Really? What do you pay in bank fees every month? And how much is too much?

I have one bank account for which I used to pay $12 a month… well worth it considering they processed my cheques, let me pull money out of their banking machines, and let me use my debit card whenever I wanted. Then Ken, my husband, turned 60 and converted it to an old-fart’s account and now we don’t pay anything at all. Cool!

But I’ve worked with lots of people on the show, Til Debt Do Us Part (on Slice in Canada, on AmericanLife in the U.S.), who spend gobs of money on bank fees. I’ve seen people spend $50 a month, $120 a month, more than $250 a month in bank fees. Yes, I have.

People bounce cheques, paying $30 and up in NSF (not sufficient funds) fees.

People use overdraft as if it were their money, staying in overdraft for more than three-quarters of the month and racking up overdraft fees and interest. I’ve seen some people never bother to get into the black.

People use other institutions banking machines (ABMs) like they cost nothing at all when a quick look at your statement will show that it costs anywhere from $1.50 to $3.00 (or more) to withdraw money from a machine that doesn’t belong to your financial institution.

People pay a $3 withdrawal fee on a $20 withdrawal – that’s a 15% fee -- sometimes every day, sometimes more than once a day, because they’re using the ABM like their wallet.

We don’t have to right to think banks should provide their services for free. That’s just stupid. And since most institutions give us lots of ways to mitigate our costs, if we’re paying scads in bank charges it’s our own fault. Quitcherbitchin and start managing your money responsibly. That’s the best way to save on bank fees.