The kindest cut: Chopping my cable bill with a phone call...and without giving up anything
Filed under: Budgets, Saving Money, Simplification
The smart people are currently looking for ways to cut their expenses to save money and feel more financially secure. Today I found a way to save $33 a month without even giving up anything. I looked at my cable bill and decided to make a change.My cable bill is paid each month via a credit card which I pay in full every billing cycle. I wasn't paying much attention, until I saw that my cable bill for the month was $151. Huh? My bill wasn't that much. I took a look, and saw that my bill used to be $135 a month, until I got a mysterious increase in my internet access. I thought I'd give the cable company a call and see if I couldn't get that extra $16 a month removed.
By the time I got off the phone, my monthly bill was down to $118, and it didn't hurt a bit. As I talked over my bill with the customer service representative, I was reminded that I was paying $13 a month for HBO. If I had to guess, I'd say I watch HBO once a month at the very most. Time to give up the HBO that I won't even miss anyway.
Then the even better news. I could "lock in" my pricing on a package that includes all the same channels I have, plus internet access, for about $20 less than the current rate. It meant that I'd have to agree to a 24 month contract in exchange for the discount. I'm not giving up cable or internet access anytime soon, so why not commit in exchange for the discount? Besides that, the cable company has been increasing prices by 5% or more a year, so locking in this discounted rate made sense.
When all was said and done, my $151 cable bill was down to $118. And I won't even have to change my viewing habits or internet use. That's almost $400 a year saved with a 15 minute phone call. Not a bad return on my time, and I can feel good about saving a little money.
Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-10-2008 @ 8:46PM
Darrell said...
Why pay for cable? Save an additional 118. a month and watch free programming online.
Reply
10-10-2008 @ 10:28PM
s said...
and how do u do that?
10-10-2008 @ 9:32PM
lewis said...
Don't pay the cable bill this is unnecessary ,if you have DTH connection this is more efficient than many cable connections .
Reply
10-10-2008 @ 11:21PM
monilove69 said...
In my state the cable company is called charter communications. They are the biggest pimps next to consumers energy. When you first sign up for the services, it always starts off at on prices but always ends up a totally different price. In my city charter is the only cable company so if you want it, their the only game in town. One thing that they fail to tell you is, they bill you a month in advance. So that 49.99 a month you started with turns into 116.00 which includes a late fee. Then without any notice a shady looking guy shows up on your doorstep telling you that if you don't pay your past due balance i'm gonna cut off your service. Guess what i got to pay this pimp an extra 25.00 for his time. Hey folks tell mr.cable man to kiss your ass, I'm getting satellite.
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10-11-2008 @ 10:46AM
Jackie said...
I get basic cable Is less than $25.00 a month. This gives me 99 channels I can watch and I get free movies and if I elect to buy a movie I want to watch it is $4.99. Which I do not do. I think I can find something on 99 channels I can watch and don't pay for anything extra. You can only watch one station at a time so why pay more? I am happy with my Comcast bill which only give me the basic stations. It will also take care of HD when it goes into effect.
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10-11-2008 @ 10:16AM
Susan in FL said...
Guess what - you can still get television for free with an antenna through the air. You won't get 100 channels, but if you don't watch a lot of tv, what are you missing? And you save that $100.00 per month.
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