If you try to withdraw more from your bank account than what is in it, you will face an overdraft fee. As of this writing, the average amount banks charge for overdraft fees is $34. So, if you have multiple or frequent overdrafts, it can be costly and make it harder to reach your financial goals.

Additionally, a history of repeated overdrafts may cause your financial institution to stop doing business with you and will make it harder to establish a banking relationship elsewhere, leaving you unbanked. Let’s look at how to avoid overdraft fees.

Check Your Balance Frequently

With online and app-based banking, it’s easier than ever to keep track of your bank account balance. Checking your balance frequently will help you avoid overdraft fees and quickly alert you to any fraud or unauthorized charges on your account.

Set Up Overdraft Protection

If you have more than one account at a financial institution, like checking and savings accounts or a checking account and a credit card, you may be able to link those accounts to avoid overdrafts. If your bank offers this service, sign up for overdraft protection and choose which accounts you would like to link. In the event of an overdraft, the bank would transfer funds from the linked account to cover the cost of the transaction and avoid an overdraft fee. There may be a small charge for this service, but it’s much less than an overdraft fee.

Keep Track of Automatic Debits

You may check your account balance and think you’re in good shape until payday, until you remember all those direct debits you’ve set up for streaming memberships or other services. Mark your calendar so you know when those are scheduled to hit your account and be sure there’s enough in your account to cover them.

Sign Up for Low-Balance Alerts

Take advantage of all the tools your financial institution offers to keep track of your money. Most allow you to sign up to receive emails and text messages when your account balance dips below a certain amount that you specify. That way you’ll know when you’re in the danger zone for potential overdrafts and you can make a deposit or transfer funds to bump up your balance.

Try a Prepaid Debit Card

If you find yourself with frequent overdrafts, consider using a prepaid debit card, rather than a debit card attached to your checking account. You can deposit, withdraw, and spend money, but once you exhaust the funds on the card, you can’t keep spending, so there won’t be any overdrafts.

A prepaid debit card is a good solution for people who have unpredictable income, like gig workers, or anyone else who may not enjoy the consistency of receiving regular direct deposits.