a la carte Fees

“I hate banks. They do nothing positive for anybody except take care of
themselves. They're first in with their fees and first out when there's
trouble.” - (abt 1960) Earl Warren, Supreme Court Justice

The AP reports that “Consumers spend billions each year on fees and add-on charges, many of which are unnecessary, and often because they're just not paying attention.” Avoidable costs include late fees on credit cards and bills, overdraft charges, cell phone fees, etc.

The article Aim that rage against the corporate fee machine lists 20 fees that you can eliminate with some advance planning. Here are a few examples:
1. Manual Billing Fees: some companies now charge for sending you a paper bill. Sign up for e-billing and save money. Just be sure to check your email frequently to avoid a late charge.
2. Spread Payments: my town allows me the option of paying my taxes in two payments instead of one – but at the cost of a $2 fee. If you have the money, pay bills in full and avoid the fee which greatly exceeds the interest that money would earn sitting in the bank.
3. If you have a cell phone and a landline phone, make the cell phone your main number and use the landline only for emergencies. Reduce the cost of the landline by canceling options for voice mail, caller ID, etc.

Bottom Line
Corporations love these add on fees; they are a big profit maker. For example my $60 cell phone plan has $10 in extra “fees” that I have no control over. The AP article notes that:

Consumer advocates see such charges, which they call "a la carte" fees, as misleading. "The trend is to deceive consumers into thinking the price is still the same, by adding fees and extracting services that used to be included," said Edmund Mierzwinski, a senior fellow at the advocacy group U.S. PIRG ...
"A la carte pricing is really not good for consumers, because it essentially prohibits them from doing legitimate comparison shopping," said Jack Gillis of the Consumer Federation of America.