Slip-ups that can trigger fees, penalties or other costs:

• Not checking up on your checking account. Lack of attention to the account balance can result in fees for bounced checks or for going below a required minimum balance. Also, if a customer fails to spot fraudulent transactions, fixing those can be costly and time consuming.
• Paying a credit card bill late, even if it's only by a day. A late card payment can trigger a fee of about $30 or more. In addition, the consumer also may face a major hike in the interest rate -- often to between 29 and 35 percent --on this credit card and possibly other cards or loans, especially if the person's credit record shows other signs of risk.
• Signing up for a new credit card without understanding the costs. "Zero-percent interest" and other incentives for applying for a credit card may sound great, but the various freebies could end up being expensive if the consumer is penalized for not following the rules of the new card. Repeatedly signing up for new cards also can send signals that the person is more of a credit risk, which can result in a higher interest rates being charged the next time he or she applies for a mortgage or other loans.
• Getting a nontraditional mortgage without considering the increased costs. In addition to "traditional" mortgages, which are typically fixed- or adjustable-rate loans for 15 or 30 years, many lenders now offer other mortgages that generally enable borrowers to lower their monthly payments in the early years in exchange for larger payments later on. The biggest concern is that some borrowers may be unprepared to make the higher payments in the future.

To err is human…and sometimes it can be expensive. That's why the latest FDIC Consumer News, published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, features some of the more common and costly mistakes consumers make when using their checking account, credit card or other banking services, along with guidance on how to avoid these errors.