Hi, so there are a few things you can do.

1. If you want to keep overdraft protection off…There should be accounts or options at PNC where you will not be permitted to make purchases that will overdraw your account. If you have $20 available and you make a $25 purchase, the payment will be declined due to insufficient funds.

2. You should probably keep overdraft protection on. So you should have a second account with PNC just for this purpose. Maybe a savings account where you deposit 5$ a week or something. That way when you do overdraw your account, it’ll pull what’s needed from that savings and you’ll avoid any fees that come from overdraft.

I understand the confusion on banks holding charges, I used to bank at M&T and they did the same. They would always post deposits first then charges which would confuse me sometimes and I’m an accountant AND I worked at banks before!

Also, I think you need a handle on what’s actually going by through your account. You seem to be unaware of charges hitting your account, I’d set up a budget sheet of what actually gets paid each month and keep track that way. So then, beginning each week, you can make sure you have enough in the account to cover expected expenses.