What are junk fees and how can you avoid them?

Take these steps to avoid the extra costs that push up your total spending and eat into your hard-earned money

Benjamin Franklin on the $100 bill
Americans have likely paid 'tens of billions of dollars in junk fees over the years'
(Image credit: Viorika / Getty Images)

President Joe Biden is on a mission to get rid of junk fees, and if he's successful, that could be very good news for Americans' wallets. USA Today reported that Americans have likely paid "tens of billions of dollars in 'junk fees' over the years," a category that includes everything from extra charges tacked on by ticket sellers to convenience fees for paying a bill over the phone.

Once you're aware of them, you'll see junk fees in a plethora of places, pushing up your total costs and eating into your hard-earned money. While we wait to see if Biden's efforts to eradicate junk fees are successful, there are also steps you can take to avoid these pesky extra costs.

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Becca Stanek, The Week US

Becca Stanek has worked as an editor and writer in the personal finance space since 2017. She previously served as a deputy editor and later a managing editor overseeing investing and savings content at LendingTree and as an editor at the financial startup SmartAsset, where she focused on retirement- and financial-adviser-related content. Before that, Becca was a staff writer at The Week, primarily contributing to Speed Reads.