5 Tips for Reducing Your Cable and Phone Bills

5 Tips for Reducing Your Cable and Phone Bills

With a sagging economy and job losses everywhere we turn, finding ways to save a few dollars each month is becoming an important, even necessary task. As we comb through our list of monthly expenses in search of something we can eliminate, most consumers are faced with tough choices. According to statistics reported recently by the Pew Research Center, the most common regular household expenses reported by consumers (after housing costs) include cable and satellite television services (78%), cell phone services (74%), and internet service (65%).
Like it or not, right or wrong– Americans seem to consider these entertainment and communication-related expenses as necessities. And despite the economic difficulties associated with the recession, service providers such as AT&T, Comcast and Time Warner continue to increase their prices. But what many consumers are not aware of is that due to industry competition, combined with their own struggles with this economy, many of these carriers are having work a lot harder to retain customers– even if it means offering big price breaks and aggressive promotions.
What can you do to cash-in on some of these great deals? First off, you will probably have to initiate your own “deal”, given that carrier’s are not marketing these deals aggressively. In fact, many customers are simply contacting their carrier’s and personally asking for a discount directly. Here are some suggestions on how to reduce these costs:
Review your current cable bill. Some companies allow you to “bundle” services such as cable, internet, and telephone, and often this will be the best deal (but be sure you confirm this- don’t just assume it’s the best deal).
Check out the Competition.  Check availability across multiple providers for broadband DSL, cable, and satellite service plans. A great site for comparing prices and deals available to you in your area is www.dslreports.com.
Call the cable company directly. Be armed with the research you completed in the step above. You may be able to request a promotional offer to lower your existing bill and keep your services the same. When you get a customer service rep on the phone, explain that you feel your bill is higher than you’d like, while sharing the details of the various plans you priced out while doing your research. Given the choice between losing a customer to the competition, and lowering rates (sometimes for a temporary, set period) they will often provide you a discount.
Consider switching to cheaper prepaid cellphone plans instead of landlines, and using Web-enabled mobile devices to connect to the Internet instead of buying home broadband connections.
Re-assess your needs. Do you really need all those premium channels? How often do you really use them?  Consider free alternatives to cable such as borrowing DVD’s from your local library, or a rent-by-mail subscription such as Blockbuster or Netflix.
As these tough economic times are affecting both consumers and businesses,  cable and phone service providers seem to be more receptive to giving stretched customers a discount during these tough times.