Read the fine print

I just got back from the airport. Unfortch, I was not returning from a fabulous trip to a tropical location . However I was buying a ticket to one...well, Florida's not quite the tropics, but I'm sure it will seem that way when leave the frozen tundra (a.k.a. South Dakota) to visit there in January.

I've decided to celebrate living a quarter century (a.k.a. my 25th birthday) surrounded by white sand while visiting a good friend in Daytona Beach . Luckily, certain airlines are offering great deals from Sioux Falls directly to the Orlando area, and my entire airfare is less than $300 — $282 to be exact.

However, while beginning to book my flight online, I found some interesting fine print on various fees. It turns out that by purchasing your flight online or over the phone you are charged a convenience fee for using that service — $11.50. That's a meal while I'm in Florida!

To be fair, this is a pretty common practice among online ticket purchases. Customers pay for the handiness of not having to leave their home to get their tickets. But for me, a trip to the airport is a mere five-minute jaunt from work. So I decided to go directly to the ticket office over my lunch hour and avoid a convenience fee. Subtract two quarters for the airport parking meter and I saved $11 on the trip! Woot!

On any purchase you make or agreement you enter into, it is very important to understand the fine print . It could end up saving you much more than $11.

Take student loans, for example: When you accept the loan, you get details on paying off their interest before it's added to the principal balance — also known as capitalization  — when you enter repayment. If you understand the impact of paying that accrued interest before capitalization, you could save hundreds of dollars over the life of your loan.

So read up!