Check out Best Buy's current holiday sale!

There are 37 coupons and freebies today. If you shop online, get a cash back rebate on every purchase through Ebates. Free to join! Don’t miss exclusive coupons we share on the BargainBabe.com Facebook page. “Like” us today!

HOT! Last minute flight deals - Southwest has a bunch of last minute holiday travel deals when you book by Dec. 19 and travel Dec 14-21, 2011. The best flights and prices will go quickly.

Tomorrow! Free ice cream cupcake - Grab a free ice cream cupcake at Marble Slab Creamery and MaggieMoo’s Ice Cream & Treatery on Dec. 15, 2011 from 4-7 p.m. to celebrate National Cupcake Day.

Free Christmas music download - Get a free Christmas song from Tim McGraw to the tune of “Christmas All Over the World.” Unclear how long this will last.

Free movie rental - Get $1 off any rental (that means a free movie for most rentals!) with Blockbuster Express coupon code DOLLARDAYS. Expires Dec. 15, 2011.

Free MAC shipping + gift wrap - Get free standard shipping with no minimum order through Dec. 18 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Excludes gift cards and Pro members. Select holiday gift wrap at check out to get a free holiday gift box or bag.

Free Alaska planner - Get a free Alaska Vacation Planner. Expect promotional emails to follow.

HOT! Williams Sonoma coupon - Save 25% off all potware with this rare Williams Sonoma coupon code COOKWARE25. Expires Dec. 19, 2011. Some exclusions. FREE shipping included! Excludes online orders of Le Creuset. Thanks, Su May!

Gap $25 jeans - Today only, a bunch of Gap jeans are on sale for just $25. Online only. Select denim for Men and Women. Get an extra 2% back in cash when you shop through Ebates.

Bloomingdale’s coupon - Use Bloomingdale’s coupon code SNOWFLAKE to save 10% off purchases of $50-$99.99, 15% off purchases of $100-$149.99, and 20% off purchases of $150 or more. Offer valid online only Dec. 14-15, 2011.

Ends today! Avenue coupon - Save 40% off your entire order AND get free shipping on $75 or more with Avenue promo code AV111346. Expires Dec. 14, 2011.

Cardstore coupon - Get 50% off your entire order of holiday cards with Cardstore.com coupon code CSSAVE510. Expires Dec. 15.

Piperlime coupon - Save 20% off men’s boots with Piperlime coupon code BOOTS at checkout. Ends Dec. 15, 2011. Get an extra 2% back in cash when you shop through Ebates.

Shoemall coupon - Save 20% off $25 or more sitewide plus get free shipping with ShoeMall.com coupon code HOLIDAY. Valid today through Dec. 24, 2011.

PetCo sale - Many items are 20-50% off during Petco’s holiday sale. Shipping is free when you hit $49, or a flat $6, though some exclusions apply.

Best Buy - The late-week holiday sale at Best Buy runs Dec. 14-16. Shop through Ebates to get an extra 1-3.6% back.

Rockport shoes - Get 20% off your next pair of Rockport shoes with this click through coupon.

Pottery Barn Kids toy sale - Select toys are up to 40% off at the Pottery Barn Kids Holiday sale. Plus, shipping is free on some 800 items.

HOT! Land’s End sale - Everything is 30% off plus shipping is free with NO MINIMUM. Nice! Use Land’s End promo code SANTA and PIN 1212. Expires Dec. 19, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. CST. Get an extra 6% back in cash when you shop through Ebates.

Reebok deal - Get 30% off your entire order with Reebok promo code RBKTHANKS. The big coupon is part of a customer appreciate sale that ends Dec. 18, 2011.

H&M sale - Mega holiday sale, with lingerie from $1, tops from $5, cozy knits from $7, kids jackets from $10 and adults’ jackets from $15.

Track holiday spending - Track your holiday spending with free budgeting software from Mint.com.

The Walking Company coupon - Spend $100 and get a free upgrade to second day shipping with The Walking Company coupon code FREE2DAY. Expires Jan. 13, 2012.

J.Jill coupon - Save 25% off your entire purchase online with this click through J.Jill coupon.

