A few years ago when I was a banker, a high school student came in looking for help. He was freaking out because he had overdrawn 
his account again and his dad was going to take away his car. "You have to help me!" he pleaded.
Oh, to be in high school again and have the threat of your car being taken away. People, listen: Of all things to have your car taken away for, banking trouble should not be one of them. You got this. Here's what you can do.
- Make sure you have overdraft protection set up. When you spend more than you have in your account and you have overdraft protection set up, money can be automatically transferred from your savings account or credit card to your checking account to cover whatever you bought. This transfer costs money but it's less than a full overdraft charge. But don't let it come to this. You still have to replenish your savings or pay off that charge to your credit card after the fact. Do what you can to prevent this from happening altogether.
- Play a little money mind game with yourself. For most of us, if there is money in the account, we're going to spend it, right? And if you only have $5 left in your account until Friday and you really want that Red Bull , you are going to justify the purchase. Here's what I used to do: When I opened my checking account with $100, I considered my account at zero. I pretended that $100 = $0. That way I always had an emergency cushion. When I say pretended, I mean it. That $100 in my checking account was invisible to me. Very rarely did I let myself go below the $100 and when I did, it was usually for something "really important: the day before payday.
- Set up a text message alert to send when you enter the danger zone. You can get a text you when your account gets down to a certain amount, whatever you designate.
- When in doubt, send a text to check your balance. This way there is no guessing or assuming and you know exactly where you stand.
- And of course, be sure you are logging in to online banking as often as you do Facebook. Knowing what's up will help you stay out of trouble, at least with your bank account.
#s 3 and 4 are excellent ideas. I'm not able to foll myself with games like #2, any more than I can fool myself by setting my alarm clock ahead ten minutes in the morning. However, a friend of mine gave me a really good idea when it comes to spending for luxuries: he said he never buys any luxury unless he can afford three of them. That keeps him well-cushioned against surprises.
Tracking your money is critical, and unless you write a lot of paper checks, it shouldn't be that hard to know what your current available balance is. If you're close to it, stop spending until you get more money: it's that simple. If you feel you *have* to go to that movie, borrow the money from a friend. Friends seldom charge overdraft fees or interest, but be absolutely sure you pay back that money as soon as your next check comes in.
I have combined with my girlfriend paid over $600 in overdraft fees in the last year. In most cases I had money in my account but Wells Fargo systemitically paid the charges so they could charge me for multiple items when if they had paid the most expensive I would of only paid 1 overdraft instead of 3 I am making a stand and adding my name to the current law suit being put forth against Wells Fargo for their unethical practices that steals from their customer base
Xander -- I’m sorry to hear you have had overdraft fees on your account. Overdraft fees can be avoided. Please contact Wells Fargo Phone Bank at 1-800-TO-WELLS (800-869-3557) or speak to your banker to discuss your concerns and for information about tools available to help you avoid overdraft fees in the future.
I've literally been overdraft scammed. With $55 in my checking account i was slapped overdraft fees for making one single $20 purchase?
Likewise, I'm in the same situation.
$85 in my savings account.
$6 in checking.
I thought that I had overdraft protection in place. Unfortunately I did not. So when I purchased a $3 latte, it reduced my account to $2 and change.
Of course, the problem arose when a $15 auto-debit occured that I had forgotten about completely.
Next thing I know I have $50 in overdraft fees. Both charges posted on the same day, regardless of the coffee being purchased several days beforehand.
Called the 800 number, where they basically told me, "Sorry, you're screwed. But how about we set up overdraft protection?"
This is 100% ridiculous. If I did not have the money in my account, why the hell did the charge go through?
Is there any way around this issue? It's absolutely ludicrous that this is legal.