The shopping season is in full gear as droves of people hit the stores in search of holiday gifts and money-saving opportunities. However, before that “too good to be true” deal gets away, consider the following tips to protect you, your purchases and money.

Be sure of your purchases and the accompanying fine print. If items are purchased without considering returns, the consumer could find their returns met with restocking fees.

When using debit cards, watch for accumulating fees. Using one’s debit card charges a fees to the card associated account will be debited from your account, so try to group purchases together to reduce transactions and consequently debit card fees.

Just as debit cards have a usage fee, so do gift cards. AS with everything read the fine print and check the coinciding website for the gift cards rules and hidden fee.

Lastly, be careful of purchasing unnecessary warranties. Oftentimes, warranties are a great insurance policy for a purchased item. However, purchasing an extended warranty on an item that may not outlive the need for the product is a waste of money and time.

Although holiday shopping can be overwhelming on one’s budget, but with a little extra precaution, the shopping sprees can be fun and not a torture when bank balances are checked after the weekend.