Picaboo coupon - Get 20% off your order of holiday cards of $50 or more with coupon code SPREADJOY. Expires Dec. 15, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

Bev Mo discount - Buy 6 or more bottles of wine in store or online and get an extra 10% off, no coupon code needed. Your discount will show up automatically in your cart. More than 300 bottles are eligible for the extra discount. Ends Jan. 2, 2012.

MyPublisher - Save 25% off $50 or more, or bigger discounts if you spend even more with MyPublisher coupon code FINALSALE. Expires Dec. 19.

Ends today! Restaurant.com coupon - Pay $2 for a $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate with coupon code STOCKING. Expires Dec. 14, 2011. Gift cards are $4 with this promo code. Not valid with egift cards and dinner of the month. Here’s how Restaurant.com works. Get an extra 20-30% back in cash when you shop through Ebates.

GoDaddy.com coupon - Save 15% off $30 or more with Go Daddy promo code gdz1241d. Expires Dec. 25, 2011.

Whole Living mag deal - DiscountMags.com has a $4 daily deal for a yearlong A-list mag subscription! Here is this week’s lineup of mag deals: Dec. 14 Whole Living magazine with promo code 5918; Dec. 15 Car and Driver with promo code 7567. Plus, get 10% off most mags with DiscountMags promo code HOLIDAY10. No expiration date given.

Family Fun mag deal - Get an extra 20% off with Family Fun magazine code WKLYSPEC through Dec. 18, 2011. You pay $3.76 for the year!

Taste of home deal - Get an extra 40% off with Taste of home magazine code TASTEOFHOME through Dec. 18, 2011. You pay $5.40 for the year!

Rider mag deals - Best Deal Magazines has a bunch of super cheap magazine deals – $4.39 for a year subscription unless otherwise noted – this week. Each deal is valid for one day only. Dec. 14 Rider ($5.29); Dec. 15 Yoga Journal; Dec. 16 Whole Living; Dec. 17 Oxygen ($5.29); Dec. 18 Car & Driver. Save an extra 15% off most titles with promo code PXCJ1218. Expires Dec. 18, 2011.

Grocery coupons - My Coupon Database searches dozens of coupon sites for all grocery and drugstore coupons available, including Coupons.com, mobile coupons from Cellfire, Redplum, CouponNetwork, SmartSource, and lots more. Totally free!

Coupon lessons - Grocery University is a comprehensive, 19-lesson set that will take your coupon skills (if any) to the next savings level. Sign up for these coupon lessons now and see your grocery bill drop!

Free Target events - In 34 cities across the country, Target sponsors free museum days and cultural events. Search by city to see what’s happening near you.

Groupon travel deals - Find hot travel deals leaving from your city.

Clicking on these links supports BargainBabe.com. This post is copyrighted by BargainBabe.com. Other sites posting this content are violating the DMCA.

Save $10 off $40 at Walgreens today only!

There are 48 coupons and freebies today, most of them Cyber Monday deals. Freebies are below the Cyber Monday deals. If you shop online, get a cash back rebate on every purchase through Ebates. Free to join! Don’t miss exclusive coupons we share on the BargainBabe.com Facebook page. “Like” us today!

CYBER MONDAY DEALS – VALID TODAY, NOV. 28 ONLY

Athleta - Save 30% off with Athleta promo code HUGECYBER. Online only. Get an extra 2% back when you shop through Ebates.

HOT! Amazon - The Amazon Cyber Monday are HOOOOOOT! Seems like everything the site sells (shoes, clothes, electronics, books, movies) is on sale.

Banana Republic - Save 30% off with Banana Republic promo code HUGECYBER. Online only. Get an extra 2% back when you shop through Ebates.

Bath & Body Works - Get 25% off your entire purchase with Bath & Body works coupon code CYBERMONDAY25OFF. Shop through Ebates to get an extra 9% off!

Best Buy - Tons of deals online today as part of Best Buy’s Cyber Monday sale, including big discounts on tablets, computers, laptops, webcambs, ereaders, appliances. Plus, get a free $10 e-Gift Card when you spend $100 or more online and select in-store pickup. Get an extra 1-3.6% back when you shop through Ebates.

