Hope you’re finding great deals online today, RMT’ers! This later-to-the-holiday-shopping-party day of “Cyber Monday” has become one of my faves, as it involves nothing more than turning on my web browser, hitting up my favorite shopping sites, and checking out the major sales. Convenient, cheap, and child-friendly (as in, no need to drag a child to the mall)… sounds great to me!

Having said that, I owe you all an update to Friday’s post. As you can see, we got down to the bank Friday morning after all! We got a slow start with it being the day after a very busy Thursday here at the house, but thankfully the bank wasn’t a hot spot on Black Friday. We got in right away with a wonderful representative named RJ at our local Bank of America branch. I explained to RJ that we were looking for a fee-friendly (as in, none if possible) minor or custodial savings account. Turns out the information I got on the phone earlier last week was wrong BUT that was OK because the information that RJ gave us was way better!

Not only do B of A’s minor savings accounts have no fees for the first three years (as I was told on the phone), but they are fee-free until the minor child turns 18-years-old. Even better, there’s no requirement for the parents/custodians to have an account of their own on-site to qualify for a minor savings account. All the child has to have to open an account is: two forms of ID (the parents’ or custodians’ IDs can count for one of these if the child doesn’t have a photo ID); the signature of the parents/custodians on file; and $25. There are no other minimums, fees, or requirements to speak of.

RJ was really wonderful with us and especially with T. Despite T’s exclamation that “the bank is going to steal his money,” RJ was really great at laughing that and many other of T’s comments off and with putting up with a kid who wanted nothing more than to be done with the process. Though it only took us about 30 minutes to get the new account established, that’s a long time for a five-year-old to be confined in a small office, dontchaknow?! Luckily there was a chair for T to spin around in and small areas for him to hide behind for the duration.

B of A’s minor savings account – and our local customer service – is a great testament to their company’s commitment to introducing kids to saving money. While I didn’t shop around too much, their product seems like a perfect fit for those families looking for an easy savings account option for their youngest children. Of course, the interest rate offered under this product isn’t anything to write here about, but that’s become the norm across the board, minor savings accounts or otherwise.

So congratulations, T, on your first bank account! And we’ll be sure to show you the totals online every so often so you know no one is “stealing your money” either!

On another note, Saturday was American Express’ Small Business Saturday! Our family knocked a bunch of gift items off of our holiday lists in just a couple of hours shopping at a few of our favorite local businesses. I mentioned on Facebook and Twitter that we’d registered all seven of our AMEX cards so that we could take advantage of the $25 refunds to each of our accounts; to say we took advantage would be an understatement.

I added it up. We spent just over $225 on all seven cards, with a total refund due back of $175, making our net out-of-pocket just over $50 for the morning’s shopping. I probably could have done better on that net out-of-pocket, but with the boys with me, my time was semi-limited, especially since we went into two toy stores (!). But that’s OK as we got items that we really wanted to buy, even if not the best-best deals possible.

Just what did we get for our efforts (though it was all fairly effortless really)? Here’s a vague run-down (don’t want to spoil any surprises!):

– 1 piece of women’s jewelry
– 8 small Hanukkah gifts
– 1 Playmobil set
– 2 small LEGO sets
– 2 outdoor toys
– 1 board game
– 2 Green Toys baby toys
– 1 Melissa & Doug wooden craft kit
– 1 piece of women’s casual outerwear
– got the car washed (yes, that counted!)

This knocked out eight people from our gift list, or about half the people on it, including all of the kids (sans T, of course). Not too shabby of a shopping effort for $50!

Speaking of knock-outs, a special shout goes out to Knock Knock Toys in Seal Beach (CA). We were able to process our purchase as three separate transactions there – so we could use three of our AMEX cards – AND they also allowed us to use a 10 percent off coupon across the three sub-totaled transactions! Thanks, Knock Knock! That’s why we love you every day of the year, not just on Small Business Saturday!

My best buy of the morning, you ask? An item for $24 that went just over $25 with tax, making my net price less than $1 for a pretty fabulous gift! The close runner-up was the car wash, where we not only got a much-needed chore taken care of, but it was also where we found the Melissa & Doug item (yes, RMT’ers, my car wash carries great gifts, who knew?!). Total net price there was just under $3!

What was the best deal you got this weekend between Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday (today)? Please brag here, RMT’ers!

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