No one likes insufficient funds notices and the hefty overdrafts that come with them. Overdrafts can create setbacks and unnecessary financial strain that cause us to channel our inner groundhog – hiding at their very sight. Luckily, you can rest easy with these four simple tips to help prevent  them.

1. Sign up for Online & Mobile Alerts. Most online banking services offer email or even text message alerts to warn you of low balances. These alerts can usually be customized to cater to your own needs. An alert triggered when your balance has fallen below $100 or $50 is a good way to remind yourself to slow down spending or make a deposit.

2. Link Accounts. If you have multiple accounts at a bank, you may be able to set up linked account overdraft protection. These services automatically transfer from a savings, separate checking or credit card to cover an overdrawn account automatically. While it’s typically not a free service, most banks will charge a fixed amount per transfer that may be 30-50% cheaper than an overdraft fee. It’s not ideal if you expect to overdraw your account frequently, but linking accounts can be a good solution in an emergency situation. It’s important to note that under Federal regulation, transfers between Savings and Checking may be restricted to only six a month.

3. Check account balances often and record your transactions. Millennials bear with us for a minute. Faithfully recording all financial transactions is a great way of understanding where and how much money is coming out of your account. Overlooked transactions include ATM service charges, monthly account service charges, or tips added to a purchase at a restaurant or café. The latter is important as a tip likely won’t show on the full transaction amount until hours or days later. Try to also check your account balances multiple times a week either online, via your mobile app or by calling customer service or visiting an ATM or branch.

4. Use automatic payments. By setting up automatic payments for your recurring bills, you have control on when and how much is deducted from your account. The key is to stay on top of these recurring debits and set them up when it works best for you financially (e.g. the day after you get paid). Setting up automatic payments can also help prevent those pesky outstanding checks that get cashed against your account when you least expect it (err…forgot about it).