HOT! Holiday cards $.49 – Christmas Cards are super cheap at just $.49 each, plus shipping is free, at Cardstore.com. There is no minimum to how many cards you can order! Limited to the first 100,000 cards sold.

Carter’s - Get an extra 25% off your entire order with Carters promo code CYBERSAVE. If you hit $50, your order ships free. Shop through Ebates for an extra 5% off.

Charlotte Russe - Get 40% off sitewide with this click through Charlotte Russe coupon. Shipping is free if you hit $40 or more. Get an extra 5% back when you shop through Charlotte Russe.

Columbia Sportswear - Get free shipping with no minimum using Columbia.com promo code F11FREESHIP.

Dell coupons - Use these Dell Cyber Monday coupons to save on laptops, monitors, accessories and more. Additional Dell coupons and doorbusters are here. Get an extra 4% back when you shop at Dell Small Business through Ebates.

DiscountMagazines.com - Get two cheap magazine subscriptions for just $6 as part of DiscountMags.com’s Cyber Monday bundle deals. Titles include Everyday with Rachel Ray, Reader’s Digest, Maxim, Weight Watchers, and more.

Disney deal - Take an extra 25% off $125+, 20% off $100+, 15% off $75+, or 10% off $50+, plus Free Shipping sitewide with Disney promo code CYBER. Get an extra 8% back when you shop through Ebates.

Entertainment Book - Get any 2012 Entertainment Book for $25 plus free shipping. Good stuff!

Esprit coupon - Get 40% off your entire purchase with Esprit Cyber Monday coupon CYBERMON11. Get an extra 14% back when you shop through Ebates.

Gap - Save 30% off with Gap promo code HUGECYBER. Online only. Get an extra 7% back when you shop through Ebates.

Ghirardelli - Save 10-30% off plus get free shipping on $50 or more with this click through Ghirardelli coupon.

Kohl’s - Get an extra 20% off everything online with Kohl’s coupon code CYBER25. Plus, earn $15 in Kohl’s cash for every $50 spent (it’s usually $10 for every $50). Get an extra 6% back when you shop through Ebates.

Kmart - Get free shipping on $49 or more with this Kmart Cyber Monday coupon code HOLIDAY. Thousands of items are on sale in electronics, toys and games, entertainment, apparel, fine jewelry, fitness and sporting goods, and home gear. Get an extra 10% back when you shop through Ebates.

Lowe’s - Get free shipping on all orders plus tons of discounts on holiday lights, decor, appliances, and more. Get an extra 6% back when you shop through Ebates.

MAC - Get free OVERNIGHT shipping on any purchase, no minimum mentioned, on MAC online today only. Only exclusion is gift cards.

Magazines.com - Pay $15 for $30 at Magazines.com plus free shipping with this Saveology daily deal. Get an extra 5-52% back when you shop through Ebates.

Office Max - Find all the Office Max Cyber Monday deals, including a Toshiba 15.6” Widescreen Laptop (L755D-S5250) for $379.99 (orig. $549.99), a Kodak EasyShare Camera for $69.99 (orig. $139.99), and an HP Officejet 4500 Wireless All-in-One Printer for $64.99 (orig. $129.99. Get an extra 6% back when you shop through Ebates.

Old Navy - Save 30% off with Old Navy promo code HUGECYBER. Online only. Get an extra 7% back when you shop through Ebates.

OverstockArt.com - Get 50% off all artwork (not including frames) from 1:01 a.m. CST – 12 p.m. CST with coupon code CyberMondayEarlyBird. After that, get 40% off artwork (not including frames) until 11:59 p.m. CST using the coupon code CyberMonday.

Perry Ellis - Wow! Get 50% off your entire order today only with Perry Ellis promo code PECYBER50. Online only.

Piperlime coupon - Save 20% off with Piperlime promo code HUGECYBER. Online only. Get an extra 2% back when you shop through Ebates.

