London Zones and off-peak times

So, if you are trying to buy a travel card for your time in London, you might be as confused as I was. What should I buy? I have an oyster card - pay as you go. With the pay as you go card you pay each time you ride on a bus, tube, DLR or OverGround.

The Oyster Card never expires. We still have money from our trip in 2011.
 How much are rates currently? Well, check out this chart:

Now, I am sure you noticed two things that made you confused:
One  - the Travel Cards.
Two - the Zones.

Well, as Jack the Ripper would say, "Let's do this part by part",

Part 1 - the Travel Card.

You could buy a travel card - it might end up being cheaper than paying as you go. Check how much you're planning on riding back and forth.

Here are the options for a travel card:

Day Anytime – can be used at any time on the day of validity and for any journey that starts before 04:30 the following day.
Buy this ticket
Day Off-Peak - Can be used from 09:30 Mondays to Fridays, all day Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, on the day(s) of validity and for any journey that starts before 04:30 the following day.
Buy this ticket
7 Day - Can be used for 7 days during the period of validity and for any journey that starts before 04:30 on the day following the expiry date.
Buy this ticket

source:
 http://visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/travelcards/1-day/product/day-anytime-travelcard.html

 Part 2 - The Zones.

When you get to London you will want to get a map of the Tube and Rail. They will look like this:

 source http://www.southernrailway.com/tickets-and-fares/ticket-types/london-zones/

 But not every map will tell you the zones you're in.  Searching on Bing I found this:

So, This is it so far. I mean, this is how much I have figured out.
If you want to actually purchase these babes, go to this website:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/
and have fun.