How to Lower Your Cable Bill and Save Money
In this era of digital cable, premium channels and bundled phone and Internet services, cable bills have never been higher. And yet it's never been easier to slash your cable bill significantly. Cable providers offer so many services that there's almost always something you can do away with in order to save money. Furthermore, due to the popularity of Internet-based services like Hulu and Netflix, cable companies need your business more than ever. There are several ways to convince these companies to give you the rate you deserve.
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Instructions
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Look at your monthly bill and see where exactly your money is going. You can't do anything about some charges, such as taxes, but you might be paying for an extra cable box that you're not using.
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Make an honest assessment of what you watch and what you really need from your cable company. Do you watch enough movies to justify spending $20 a month on premium channels? Is a DVR worth the money charged? If you're paying for a home phone, how much do you use it? Examine every aspect of your use of cable services to see if there's anything you can do away with.
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Call your cable company to get rid of any services you don't think you need. The cable company may offer discounts or waive fees on these services for a short period of time to prevent you from eliminating them. Be careful when accepting these offers; the cable company is counting on you forgetting about your discount and resuming full payment when the discount is over.
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Use offers from other providers as leverage with your current company. Ask to speak to someone in your cable company's retention department, as they have more power than average reps to give you what you need to stick around.
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Cancel your service and sign on with a different provider. If the threat of cancellation doesn't get your cable company to give you a great deal, it's time to move on. Most cable companies offer great rates for new customers in their first year; if you tell them you're moving from the competition, you might be able to get that same rate for two years.
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Tips & Warnings
You don't necessarily need to stick with your cable package to watch what you want to watch. You can always get a high-speed Internet connection and watch your favorite programming online. Many channels offer their programming via online streaming, as does Hulu, and you can watch movies online through Netflix as well.
Though it might be the most effective tool in your arsenal, threatening to cancel -- or actually going through with the cancellation and moving to a cheaper provider -- only works if there's competition in your area. If your local cable company has a monopoly in your area, your ability to negotiate a better deal will be significantly limited.
Before canceling your current service and moving on to a new provider, make sure you're not stuck in a contract. Canceling before your contract is up can lead to an early termination fee of hundreds of dollars.
