The best thing to do about this is to call your bank and make sure that they decline any purchases that you try to make when your account is overdrawn (perhaps after your line of credit is exhausted.) If you allow them to hit you with these fees they can charge you $30+ for the newspaper you bought at the corner store and another $30+ for the coffee you get at the coffee shop a few minutes later. One bank recently raised the limit on such charges from five times per day to seven - so they can hit you for over $200 just for letting you use the money that you probably have in another account!

Last year, the nation's banks and credit unions raked in about $40 billion in overdraft fees on consumers, about a third of that on debit cards, according to Michael Moebs of Moebs Services, an economic research firm.

A 2007 internal memo from Wachovia, one of the nation's largest banks, underscores the banks' addiction to this easy money. The memo, obtained by USA TODAY's Kathy Chu, warned employees not to refund too many overdraft fees because they "make up a big percentage of our revenue" and are a "HOT button among leadership."

Source: blogs.usatoday.com

If you don't already use Internet or Telephone banking you might want to look into it. It's an easy way to check your balance and transfer funds between accounts without having to visit the bank. Another good idea is to switch to your credit card for small purchases if you forget the balances in the accounts linked to your debit card.

The full text of the USA Today editorial article is here:
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/06/our-view-on-ban.html