In an era where it is easy to rely upon a debit card for a plethora of small monetary transactions, it is equally easy to fall into traps that can hurt you financially.

According to an online article published by the Detroit Free Press, one of the most important ways to “get out from behind the eight ball” monetarily is to avoid overdraft fees.

Credit unions and banks don’t always make it simple to avoid overdraft fees. In 2010, a federal law was passed requiring financial institutions to get your permission prior to charging an insufficient fund fee (NSF).

Essentially, when you open a new bank account, you are now provided with an array of paperwork which now includes—thanks to this law—the opportunity to “opt-in” to an overdraft protection program.

Truth be told, most consumers bow to pressure—thinking this protection is a good thing—and find that it is very difficult to avoid overdraft fees thereafter. When an account-holder opts-in like this, he or she is giving the bank permission to cover transactions that take their account below zero rather than just rejecting the charge.

It is especially difficult to avoid overdraft fees if you don’t carry cash and fail to check the internet record of your bank or credit union’s transactions religiously. For example, it would be very easy to assume when a direct deposit is expected that the funds have indeed have come in and are available.

What if that is not the case? You operate on assumption and use your debit card for an Uber ride for $12, buy a latte for $5, and pick up $20 in dry-cleaning. If your direct deposit wasn’t made as expected and your account already had a low balance, two out of three of those transactions could incur a fee of $28 to $35.

If it were the latter, your account would be $70 below zero when it did arrive. Getting back into “the black” eats into the income for the next pay period and so starts what could potentially be a vicious circle for one on a limited budget.

How to Avoid Overdraft Fees

One way to avoid overdraft fees like this is to choose to “opt-out” of overdraft protection on Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) and debit card transactions. You can also carry a budgeted amount of petty cash to cover incidentals you may want if a transaction gets rejected for lack of funds at the register.

That way, you can still purchase what you intended to and not be embarrassed. You can also use the transaction rejection as a “tickler” to check your internet banking record.

Other Types of Overdraft Protection

There are other kinds of overdraft protection such as automatic transfer of funds from a linked savings account or line of credit. Both of these can cover you for the big things, but continual reliance on a debit card can either cause your savings to disappear quickly or for you to incur interest charges on what amounts to an additional “credit card” or loan account.