Adding extra layers can help you keep warm in the winter, but a different kind of ‘bundling up’ can save you hundreds of dollars a year.
A Chicago-based consumer group recently said most families are overpaying their phone, television and internet bills by as much as $500 a year.
The Citizens Utility Board says many people remain on high-cost 10-year-old pricing tears, adding providers will not tell you about new discount bundles and packages unless you ask.
If you ask around, you might be surprised by how much money you can save each year.
If you, like many out there, are paying upwards of $300 a month to stay connected, you’re probably paying too much.
Tara Riehle counts every penny at her small farm. She even picks out cheap expired bread to feed her cows.
When she isn’t watching her animals, she is watching her expenses, and she recently discovered she was paying way too much for phone and internet.
Riehle says she was paying about $159 a month for cable, internet and two phone lines.
Paying Too Much
So she called, and was stunned to learn she was paying for everything – like Caller ID – separately, with no discount.
"I was a la carte,” Riehle said. “That’s why I was paying so much. I was being billed separately for each feature."
When she switched to a “bundled” plan, combining local, long distance and internet, her bill dropped to well under $100.
Tim Langston decided $40 a month was too much to pay for a landline phone he barely used.
Cut Back Instead of Bundling Up
"I was very rarely making calls,” Langston said. “I was paying telemarketers to call me."
He called the phone company and discovered an option few people know about, a low-usage plan for just $12 a month.
Local calls now cost him 3 cents a minute but that is fine by him.
Thrilled at his success, he targeted his cable bill next.
"I called and said I noticed Dish Network has a great package with more channels.”
So he asked them to match it. “And they agreed to do it."
Langston and Riehle both discovered that providers are now more willing to make a deal than ever.
"Times are tough right now,” Riehle said. “Big companies are hurting for business, and if you call they'll do whatever they can to keep you!"
If tough times warrant it, you can drop a service altogether. You may find you don’t need both a landline and a cell phone – and you can watch free television with an antenna (and a converter box after the digital conversion).
But before you get to that point, try working with your existing providers. You won’t know about their hottest new deals unless you ask.
