Tips for Avoiding Bank Overdrafts
Posted: Friday, December 18, 2009
by Terry Mitchell
http://commenterry.blogs.com
There is no doubt about it – getting hit with a steep overdraft charge from your bank is the worst. Banks charge you anywhere from twenty to fifty dollars or more if you go over on a check, and sometimes it's just a simple mathematical error on your part that causes the overdraft. You may have plenty of money in your savings account, but just not have transferred enough to your checking account to cover your upcoming bills.
A lot of bank customers think this practice is unfair to their bank's loyal customers, and for the most part they're right – but since it would be difficult to live the rest of your life without having a checking or savings account, here are some things that you can do to avoid your banks overdraft charges.
If you have your checking and savings accounts at the same bank, as most people do, see if you can tie the two accounts together. Many banks offer this service so that if a customer does fall prey to what would normally be an overdraft, that the funds in their savings account can be automatically moved to their checking account to cover the lack of funds. In most cases there is no fee for this service, so as long as you normally keep a reasonable amount of money in your savings account, you shouldn't ever really have to worry about overdrafts again. If you have your checking and savings accounts at different banks, see if either bank offers this very valuable option and consider having both of your accounts open there.Times are tight for everyone financially; few people have enough extra money lying around to pay the bank a substantial fee every single time a simple mathematical error takes place. In an ideal world, all checking accounts would be free – by following either of the very simple methods above and adding a few tricks of your own, you can effectively eliminate outrageous charges that would occur as a result of overdrafts and thereby make your checking account as free as it should be.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Balance plus line on the checking acct has helped us out many times when the paycheck was a day later than the bills needing to be paid.... and it just pennies if you pay it off soon - not $20 like an overdraft charge. Good article... MarijoYep, Marijo, that's an excellent safeguard.
Very informative and good reminder for us. Good job Terry.
KuzekThank you, Kuzek. I'm glad you liked it.
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