Pottery Barn Kids - Get free shipping on everything but furniture with no minimum today only using coupon code CM1DAYFREESHIP.

QVC - Today only, QVC has put on sale the largest assortment of free shipping and handling items.

Reebok deal - Get 40% off your entire purchase plus free shipping with Reebok Cyber Monday promo code CM40.

Rite Aid - Get 20% off $50 or more plus free shipping as part of the Rite Aid Cyber Monday sale. Plus, get buy one get one free on select vitamins, buy one, get one 50% off on select lip, face and eye cosmetics, buy one, get one free on select shaving products, and buy one, get one free on personalized photo calendars.

Sally Beauty coupon - Save 25% off $50 or more with Sally Beauty promo code 555924. Valid Monday, Nov. 28, 2011 until 11:59 p.m. EST. Not valid with other offers or sale items. Get an extra 7% back through Ebates.

Snapfish coupons – Get 50% off sitewide with Snapfish coupon code CYBER50. Plus, get penny 4×6-inch photo prints with promo code PENNYNOV (up to 500 prints). Get an extra 20% back through Ebates.

Southwest - As part of a Southwest Cyber Monday sale you can get up to 50% on Reno and Panama City Beach vacation packages. Get an extra 2.5% back on vacation packages through Ebates.

Staples deals - Tons of Cyber Monday deals at Staples including 100% off Norton Internet Security 2012 (1-PC), 50% off Staples® Montessa? Luxura Manager’s Chair, 44% off HP® LaserJet P2035 Printer, 43% off HP 2031 20″ Widescreen LCD Monitor, and 33% off Microsoft Office Home and Student 2011 for Mac. Get an extra 4% back when you shop through Ebates.

Starbucks - Get free shipping on any order of $10 or more. Not too shabby! Get an extra 2-7% back when you shop through Ebates.

Ugg sale - UGG boots are on sale at The Walking Company for up to $50 off.

Vistaprint - Get 20 customizable holiday photo cards for $7, including shipping, from Vistaprint. The cards are 4 x 8 inches and will be delivered with seven days! Get an extra 10% back when you shop through Ebates.

Walgreens - Save $10 off $40 with this click through Walgreens Cyber Monday coupon. No code needed! Get an extra 7% back when you shop through Ebates.

Zealand Footwear - Get 70% off all Zealand footwear, slippers, scarves, blankets and more with this click through Cyber Monday promo code.

FREEBIES

Freebie laxative - Get a free sample of MiraLax laxative from Target. While supplies last.

Freebies - Get a freebie sample of Lactaid Fast Act when you fill out a simple request form.

BUYING GUIDES (courtesy of BFAds.net)

Video Game Buying Guide

TV Buying Guide

3DTV Buying Guide

GPS Buying Guide

Laptop Buying Guide

Mobile Phone Buying Guide

MORE DEALS

Barnes & Noble - Get museums across the country for free. Just show your Bank of America/Merrill Lynch debit or credit card. The freebie includes general admission and excludes special exhibitions, ticketed shows and fundraising events. Only the cardholder gets in free.

IKEA deal - Buy any EKTORP, KIVIK, KARLSTAD, or TIDAFORS fabric seating, or any KARLSTAD leather seating (including any sofa, sectional, loveseat, chair, chaise, footstool, sofa-bed or any combination of these,) between Nov. 4 and Dec. 20, 2011 and get a free IKEA Gift Card worth 15% of the seating purchase price, not including sales tax. If you buy one item at a time, you should be able to use the 15% bonus Ikea gift card on your next couch, etc.

Restaurant.com coupon - Pay $2 for a $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate with coupon code DEAL. Expires Nov. 30, 2011. Not valid with gift cards, egift cards, and dinner of the month. Here’s how Restaurant.com works.

Grocery coupons - My Coupon Database searches dozens of coupon sites for all grocery and drugstore coupons available, including Coupons.com, mobile coupons from Cellfire, Redplum, CouponNetwork, SmartSource, and lots more. Totally free!

Coupon lessons - Grocery University is a comprehensive, 19-lesson set that will take your coupon skills (if any) to the next savings level. Sign up for these coupon lessons now and see your grocery bill drop! On sale today for $9!!!!! (Orig. $24.95).

