by Daniel Xiao Wang

Created on: January 01, 2009   Last Updated: June 09, 2010

Bank fees can easily and quickly cost you a great deal of money. As interest rates drop and banks are able to make less and less money through the overnight rate and lending, bank fee revenue becomes an important source of income.

Overdraft fees make up a substantial share of a bank's fee revenue. With fee revenue so important to banks right now if you are hit with an overdraft fee don't expect the bank to be too quick in agreeing to refund this to you either.

When you overdraft your checking account it will cost you. The average checking account overdraft fee is around $30-$35. For many people this is a substantial, unaffordable expense. Fortunately there are things that you can do to avoid overdrafting your checking account and incurring a fee.

The most obvious way to avoid an overdraft to your checking account is to have money in your account. An overdraft occurs when the funds in your account are not sufficient to cover a draw on your account. By keeping sufficient funds in your account you can avoid this.

An often overlooked element of ensuring that there are always sufficient funds in your account is proper record keeping. Too often problems stem from the fact that a check register has not been properly maintained. A check register is your best tool to avoid an overdraft.

Remember to record every transaction in your record book and verify your records against the bank's records. Keep your balance up to date! Also don't forget to record every debit card transaction and any direct bill payments.

Another thing people often forget to record that can lead to an overdrawn account is bank fees. If you are in an account that has a fee don't forget to record it on the date that it is supposed to come out. If your account has a fee it may be a good idea to talk to an account representative about changing to another account.

Having a lot of automatic payments and automatic draws from your account can make your life easier and more convenient, but it can also make it very difficult to balance your checkbook. If overdrawing your checking account is a problem you may want to avoid auto debits altogether.

Online banking can allow you to look at you bank account information at almost anytime. Using online banking can help you keep your check register balanced and keep track of deposits and withdrawals from your account.

Banks may rely upon fee revenue like overdraft fees, but that does not mean that you have to pay them. Follow these guidelines to help keep from having an overdraft on your checking account.

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