[This is part 3 of our 3-part series on how to save money with your cable, phone, and internet bills (while also FAILING at the same time). You can find part #1 here and part #2 here.]
So I totally forgot to share the results with y’all last month on our cable bill stuff. Truth be told, I got all TV hacking tired out so it was probably my brain’s way of telling me to quit thinking about it for a while until I got re-excited again.
And here we are today getting re-excited again!
Why? Because our updated bill came in and it shows a cool $50 savings. Woopee! Now it’s not *as* sexy as some of y’alls setups you’ve scored, what with your eliminating of TV altogether and/or super smart concoctions, but for a family who enjoys their TV and doesn’t want to get too hardcore yet, we’ll take a crisp Benjamin Grant any day of the week. Or, for that matter, every MONTH OF THE YEAR! Hubba hubba!
But while I did spend many a hours trying to game the system by messing with streaming internet contraptions (that didn’t work on my old TV) and scoring free over-the-internet phone lines (that did work, but now I have 2 lines!), at the end of the day all it really took was a single 20 minute phone call to get the job done.
So before any of you go adventuring off to save your own money, do yourself a favor and call up your current provider first and *then* try hacking the system. That way you get the quick savings implemented ASAP, and then if you figure out a way to ditch anything it’s all extra gravy on the money train. As long as you don’t have to sign up for any extended contracts in the process…
How We Cut The Bill Down
The short answer is I just called up Verizon and asked, “Can you help lower my bill?” :) But how we got from point A (no savings) to point B ($50 savings) is a bit more on the wild side. Mainly because I had to UPGRADE more services than I did DOWNGRADE because apparently everything’s based on “the more you have, the cheaper they get” type deal – as crazy as that sounds. A perfect example being when I asked to drop our landline, thinking we’d save a quick $30 off the bat, but instead it had the reverse effect and jacked UP our bill!
So about mid-way through our call I gave up on trying to understand it all and just let the Verizon rep do her thing. Or, as she called it “work her charm.” Which tells you right there how confusing the whole thing is – probably very much on purpose.
Anyways, here were the two areas we upgraded:
- Our internet (which is now faster – I’ll take that!)
- Our premium channel package (double the fancy pants channels)
And here’s what we downgraded:
- TV channel package (went one level down to get less channels)
Phone line(I’m still bitter)
Now the premium channels we can actually kill at any time (we couldn’t at first to get the deal they said, but now that we’ve activated it apparently we can nix at any point), but since we can’t get streaming internet/Netflix/Hulu we’ll probably end up keeping it for a while to continue watching our favorite shows. We went from having only HBO and Showtime for $15/mo to having HBO, Showtime, Starz, Cinemax, and Epix (whatever that is) for half the price @ $7.50. Which is much less than 1 month of Netflix alone anyways, isn’t it? (We’re probably the only people left who’s never used them)
These two upgrades resulted in about $40 worth of savings – including a “Valued Customer” one – and then they gave us two other random $5’ish discounts too which to this day I still can’t understand. Even after reading the bill three times (I’m telling you – confusing on purpose!).
All this results in a bill of about $122.00 instead of $170.00. Which used to be $150 at some point last year until it all crept up more and more without my realizing it. As much as I’d love to bitch and moan about that, I really can’t since we all know it’s our own faults for not paying attention and calling up as soon as we notice it. The increases always seem random, but of course none of us ever reads our contracts/bills where it states very clearly when these deals end, haha… If we were smart enough we’d mark it on the calendar to avoid any future increases!
(*Hits pause to go and add the end dates to his calender*)
So to recap:
- We still have TV (just less channels)
- We still have our dang landline we don’t use
- We have faster internet speeds now (yay!!!)
- We have double the premium channels (yay!!! yay!!!)
