There isn't much in life that's free, and that really goes for some checking accounts these days.
Annual maintenance fees on checking accounts in the first half of 2016 averaged $159.48, according to a recent survey by MoneyRates.com. That's about the cost of a week's worth of groceries for a family of four, according to the Department of Agriculture.
It is also a 17.8 percent jump since the second half of 2011, MoneyRates found.
"It's completely out of step with the general lack of inflation and the lack of raises in wages," said Richard Barrington, senior financial analyst at MoneyRates. "Chances are, the average person's wages haven't gone up 17 percent in the last four years."