Insufficient Funds

If you are a newlywed and not a custom to managing your finances such as your check book one of the worst things you can see on your bank statement is insufficient funds or not sufficient funds. This is a term used by banks that simply means you have written a check and the available balance in your account is not sufficient to cover the amount.

There are financial consequences that will affect you. The fees that are charged when this occurs can be substantial. In most cases your bank will charge you an overdraft fee and there will also be a fee from the person or company you wrote the check. The fees may very depending on the bank policies. If this occurs you should try to rectify the situation immediately and it should not affect your credit or status with your bank. Another consequence would be your check will not be except by the business or person it was issued to in the future.

One way to prevent having a check returned on your account would be to have overdraft protection from your bank. You may have your savings account link to your checking account or a credit card or a line of credit set up especially for this purpose.

It is a good idea to have online banking from your bank as you can check on your account balance and available funds on a daily basis. This would prevent you from writing a check for insufficient funds as you would always know what your available balance would be.