My co-worker Charles Slat, who blogs at Consumer Alert!, has this column for today’s edition of The Monroe Evening News: Bank overdraft, late fees continue rising faster than bailout amounts.

A snippet:

“It’s becoming very clear that banks are increasingly reliant on fees resulting from overdrawn checking accounts for income,” said G. Michael Flores, a bank strategist for Breton Woods Inc., a bank consulting firm which produced a report about such fees. “Nationally, the average household now has more than 12 overdraft transactions per year and pays $368 per year in fees. We see no reason for this trend to change. Bounced check fees and overdraft protection will have a larger and larger financial impact on households.”

Credit card late fees also are climbing. Most are up to about $39 now and also probably will continue to rise.

So some of those same big banks that needed your tax dollars for a bailout are using your personal accounts as a bucket to scoop in extra cash. Isn’t that nifty?

Aside from diligent budgeting, or a third or fourth job to loosen your cash stream, what’s the best way to dodge these fees?

Negotiate and shop around.