Online deals are hot this holiday season

There are so many great deals out there on the web right now.

Cyber Monday was something of a bust this year, which highlights the fact that Internet sales likely won't continue enjoying the doubt-digit growth they've experienced over the last several years. Fortunately, the online retailers' loss is your gain. We are now in the midst of a clearance-oriented holiday shopping season.

DealNews.com is one website that Clark likes for keeping tabs on deals across the web. Each deal is ranked in terms of "hotness" on a scale of 1 to 5 circles, with 5 representing the best deals. Other similar sites that also aid online shoppers include Dealio and Google's Froogle.

Clark also likes Woot.com, which sells only one item per day and can be cheaper by far than anyone else. He tends to buy from them once every 5 weeks.

When it comes to buying online, it's very important to read the website's return policy. Some online retailers have awful policies, while Amazon and Zappos.com generally have favorable ones. Zappos is often thought of as the best customer service e-commerce site out there.

Meanwhile, whenever Christa makes an online purchase, she always checks to see if she can get credit for her child's 529 account by clicking through to an online retailer via UPromise or BabyMint. She estimates her online purchases have contributed about $1,100 to her daughter's college-savings fund in 6 years!