How to Cut Back on Phone, Internet and Cable Bills

If the cost of your cable, home phone, wireless and Internet service are putting you in the poor house each month, here are a few tips to help you cut back on what you don’t need, save money by utilizing your purchase power and feel in control of your remote at last. By knowing the difference between what you need and what you can do without, you can save a bundle of cash and take charge of your costly media habit.

Instructions

1. Cut back on your services to reflect what it is you really use every month. Don’t get hoodwinked into triple-package “deals” if you only use two of the three elements every month.

2. Add up all the minutes you have used each month for the past three months and change your calling plan to one that is appropriate for you. Tack on an extra half-hour for good measure, but don’t pay for bundled minutes that you regularly do not use.

3. Make sure you don’t buy fewer minutes than you need on your cell phone. Once you have exceeded your monthly allowance, your per minute rate jumps dramatically and can add up to outlandish bills.

4. Cut out premium cable unless your family watches it more than an hour a day on average. Instead of paying for special movie channels, join a movie club for less than $6 a month or better yet, check out flicks from your local library.

5. Don’t text message unless you have a text messaging package in place on your cell phone. The per message rate could put you in the black and have you seeing red when you get your wireless bill.

6. Cut your wireless service back to basics. If you don’t need Internet, music and text messaging services on your phone, why pay for them? Just because you can upgrade to that fancy phone doesn’t mean you should feel pressured to buy more than you need on your calling plan. Figure out the bare minimum on what you need, add a bit more than that into your plan, thank the sales team very much and walk away from the wireless counter.

7. Get rid of your landline. What does it do that your cell phone does not? Unless you spend a great deal of time on your landline phone, it might make more sense to get a more comprehensive plan on your wireless phone, and let the landline go.

8. Switch to satellite TV.

Tips & Warnings

• Always use an earpiece when speaking on a cell phone for long periods of time. The radio frequencies may be damaging to your health.

Resources

• More tips on media saving