Free Target events - In 34 cities across the country, Target sponsors free museum days and cultural events. Search by city to see what’s happening near you.

Groupon travel deals - Find hot travel deals leaving from your city.

Free museums - On the first full weekend of every month, Bank of America card holders get into 150+ museums across the country for free. Flash your Bank of America/Merrill Lynch debit or credit card. The freebie includes general admission and excludes special exhibitions, ticketed shows and fundraising events. Only the cardholder gets in free.

Clicking on these links supports BargainBabe.com. This post is copyrighted by BargainBabe.com. Other sites posting this content are violating the DMCA.

KaCey97007/Flickr

This post is brought to you by Savings Account Comparison, who compare high interest savings accounts.

Every Friday I link to my favorite stories and blog posts about saving money.

To rent or buy? WalletPop looks at the top five markets to rent and the top five markets to buy. If your city is not listed, the writer explains how to figure it out. She ranks Los Angeles as No. 37 on the rent or buy index, which means it’s still cheaper to rent.

Money saving iPhone apps. Erin at Coupon Cravings regularly writes about iPhone apps that help one save money. Her latest post is on five apps that make it easier to eat out, like Meal Tickets, which searches for coupons at nearby restaurants.

Five activities to improve your finances. Frugal Dad’s advice is simple and practical. I like! From keeping a spending journal to developing a passive income, he will get you thinking about your money and what you want to do with it.

Could your job be outsourced? Digerati Life lists the top 10 most vulnerable jobs and the 10 safest. Some jobs on the likely to be outsourced list don’t make any sense, like pharmacy technician. How is someone going to fill my prescription in India?

Have you raided your piggy bank lately? I sure have been thinking about it and apparently a lot of Americans are, reducing the demand for new coins, including the new set of quarters honoring our national parks.

Sign up for the BargainBabe.com email list to receive more strategies, coupons, and inspiration to save money everyday.

A bank vole captured by blackclough/Flickr

I recently switched banks for a higher interest rate on my checking account. My new bank is nontraditional so I had to consider what behaviors would let me take advantage of the account fully.

1. My bank does not have their own ATMs. However, all my ATM fees are refunded to me on a monthly schedule. As crazy as it seems, this is probably cheaper for the bank than maintaining thousands of ATMs across the country. I try to use the ATM only once a month so I don’t rack up a lot of fees, even though they are reimbursed, because I figure the bank factors the expense into other services.

2. My bank does not have traditional branches so I do not have access to bank tellers to make large cash withdrawals or deposits. This is rare for me, but uncomfortable if it comes up. The branches accept check deposits or I can mail in deposits.

3. The branches are few and far between so I do the vast majority of my banking online, through the mail, or over the phone. The bank website is great, I can request free deposit envelopes through the mail, and the US-based phone service is excellent.

4. I have free checking as long as I have a debit card for the account. This is my first debit card ever and I usually use it for small purchases. It does not feel as safe as using a credit card, however. I think that is just me.

5. My other bank services are free as long as I have a brokerage account, which I use to fund my ROTH-IRA. I like having my checking, savings, and IRA all through the same bank, though I’m worried it makes me more vulnerable if my identity is ever stolen.

All told, I’ve had to adapt my banking habits slightly to take advantage of my new nontraditional bank. But I think I made the right decision because I pay no monthly bank fees and my interest rate is higher that my previous bank. Knowing this, would you bank with a nontraditional bank?

Get an extra 15% off sitewide, including sale items at Kohl�s. Expires July 15, 2010.

Get $22 off $100 at Shoes.com. Expires July 31, 2010.

Get 70% off all Luggage at Calvin Klein. Expires July 7, 2010.

Get $50 off all computers with trade-in at Staples. Expires September 18, 2010.

Book cheap one way flights from $43 and up, plus get an extra $10 off CheapOair. Deal ongoing.

By Mike Barclay of 10CentsWorth.com

A lot of you may be surprised to know that I�m not the most financially savvy person. What might floor you even more is that I’m still learning. Here’s what I’ve learned and where I need your help. Deal?

