelligent enough to learn the ins and outs of a simple checking account please get yourself fixed.
Why dont banks just come to my home and take my check book when i go in the negative or could they just slap the pen out of my hand when i try to write a check without funds to cover it in my account. i thought they were a full service bank.
why dont banks just give me money to use until payday. I dont know why they keep charging me. My bank tells me that i should be able to do basic math to avoid NSF fees but it is hard I mean it i have 20 dollar does that mean i can spend 21 dollar or will i get a fee. This stuff is hard.
Why would anyone overdraw their accounts. Don't you know what you have available in your accounts before you buy something or write a check.
Consider a credit union account. Some offer no overdraft accounts. I guess that is the same of opting out but I'm more leary of banks and thier hidden fees.
Why not just get a line of credit and tie it to your checking account. You basically can't get any overdraft charges at that point. Anything over your balance would just hit the overdraft. Pretty simple really. Much better solution than any of the 5 tips offered by the author here.
$35 per overdraft fee is too high. Give me a break. I think maybe $10 would be more appropriate. Yes, OF COURSE ideally no one would be overdrawn, but sorry, sometimes I have to buy gas to get to work, or food because I haven't eaten. If I made enough money to pay all the basic bills, this wouldn't be an issue.
It happens. I once found an error, made a CASH deposit at the ATM to cover the error. The transactions I was trying to cover came in 30 hours later, each $15 or less, each costing me $32 in "Courtesy pay" fees. The bank held my CASH deposit for 48 hours. They would not go by real-time for the deposit, even though they say they are a real-time bank. I understand a hold on a check deposit, but this was cash. It cost me over $300 in fees. They were kind enough to look at my viewpoint and refund two of the charges…wow!!! $64 they gave back!!
1st- If my account is overdrawn by 0.01 there will be a overdrawn fee of 34 dollars. Need i say more
I agree with other comments here…there is only one rule:
Keep enough money in your account to cover your expenses.
I don't care that the bank processed the bigger check first to make you overdraw 5 smaller payments…you should have had the money in your account for all the purchases.
I also don't care that the bank took four days to credit your account with a deposit you made. You should be aware how long it takes and know that you wont have that money for 4 days. And if there is a bill due before it gets deposited and it causes an overdraft you didn't follow the one rule.
Umm, maybe I'm the only one like this making comments but why wouldn't someone want overdraft protection. I would rather them charge me the 30.00 and pay the thing than for it to bounce and then you still owe whoever you wrote the check to an additional fee. I don't know, call me crazy but I don't have a problem with overdraft protection.
I agree with Dan from Utah. There are so many ways to check your balance, ATM before you withdraw, online check register, phone, that I one has to wonder if is possible to regulate irresponsibility? These folks have to take responsibility for their actions and maybe the fees are appropriate? I will give them a one time "I goofed" but repeated offenses are irresponsible and they should pay. No excuse whatsoever for having repeated overdrafts especially in todays information technology world. Bottom line, check account before purchasing, if you do not have the money then put the card away, real simple.
I would much rather have my card denied than get stung with fees. I keep an electronic record and generally know what I have available, but occasionally a long-lost relative will cash a check I'd forgotten about, or the online account value is wrong because of transactions pending in the ether… If you're not expecting a problem the error compounds as the fees bring you overdrawn further. A denial at the point-of-sale is an easy wake-up call that all is not well. I do have an overdraft protection thing, and haven't used it in years, but I also have been caught out in the past and I know I would have prefered the payment was not allowed.
It baffles me that this has elevated to the point of garnering Congressional attention. Are these fees too high? Sure. Are they unfair? Probably. But IT IS IN EVERY SINGLE PERSONS CONTROL TO AVOID THESE FEES. It's not surprising that these are likely the same people who are buried in debt from buying what they cannot afford. Here's an idea: why not RAISE the fees. Make it $300 a pop. Maybe that would teach consumers to TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THEIR OWN FINANCES for crying out loud.
Tough love, I say.
There are a number of ways to combat the fees:
1. Have your bank set up a cash reserve account for your checking or debit account with a set amount you can "borrow" from. When I had a mortgage payment (my house is now paid off…yeah!), I had the amount of my payment and some extra allocated to the reserve account. Most banks only charge a small fee to utilize the reserve account funds, and you can have your account set up so that a certain amount each month is used to pay back the reserve account.
