海角大神

Few of us enjoy reviewing our bank statements, and for good reason: I spent how much on takeout this month? When鈥檚 the last time we even watched that channel? I wish I could just quit the gym already. It can be a sobering, regretful and downright frustrating experience.

Perhaps even more maddening is seeing that even your bank hits you with checking account fees for 鈥渕aintenance.鈥� This is the price you pay just to park聽your cash in a safe place, and it can add up to more than聽$100 a year.

But you can avoid those charges by meeting a few reasonable requirements. Here鈥檚 how:

1. Save money to meet minimum balance requirements

Fees and rules vary by institution, but customers at most banks and credit unions can dodge monthly聽charges聽by keeping balances above a certain amount. For basic checking accounts at national banks that don鈥檛 earn interest or other perks, that figure tends to be around $1,000. For premier accounts, it may be as much as $10,000.

Customers who don鈥檛 have the funds to meet that mark should consider making a聽concerted effort to . Approach this as you would any other savings goal.

鈥淧ut aside $25 per week 鈥� or whatever you can reasonably save 鈥� until you meet your goal,鈥� says Carrie Houchins-Witt, a financial advisor in Coralville, Iowa. 鈥淜eep saving that $25 each week until you have a cushion. That way, you won鈥檛 have to worry daily about dipping below the minimum and getting hit with fees.鈥�

禄听惭翱搁贰:

2. Enroll in direct deposit

Another way to avoid fees is to enroll in , a service through which your paycheck or some other regular money you receive is automatically paid into your bank account. Some banks and credit unions聽will require you to receive a certain amount of money in direct deposits each month, typically not more than $500 for basic checking accounts. If that applies to you, don鈥檛 distribute your income to more than one account.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e splitting your direct deposit between two accounts, like checking and saving, you may never meet the minimum,鈥� says Johanna Fox Turner, a financial advisor in Mayfield, Kentucky. 鈥淏ut you can set up your direct deposit so that your entire income goes to your checking account, and then simply transfer some of that money to your savings each month.鈥�

3. Open a savings account at the same institution

A bank or credit union also might waive fees for consumers who have multiple accounts under the same roof. For most people, opening a will be the easiest solution.

In addition to helping you avoid monthly service charges, opening a savings account and linking it to your checking account can protect you from incurring overdraft fees, which .

4. Switch to plastic

A few banks and credit unions waive monthly service fees for customers who use the debit card linked to the account a certain number of times each month, usually around 10 transactions. If you鈥檙e having trouble meeting some of the other waiver requirements, consider finding .

Next steps

Another option, of course, would be to simply ditch your bank or credit union for one that offers . Just make sure that you won鈥檛 be hit with an early termination fee when closing your old account, which can happen when doing so聽within a few months of opening it.

But if you like your bank or credit union and just want to eliminate fees, these moves can keep you from paying them down the road.

Tony Armstrong is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: tony@nerdwallet.com. Twitter:.This article first appeared in .