Priorities and Will Power

�

If you were faced with the choice to pay rent or your cell phone bill, which would you choose? The logical choice should be rent, right? For a while, I would actually choose my cell phone. I figured it was okay to accrue late fees so I could text my friends. Well no more!

I have a file on my computer that sums up my bill priorities in the order they need to be taken care of and reminders on my calendar to check it periodically. Here are the top 5 things on my list as of right now:

1. Rent (I always make sure my rent is set aside. Being homeless = not a good idea.)

2. Court Fees (Speeding tickets people, speeding tickets. I’m no criminal.)

3. Cell Phone (For me, I need my phone on for potential employers, etc.)

4. Car Insurance

5. Credit Card Bills

I’ve conditioned myself to take care of the important priorities by having my friend reward or punish me with small things, like taking away my laptop� for a couple of hours, or we’ll grab a bottle of wine as a reward. With proper budgeting I have enough to take care of everything.

Planning

�

I was an impulse buyer. I�d go grocery shopping with no list, a rough idea of what I needed, and a wad of cash. I�d walk into the market and out with a whole bunch of random food, inevitably forgetting an essential, like milk. I�d end up spending way over what I�d planned. Now, any time I go grocery shopping, I make a detailed list beforehand and, most importantly, I don’t deviate.

Banking Alerts

�

If my bank gave me the money they charge for over drafting, I�d be sitting on a beach somewhere drinking wine and doing nothing. I was horrible at looking at my account balance daily and making sure I had enough to spend. Thankfully, we now�have modern technology. If you bank online, there�s a way to set up email and text alerts if your account�drops below a certain amount. And (depending on the bank) you can even make it send you your balance text after every purchase. I don�t have an excuse to over-draft anymore.

Savings Accounts

�

My dad taught me the value of a savings account, I just never paid attention. �Have money, will spend� has always been my mentality. What I�m trying to do now is put away 10% of my check into a savings account and never look at it again. If I ever need car repairs or have an emergency, I�ll have money ready to go.

Some of these strategies I practice now. Others, I�m not fully on board with yet (e.g. putting money in a savings account). �Do you have any advice to make it easier to manage my finances? What have you learned from your moments of weakness?

My mattress purchase leaves me with $157 for the month. Unless…I dip into savings to cover the mattress. Here’s how my spending looks so far.

Week 1 spending – $470 (including a pricey snowboarding trip)

Week 2 spending – $40 (just groceries)

Emergency mattress spending – $533

That adds up to $1,043. My target was to spend $1,200 this month.

[poll id="62"]

UPDATE: For some reason the poll is not working. We made some tech updates recently on BargainBabe.com so I’m checking to see if those affected the polling features. Hang tight!

This guest post is brought to you by Earl Fischer, who writes for The Digerati Life, a site that covers all things personal finance, from investing to budgeting and money management. Check out the site�s reviews of online brokers and the best credit card programs that are available today.

Know what the world�s oldest profession is? Well what about the world’s oldest business? That would be a bank, I believe. No condescension intended by the analogy. In fact, I like banks. I am a client of at least four of them. Banks have a way of sustaining an economy just as much as it can take one down.

What I dislike about some of these large financial institutions — aside from the fact that quite a number of them have siphoned my tax dollars, no thanks to government bailouts — is how they tend to resort to deception in trying to entice one to become a client. Take my recent experiences with two such banks whose names I’d rather not mention right now.

Extra Bank Offers That I Don’t Care For

1. The Upsell
From one bank, I received a replacement card in the mail recently. The instruction they gave me was for me to call a toll free number in order to activate my card. Pretty standard stuff. Well, I followed the instruction and after going through the entire rigmarole of entering my card�s last four digits to giving the names of my first dog�s offspring, I was informed that my card was now activated and ready for use.

