While Stella usually indulges my laziness by combing through the financial blogs and picking out our weekly roundup on her own, I thought I'd try something new this week and scrounge around for them myself. The result of this was lots of sports-related stories!

With Black Friday rapidly approaching, there are plenty of deals coming out that are making saving money during the holiday season easier and easier. This time last year, the recession was in its infancy and companies were still trying to figure out the way to attract new customers. During the holiday season of 2008, plenty of people were looking for deals. In fact, Savings.com saved people almost $4.4M* during the holidays in 2008. The most popular category was electronics and Savings.com's electronics deals saved users over $1.5M.

In one of my previous posts, Take Me Out To The Bar Game, I wrote about how you can save money by going to a bar instead of watching a live sports game. Turns out people all over the country are taking that advice a step further and just watching the games from home.

Recently the Washington Post reported that NFL TV ratings have been rising due to the recent economic downturn. They're claiming that more people are watching games from home either because they want to get their money's worth out of the HDTV they bought or because watching games from home is free. Both theories make sense.

I've been elected to write this week's "Home Sweet Home" edition of Herding Cats--which is fitting, because I do indeed live at and work from home. Since today is All Hallow's Eve Eve, it was also fitting that we feature a few stories about ghosts.

Read on...if you dare!

All of today's articles serving as virtual shooting-range targets for my warped sense of comprehension share the same general theme: food. It's something I admittedly don't know much about anymore due to the diet plan I've followed over the last few months, the likes of which limits my life sustaining nutritional intake to non-processed foods best described as boring.

Being a creature of habit and patterned processes carefully refined over time to yield more positive results than negative, I welcome this mundane feeding process which lacks in both general good taste and creativity, but serves up a healthy portion of predictability. Thank goodness for you, the news articles on the menu today subscribe to anything but...

Inspired by the upcoming film NO IMPACT MAN, a story about a family that goes off the grid for a year, I decided to write a blog about some simple lessons from mom and dad that go a long way in being green. While NO IMPACT MAN'S extreme lifestyle is inspiring, there are also simple things all of us can do every day to make a difference.

Our Community Manager, Sara Dunham (aka "WiscoVixen"), has gone Hollywood on us. She's appearing on Best Deals TV Show to tout the benefits of Savings.com.

Best Deals TV Show is southern California's #1 most-watched consumer program on KTLA 5 and KCAL 9. Consumer reporters Lynda Halligan and Andrew Amador travel all over southern California searching for the best buys and value for services.

The spot will air on L.A. channels KTLA 5 and KCAL 9 starting this Saturday. Early birds can catch it at 8:30 AM PST on October 11th and 25th on KCAL 9. Night owls can get their Wisco-fix at 1:30 AM PST on the 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st on KLTA 5.

Or you can take a peek right now:

Consumers are obviously holding onto their hard-earned dollars and making sure to get the most bang for the buck when they do decide to spend money. We've seen some places where consumer purchasing behavior has changed drastically during this year, and we predict that, in order to lure consumers into buying, some retailers are going to have to work overtime to provide good deals.

Based on the data we're observing, there are some areas we think are going to be good places to find deals before the end of the year.

The recession has hit all retailers hard. Will "Black Friday" be the cure for the economic downturn doldrums? Or will it be a game of chicken between retailers and shoppers waiting out the flurry of holiday sales and promotions in hopes of scoring the deepest discounts?

As we begin to come out of the worst part of the recession and enter the vital holiday season, there are trends appearing every shopper should keep in mind:

Buying a new TV, or a new computer, printer, or anything electronic for that matter can be pretty darn exciting--especially when you are saving money with some great Best Buy coupons. But the question remains, what to do with all your old electronic items?

If you missed out on cashing in on that clunker in your driveway, now is your chance to cash in on that clunker in your kitchen. The question is, will the program be ultimately worthwhile for our environment and your wallet?

At Savings.com, we celebrate coupons on a daily basis. But we were still stoked to hear that September is National Coupon Month. We're not surprised that an entire month had been dedicated to coupons--given the steady rise of usage we've witnessed over the last months.

The goal of the Obama-created "Cash for Clunkers" program was simple: stimulate the economy and reduce carbon emissions by getting gas guzzlers off the road. A goal, that at first glance, seems noble--a veritable win-win.

While it may have helped consumers save money, the long-term environmental effects may, or may not have been worth it.

This past week, I (along with several of my co-workers) attended an out-of-town conference for several days and I have to tell you, it's really good to be back! Not that I didn't learn a lot and wasn't grateful for the opportunity to spend quality time with my fellow Savings.comers, but sinking into my own bed, with my own pillows last night was a welcome relief from strange hotel rooms and crowded airplanes.

So in honor of that, I give you this week's finance blog round-up--the "Home Again" edition:

Much like we've seen with gas prices, the recession can be your friend when it comes to baseball ticket prices, too.

Major League Baseball was certainly grateful when the recession waited until the end of the 2008 season to rear its ugly head. Despite attendance dipping about 1% from 2007, America's wealthiest sport saw its revenues climb half a billion dollars. Luckily for sports fans, that trend will not continue.

By the beginning of the 2009 season, most teams had already downed the proverbial stiff drink and prepared to offer creative ways for their fiscally weary fans to enjoy an affordable trip to the ballpark.

The economy sucks. No big secret there, right? And it's no secret that the federal and state governments are feeling similar economic pressures as their residents. I don't think this could be any more evident than it is for those of us who live here in California.

Last week, KABC-TV in LA ran a story called Online Coupons: Beware of the Bargain that tells the story of a woman that was scammed by an online coupon service. Via a popup on their site, this service promised her a great deal in exchange for some of her personal information. She ended up with a load of phony charges on her credit card statement, and she's still in the process of straightening out her finances.

It seems only fitting as we prepare to celebrate the 4th of July--the day our forefathers declared independence in response overzealous taxation--that some welcome news on the tax front comes our way. Specifically, a resolution to the dreaded "Amazon Tax" known as "AB178" in California.

It's that time of the week again, time for the Savings.com blog round up for the week of June 28th. We've picked some of our favorite blog posts from the past week and compiled them into a concise list for your reading pleasure. This week's theme: Financial Crimes.

I remember getting my first credit card. I had just been laid off from my job when it arrived. When I called my mom to tell her the good news, her response was "They gave a credit card to someone who is unemployed?"

My reply: "Is this a great country or WHAT?!!!"

Over at 24/7 Wall St., they're reporting on the latest market rally saying that calling it a "a mere recovery would be an understatement of the year." And the biggest winner in the stock turnaround?

CROCs.

Given the brand's remarkable 200% gains since March, 24/7 Wall St. muses "Is CROCs Becoming the New Bull Market Proxy?"

Our CEO, Loren Bendele, spoke out about the proposed "Amazon Tax" bill that's going before California legislature this upcoming Monday in a guest post on VentureBeat.com. Here's what he had to say:

Even though many folks are tightening their pursestrings these days, entertainment purchases will continue to be made. Throughout hard times in history, people have pursued escapism, and entertainment has always filled that need. From musical comedies in Leninist Russia and free outdoor screenings during the Great Depression to Woodstock during the Vietnam War, people needed a way to escape the difficult times...and we're no different, although we're not dealing with anything nearly as grim as those three examples. Whether you're buying movie tickets, paying for your Netflix subscription, or downloading songs to keep your iTunes library and your iPod updated, your purchases may become less frequent, but it's doubtful that they'll stop altogether.