Overdrawing your checking account costs hundreds of dollars a year, according to a recent government study. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that it costs an average of 225 dollars a year in fees when an account is overdrawn. The study found that overdraft fees account for 60-percent or more of the revenue banks make on consumer checking accounts. You may want to check with your bank or credit union to see if they offer low balance alerts to make sure you aren’t wasting money being dinged for overdraft fees.