Just as I was about to wish the phone representative to have a pleasant day, she tells me that I am entitled to an additional service which would give me fraud and identity theft protection, credit monitoring services and other security features. The use of the word �entitled� can be very deceptive. Does this mean it�s like a gift that I just need to accept? Or will it cost me something? Remember, this is a bank and nothing ever comes free. So the fact was…. there was going to be a monthly charge of $6.95 (not the true amount). I told her I was going to think about it and will give them a call when I was ready for this. But she was insistent. She told me that it would be better for me to avail of the service right away because should I later change my mind, I can cancel it within a certain period and get a refund of the fees paid.

Wait. Hold it right there! It�s obvious what the bank was trying to do. They are capitalizing on the fact that people like me might not read the account information that they send and that I would become too busy to call them to cancel so in the long run, the bank makes a fortune. Of course, $6.95 a month is hardly a fortune. But think of 5,000 busy credit card holders and that�s a lot of money. So just like with drugs, I just said NO!

2. Does “no maintenance fee” really mean there are no fees?
My other experience involved this online ad which I came across while paying my credit card bill. In some cases, to encourage you to open a high interest savings account online, a bank may offer you a cash bonus for the effort. I caught on to one such offer lately, especially when I noticed the big bold letters on the ad that said the words �No maintenance fee.� I decided to fill out a savings account application online. Just as I was about to hit the final key to submit my application, I decided to confirm the terms and conditions of being an account holder one more time.

Lo and behold! Upon a second review, that’s when I noticed that the account would carry a monthly service fee. In fact, because of this fee, my initial deposit would have been exhausted after just three months. To make a long story short, I didn�t like how this bank would dangle a carrot by promoting their “no maintenance fee” account, but in the end, would turn around and still charge me a monthly service fee. Sneaky! I had two choices at that point �- hit SUBMIT APPLICATION or hit CANCEL. And so did I hit cancel? Well, does a zebra have stripes?

This post is brought to you by CouponCactus.com, a great source of online coupon codes for taxes, groceries, and more.

BargainBabe.com readers are above average – way above! A whopping 75 percent of readers pay off their balance every statement, according to a recent poll in which 161 readers voted. Wow! The national average is 59 percent.

Just a smidge – 22 percent – of BargainBabe.com readers carry a balance. That is half the national average of 41.37 percent of Americans who carry a credit card balance. Another 3 percent of readers chose the ambiguous “other” option, including Danielle, who said “I can�t get a credit card, because I don�t have a credit card.” Hmm, really?

These impressive stats got me thinking…are BargainBabe.com readers above average savers?

Vote first then I’ll tell you how you compare to the national average on the next page!

[poll id="56"]

Do you save four percent of your income or more? Then you are above average. The personal savings rate decreased from 4.2 percent in December 2009 to 3.3 percent in January 2010, according to today’s press release from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“Personal saving — DPI less personal outlays — was $367.2 billion in January, compared with $467.9 billion in December. Personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income was 3.3 percent in January, compared with 4.2 percent in December,” the release says.

• 46% of credit card holders paid their bill in full each month in Feb. 2009
• 59% of credit card holders paid their bill in full each month in Feb. 2010
• The average American family had $2,000 in unexpected expenses last year
• Americans have reduced their debt by $101.2 billion in the past 14 months ($1,874 per household)
• We are currently saving at record rates, setting a 15-year high (Check out BillShrink’s super cool graphic about American’s personal savings and debt, which goes back to 1960).
• We still over pay for lots of stuff, including ATM fees, credit card late fees, and dealership auto maintenance (though I’m seeing coupons from dealers these days)

To get this data BillShrink surveyed 154,000 users on its site from February 2009-January 2010. The pay off rate has been steadily increasing each month, according to the responses below.

Yes, I pay off balance each month No, I don�t pay off balance each month
02-09 46.03% 53.97%
03-09 45.92% 54.08%
04-09 41.75% 58.25%
05-09 43.19% 56.81%
06-09 46.28% 53.72%
07-09 46.92% 53.08%
08-09 48.72% 51.28%
09-09 51.21% 48.79%
10-09 51.99% 48.01%
11-09 54.73% 45.27%
12-09 57.25% 42.75%
01-10 58.63% 41.37%

I’m curious how BargainBabe.com readers compare to the national average.

[poll id="55"]