Another useful saving tip, which I'm guessing most know, when upgrading characters or talismans to max of a tier, use 1-3 less shards than needed and work your way down to 1* shards.

Takes more time, but you can save a lot using 9 x 5*, 1 x 4*, 1 x 3*, 1 x 2*, and 2 x 1* rather than just using 10 x 5*.