If you're carrying some credit card debt, chances are that you're paying 19% -- or more -- on it. MBNA has a decent, no-fee, no-frills card that's particularly good for balance transfers. Here's a look at the MBNA Platinum Plus MasterCard:

• 0% Annual Interest Rate on Balance Transfers for the first 10 full months
• 0% Annual Interest Rate on Access Cheques and Deposits
• No annual fee
• Credit Limit up to $100,000
• Extended Warranty Benefits extending the written warranty for up to one year on most new purchases made with the card

Application restrictions are pretty minimal -- you must be the age of majority with a minimum total household income of $35,000. If you're looking for some of the higher-end credit card perks -- cash back or price protection -- you'll probably do better with something like the Smart Cash card -- or you can explore all the options with RedFlagDeals.com's Canadian Credit Card Comparison page.

Interested in being one of the first people to try out Windows 8 before it's fully released? If so, you're in luck! Forum user stephroll just posted in the Freebies Forum that the Windows 8 Consumer Preview is now available for download.

If you aren't familiar with the new operating system's features, you can take a look at the Windows 8 consumer preview website to get a better idea of what to expect.

Although the Windows 8 Consumer Preview is free, it should be noted that since this isn't the finished product, download at your own risk. Back up your data before installing the preview, and make sure you read through the full list of FAQs here before you download.

After BMO jumped out of the gate with a 5-year fixed rate mortgage at 2.99%, other financial institutions have responded aggressively with low mortgage rate offers of their own. Now, multiple banks have 2.99% 4-year fixed rate mortgages!

• 2.99% 4-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage at RBC Royal Bank
• 2.99% 4-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage at TD Canada Trust
• 2.99% 4-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage at Scotiabank
• 2.99% 4-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage at CIBC

Instead of the extra year you get from BMO, these 4-year mortgages tend to have a more flexibility in terms of paying off your mortgage -- longer amortization periods and higher prepayment/payment increase options, for instance. No offer is definitively better than the other since everyone has different needs.

All in all, it's a good time if you're hunting for a mortgage. Even if you aren't, educating yourself now will help you in the long run. You can start doing more research with the RedFlagDeals.com mortgage rate comparison tool.

November 26, 2011 Update: With the news in August that TD bought MBNA Canada, we can't be certain how much longer the Smart Cash Platinum Plus MasterCard will be available. To date, it remains one of the best no-fee cashback credit cards on the market, and it's very much worth a look if you don't have one. It could definitely come in handy during the holiday season, too!

Originally posted September 24, 2009: Still looking for the right credit card? MBNA has put an impressive credit card offer online. The MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard is a no annual fee card with some pretty robust cash back rewards. Here are the details:

• Get 5% cash back on net gas and grocery purchases for the first 6 months (up to spending $600 per month, 1% thereafter)
• Get 3% cash back on net gas and grocery purchases thereafter (up to spending $600 per month, 1% thereafter)
• Get 1% cash back for all other net retail purchases
• 1.99% introductory annual interest rate on balance transfers and cheque cash advances for 10 months
• No annual fee

As a platinum card, it also carries the the normal platinum benefits -- a warranty extension of up to one additional year on most new purchases and free car rental insurance when renting vehicles. In terms of application restrictions, you do need to have a minimum income of total household income of $35,000 or greater. Overall, it's a very strong credit card offer. If you want to see how it stacks up to the competition, use the RedFlagDeals.com's Canadian Credit Card Comparison page or you can compare it against other MBNA Credit Cards here.

Forum user afireinside27 gave us a heads up that Chapters/Indigo are now offering free unlimited Wi-Fi in stores! In order to access the Wi-Fi, you will need to be a Plum Rewards or IRewards member. You can register for Plum Rewards for free here.

The free Wi-Fi is available through Bell, so Bell Mobility customers can also take advantage. You'll be presented with a sign-in page when you load your browser. Once you've signed in, you'll have unlimited use while you are within the store. To find your nearest Chapters/Indigo location, click here.

If you're looking for some interesting reading to increase your knowledge of business, TradePub has some free business eBooks and summaries that you should take a look at.

• Make Every Second Count: Time Management Tips and Techniques for More Success with Less Stress – Free Book Summary
• Capitalism 4.0: The Birth of a New Economy in the Aftermath of Crisis -- Free Book Summary
• Zombie Economics: How Dead Ideas Still Walk Among Us – Free Book Summary
• Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently – Free Book Summary

TradePub is a free magazine and information service that offers subscriptions and documents to industry-specific publications. You can find more publications available to Canadians here.

We're proud to announce that we've partnered with United Sample to launch a brand new Canadian online surveys community at Surveys.RedFlagDeals.com.

You get $5 just for signing up and you'll be compensated for each online survey that you complete. The system will track your earnings and when you hit $25 in earnings you can cash out. There should be at least one survey for you to complete after you sign up, and more in many cases, but it depends on your demographics and personal profile. Some of the other benefits of the system include:

• Balances tracked by the system so you'll know exactly where your earnings are
• Option to fill out an extended profile after signing up. You'll earn a few more dollars for completing those profile surveys
• Percentage estimates as to whether you'd qualify for specific surveys
• Automatic notification of new surveys as soon as they're released
• $5 sign up bonus

This is a new partnership for us, and we're hopeful that it'll have a steady stream of surveys soon. In the future, you should also see some exclusive surveys that will just go to the Surveys.RedFlagDeals.com panel but that'll be a while yet as we're just getting started. Let us know if you have any questions in the comments and we'll try to answer them as best we can.

There's no fighting it -- school starts up again soon. Maybe you've already taken care of clothes shopping, but what about your textbooks? To help, we've put together a quick list of online sources for textbooks:

• Amazon.ca is offering up to 37% off new textbooks and 90% off used textbooks.
• Amazon.com has a selection of over 100,000 textbooks. They are offering up to 30% off new books, and 90% off used.
• Abe Books is a network of independent booksellers that is offering big discounts on textbooks.
• Barnes and Noble has a large textbook selection as well. For a limited time, all customers receive the discounted member price.
• BookCloseouts.com is a seller of bargain books (new, unread books that have been returned to publishers). Prices are in US dollars but orders ship from within Canada. Right now you can save $5 on orders of $35 or more.
• Borders.com is another large US online book retailer. They have Canadian shipping options, and you can currently find 2 coupons for Borders.com in our coupon section (20% off a single item, and Buy 1 Get 1 50% off).
• Chapters.Indigo.ca offers free shipping over $39 and all orders ship from within Canada.
• eBay.ca remains a popular source of buying and selling books.
• Here at RedFlagDeals.com, we have a dedicated forum for Buying, Selling, and Trading Textbooks.

Be sure to check the Canadian Coupons Section for offers in the future.