How I Cut $948 on my Internet and Phone Bill

People who know me well, know I really hate finding out that I have paid or am paying too much for a product or service like cable internet or home phone.  It’s enough to drive me crazy.  It’s a fine balance not letting small items take up your time, but I’m also a big proponent of reviewing your finances at least once a year – I actually try my best to do this every six months so the job is more manageable.

Review your bills annually

If you can plot out your bills – even your most basic annual expenses — on a spreadsheet, it really helps you get a handle on where your money is going and where you might be overspending.  It also helps you to track where your budget might be increasing/decreasing or areas of your life that you can really save some cash!

When reviewing my bills, I try to gauge what I’d like to be spending in certain categories as well as what is realistic.  In one of my budget assessments last year I noticed our cable bill had ballooned by quite a bit, even though our service hadn’t really changed.

It turned out to be a number of factors that caused this.  A promotional rate expiring, a phone service we weren’t really using anymore, and an overall increase in prices across the board by the cable company, plus changes to their cable Internet packages.

Assess your needs

It’s good to find out what is actually important to you (and your family) and what services add value to your life, or which ones are a necessity.  We had already cut our cable television off years ago but hung onto a phone line.  Silly in the age of cell phones some would say, but we had some unreliable coverage, which made for poor quality long distance calls but the situation has since improved.

The point is, many people overspend simply because they become complacent in what they have purchased.  So figure out what you’re actually using, what you need and go from there.

Beware of introductory offers that rollover at full price

The classic offer that cable providers try to trick you with is giving you 6 months to a year at a discounted rate, then viola – at the end of that term you’re paying almost double… forever.   Well, unless you read this article and decide to do something about it!

We didn’t have an introductory rate, but a discounted rate that expired and I soon found I was paying close to $150/month (taxes included) for the middle-of-the-road Internet and basic phone service.  Ridiculous pricing really when broken down and compared to other deals I knew people were getting.   It always helps to know what other people are paying for their services to assist you when negotiating price and knowing what’s possible.

It was easy to decide we could cut our roughly $35 phone package as the quality of cell coverage had improved, and the landline was barely used anymore.  Just one of those items you pay for if you don’t get around to cancelling.

I had also noticed that our Internet package was growing a little old in age and new advertised packages with slightly better speeds and bandwidth were now available.  Not to mention there were other providers offering better deals on their base packages and much better on their own introductory or promotional rates.

Be informed. Know the going rates!

The point is, that being knowledgeable regarding other pricing and promotions will help you get a better deal for yourself.  See what other providers will offer you, make notes and compare.  Going through these simple steps and with a bit of research, I was able to not only match our previous promotional rate but get another $10/month off of that old rate as well!

Cable Bill + tax

OLD COST — $124.24/ month = $1490.88/ Year
NEW COST — $73.45/month = $881.40 / Year

Cable Savings – $609.48

Phone Bill + tax

OLD COST — $338.86
NEW COST — $0.00

Phone Savings – $338.86

Total Savings = $948.34

So How do you do it?

Call up your service provider and ask to speak to customer loyalty/retentions or anyone who can help you assess and better “manage” your current bill. Have those comparable notes with you.  Try to renegotiate your contract annually, you can usually get yourself a better deal just by asking.  If you are actually prepared to cancel services, that can sometimes help you to get either a discounted rate or free services added to your current package.  If the customer service representative is stonewalling you, ask to speak with a supervisor or escalate the call.   Another option is just to call back and speak with someone else – sometimes it can depend entirely on who you are speaking to, whether they are willing to offer you a deal or how hard they are willing to work with their supervisors to get you one.

Remember to always be polite and courteous to the people you are speaking with, even if you feel the company is ripping you off!   Getting angry or being aggressive doesn’t always help your situation and can make the person on the other end of the line less willing to help or do anything for you.   You can be polite and ‘persistent’ though.

If you’re uncomfortable negotiating or speaking to people on the phone and asking for a deal or discount, use a good friend.   You can always grant someone access or authority to your account.  There are even people who do this professionally if you can believe it… negotiating deals for people on all sorts of monthly consumer contracts.

So be informed, do your research and make the call…  You don’t have anything to lose, but you have lots of savings to potentially gain!

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