Comments on: Avoid These Rookie Mistakes – Overdraft Fees

By: Steve in W MA

Steve in W MA — Sun, 02 May 2010 04:50:42 +0000

The most foolproof way is to have a monthly budget/spending plan that is based on the money you made *last month* and is already banked. Keep an index card with the available amount to spend for each budget category in your wallet, with a couple of extra cards stapled to it to record your spending as you go along so you can update your budget category totals, and refer to it rather than your checking account when making spending decisions. Do this and, assuming you keep accurate records of your spending and update your budget category totals, you will never, ever, overdraft your checking account. Plus you will find you make much more effective use of the money you do have, which is great.

By: B Simple

B Simple — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:37:18 +0000

Saints Fan. Nice post. Another tip to avoid those overdraft fees is to set up alerts on your account. This way you are notified you when your account reaches a set balance and you can avoid overdrafting your account.

By: TStrump

TStrump — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 03:42:18 +0000

Wow, those are some draconian bank charges.
In Canada, I only get charged $5/month and interest if I go into my overdraft.

By: Heather

Heather — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:41:18 +0000

My credit union gave me $800 of free overdraft protection which they treat like another line of credit and charge something like 3% interest (way better than a big fee per incident). I can’t tell you how nice it is to not have to worry about getting a little overdrawn- especially since there is no interest charged for the first month. Of course I keep up with my balances and all that, but the “just in case” factor is really a load off my mind.

By: Moneymonk

Moneymonk — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:19:55 +0000

Why would the debit card be approved if money was not in it?
Another tactic by banks