It’s midnight and you’re about to close the bill at the local Italian eatery when you’re suddenly reminded: It’s cash only. Slightly embarrassed (and very annoyed), you desperately rush outside, squinting in the dark to find those three letters that should hopefully relieve you from dishwashing duty back at the restaurant.

You see it in neon light: A-T-M.

Ah, but this transaction will cost you – probably around $3.50, including your bank’s non-network ATM fee and the ATM’s own surcharge. While you shrug it off because you’re in a bind, let’s be honest: This isn’t the first time that week you’ve paid up for withdrawing money. A closer look and you see you’ve spent close to $10 on ATM fees over the last 7 days. In a year, that’s more than $500. The pain sets in.

In the interest of keeping more money in your checking account (since banks are finding more ways to charge us in the wake of Congress’ Credit CARD Act), here are three ways to avoid those pesky ATM fees. (For more tips you’ll hop onto Moneywatch.com)

1. Open a Checking Account at Your Brokerage House

The Fidelity mySmart Cash Account and Schwab High Yield Investor Checking rebate all ATM withdrawal fees to customers’ accounts, so long as you also have a separate brokerage account.

2. Bank Online

Ally Bank’s online checking account customers pay no ATM fees whatsoever. And at HSBC Direct, the virtual bank reimburses customers for up to three times out-of-network ATM fees per month. Other online banks also offer fee reimbursements, though you may need to have a minimum account balance to qualify. For example, high-interest checking account customers at EverBank receive unlimited ATM fee reimbursements, so long as the average daily balance on your account exceeds $5,000. Same goes with eTrade Max Rate checking-account customers.

3. Use Apps to Find Surcharge-Free ATMs

Your bank may still charge you for using an out-of-network ATM, but you can at least pocket a dollar or two by downloading a free phone application that’ll help locate a surcharge-free ATM nearest you. The Mobile Allpoint App (shown above) is available for iPhone, Blackberry and Android users, hooks you up with some 37,000 surcharge-free ATMS across the country.  If you’re a member of a credit union that it is part of the CO-OP network, you may want to check out this ATM Locator application.  It’s available for the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.

Photo courtesy USB’s photo stream on Flickr