2. DON'T USE A DEBIT CARD!!!! Sounds so easy…but instead of using a debit card, either charge the amount (and pay it off at the end of the billing cycle), or use a check. If you use a debit card, the amount is deducted at that moment…you have no time to "correct" the overdraft. By using a credit card, or writing a check, you have time to make it to the ATM or go online and transfer the funds in order to cover the overage. The banks WANT you to use the debit card…they make lots and lots of money off of overdraft fees.
3. If you transfer money from your Savings Account online or at the ATM, BEWARE!!! There's a little know "Regulation D" that can come back to haunt you if you make too many withdrawls or transfers either online or at the ATM. My bank has a limit of six…and those six include ANY automatic withdrawls you have coming from your savings account. Those include automatic payments for car loans, credit cards, mortgages, utilities, etc. I found out the hard way. Twice in the past few years, my bank has sent me a terse letter stating that IF I withdraw more than six times in a month from my savings account, the bank/fed bank can put a lock on my savings account.
For more info on this, go to this website for an "explanation" of sorts:
http://www.bankersonline.com/tools/regdlimits_chart.html
4. Last, but not least…Just use common sense, and avoid treating your Debit and ATM accounts like free money. It's not. Most overdrafts by most people are just simply due to reckless spending.
Just some ideas on how to combat the overdraft fees.
When refering to "5. Opt out. While the new regulations will require consumers to opt in, most banks will let you opt out now. You just have to call and ask. But remember, once you’ve opted out of overdraft protection, your card will be rejected if you try to spend more than you have." this is not the case with bank of America, I opted out of the overdraft protection due to their fees for using it. I had gone over my account 5 times, because they allow the debit/visa card to go through whether you have money or not in your account, then they charge $35 fee for each transaction that goes through after your zero balance.
I know its my fault for not keeping track of my balance, but I thought like you said, they would not allow me to make a purchase when there is no money in the account
been working in a bank since 06 and I have to agree with the above poster. Use credit cards and pay them off every month, helps your credit, doesn't give you OD fees, and best of all interest are low in a lot of banks right now. Of course you still need to make sure you don't spend more than you can afford
I opened a new account and linked the wrong one when making a payment and over drew. I've been a customer for 15 years with a good history. It's asinine when a bank charges you a fee and doesn't cover the charge. I terminated my services with them.
It ain't rocket science. This we know. But when ones monthly bills exceed ones monthly income it's difficult to balance. Remember there are a lot of people without work along with people who have taken severe pay cuts to continue working. Often times in this case debt grows while ones pay drops and accounts become unmanageable. It's a vicious cycle.
In The Netherlands your bank gives the option to never fall below zero. The ATM won't give you any money and you won't be able to spend money with your debit card, so there is never a fee.
If people make other arrangements it usually means they have to pay interest over an overdraft.
My (small regional) bank offers an overdraft "line of credit" with a small number of free transfers both ways, charging only interest if I borrow from it. It has saved me more than once when deposits didn't make it in time, and it's worth the few pennies of interest I have occasionally run up.
Why is this so complicated? Am I the only one that keeps a checking account register (electronically for 15 years now, and paper for 20 years before that) so I know exactly what my balance is at all times? If I'm getting low, I move some money or delay a purchase until I can cover it. It ain't rocket science.
You forgot one way to avoid fees. DON'T OVER DRAW YOUR AACCOUNT. Balance your checkbook and keep track of what you have.
Linking to a savings account for coverage is a good idea but the recommendation needs to go one step further. If you have a "sizable" savings account, you should open a small savings account to be linked to your checking account. Otherwise, your "sizable" savings account could be at risk if your checking account is compromised!
Only need one rule–keep track of how much you have in your account, and don't write checks for more than that.
Don't use a debit card…..why do you think the banksters invented them. They invented them so that at some point some people would have a pretty good shot at overdrafting their accounts and then the loan shark fee kicks in. Also you can't stop payment on a product or service using a debit card…..that's why disreputable merchants love them so much.
Use a credit card and pay it off each month. No Risk, No Interest, No Brainer
To Tristen in Knoxville, TN, I think we are in the same class, so I can relate to what you have been through. Just so you know for the next time, when you set up those automatic payments, they usually take about two days to clear your account. That letter did not say it will take five days, it said it will take up to five days, meaning from the time you set up the payment until then. At any rate, you can take the letter to the company or bank as proof if that is what it really says and ask for a refund for those overdraft fees.