Now that you’ve stuffed your face on Thanksgiving and stuffed your cart on Black Friday, the first weekend of the winter holiday season offers up a new form of temptation in the form of Cyber Monday, when people go back to work and use their companies’ high speed broadband connections to surf the web for deals of all sorts. But just like that third helping of turkey, you may not be able to stomach the problems that this can lead to.

The biggest threat is that you overload your virtual shopping cart with things you never intended to buy, suckered in by the allure of the discount. It helps to know exactly what you’re looking for and who the recipient is, so that you’re not browsing the online stores willy-nilly. Financial landmines abound.

It’s important that you remember that no matter how good the deal is, you’ll get 100% savings on the things you don’t buy and never really needed. It’s not likely that you’re in debt because of your self-restraint. Make a list of who you need gifts for, how much you’re willing to spend (and check it twice.)

The other big concern is that by its nature, online shopping means using plastic. And anytime you use a credit card, you are inclined to spend more than you do with cash. You can use your debit card instead, but it doesn’t provide you the same protections that credit cards do in case of fraud. Check out this info from Kiplinger.com regarding the risks of using debit and credit cards.

Your best bet may be to look at any cards you have with cashback options, to help ease the burden of your holiday expenses.

Also, it may be difficult or expensive to return items that don’t quite meet your expectations. Since you can’t see, feel, taste or otherwise sample what you’re buying you can’t be fully sure that it is what you want. Make sure that the online retailer of your choice has a generous return policy (with free return shipping) or you may get stuck with extra charges you weren’t expecting. Not to mention having wasted your precious holiday shopping time.

And for heaven’s sake, beware of the perils of cyber-surfing at work. More employers than ever are using sophisticated tech tools to monitor their employees’ time spent online and Internet sites they visit. Considering the fact that 16% of Americans are unemployed or underemployed, you do not want to give your boss any additional reasons to begin looking for your replacement.

So if you are going to snag some Cyber Monday deals, shop from home, have a plan and a budget and read the fine print. Happy holiday hunting!