- And we’re saving $50 every single month going forward now (Yay!!! x 50)
Can we do better? Hell yes. Do I want to mess with it any more right now? Hell no. I’ve had enough fun to last me a while, and all I want to do now is sit on my couch and watch some damn TV ;)
That being said, y’all have TOTALLY opened up my eyes on what’s possible out there and I would like to get this well under $100/mo at some point. Maybe even $50. If you haven’t read any of the comments on our last part of this series, or even the first part, check them out because there’s some really clever hacks in there.
We’ll probably go the route Mike from Simplifiable recommends later which is upgrading our ancient TV to a newer (used) 720p unit which will get us right into modern technology again for only a couple hundred bucks, minus anything we’d make off the TV when selling it. According to Mike,
“Because the screen density technology is now two generations old, 1080p and the new 4K TV’s coming on to the scene are pushing down the prices of the 720p units dramatically. Personally, I can’t tell the difference between 720p and 1080p unless I’m within 24 inches of the screen… As the 4K TV’s proliferate, the next 12-24 months are going to be an incredible time for picking up quality 720p, flat panel TV”s with modern ports, for dirt cheap.”
I reckon that will be a good way to get us caught up, and then we can slowly start detaching ourselves from the dreaded cable/internet/phone bundle so many of us are caught up in… We’re not ready to let go of cable yet, but I can see the streaming of everything helping to move us in the right direction.
Challenge Tallies Thus Far…
All this now means we’ve successfully accomplished our 3rd major mission in this Challenge Everything series so far, and even more if you count moving my investments from USAA to Vanguard and literally saving *tens of thousands* of dollars over my lifetime in expense fees.
Here are the results:
- Cell phone switching: $100 savings
- Car insurance tweaking: $30 savings
- Cable/phone/internet upgrade/downgrade: $50 savings
That’s a total of $180 saved EVERY SINGLE MONTH going forward. And since it literally is going into savings, we’ll be able to see just how much of an impact it really does have over time. All for barely any work whatsoever!
I know only a small % of you reading this and taking action will ever comment, but I do hope y’all are following along and giving a lot of these ideas a shot yourself to save over the long run too. As you can see most of these challenges didn’t take that long to implement, and every time you cut your normal every day expenses by a bit it means you shave off a little more time you need to work later in life too. $180 a month can replace an entire full day’s worth of work (or even three!) depending on how much you get paid. And the beauty is you don’t lose any quality of life in the process!
That’s powerful stuff right there, friends… so I really do hope you’re playing along here.
If you have, how much have you saved so far? What worked and what didn’t? What other bills are you cutting back on to gain monthly – recurring – forever savings?
——-
PS: I have come across one major problem so far with this new setup – we no longer get ESPN which = Monday Night Football!! And my ‘Skins are coming up soon!
CORRECTION: My wife says we actually have *two* major problems – No more Monday Night Football and no more MTV… Though we all know which is more important ;)
Get blog posts automatically emailed to you!
I have changed my telephone-internet plan. Because I subscribe to supreme plan which is the highest internet and a tablet attached to telephone, I have decided to downgrade to the normal plan as I and my family do not need faster connection and we have tablets and phones. Thus, I save $40 a month. How exciting is that.
Nice work! It’s amazing how well simply asking the customer representative works. There was one time my cable/internet was up over $200 per month. All I did was call and ask if they could do any better, and so move number 1 was to come back and offer me the same package for $100. I’m glad I called!
I don’t know which is crazier – the fact it cost $200/mo or that it was cut in half! haha…
You never know what you’ll get if you just ask! I recently got free upgraded internet for 12 months just by asking!
Jay
I tell my clients ALL the time that if they are paying more than $150 a month for cable or satellite that they need to call and get it reduced. So far, I have had 7 people try this hack and it works. For us, we cut cable completely this year and only have Hulu Plus, Netflix, and Amazon Prime and we are saving about $100 a month. We are taking part in your savings challenge and I will send you the screenshot of our account on Wednesday. I want lots of stars. :-)
We did the same thing last year when I lost my job. The only thing I really miss is ESPN. We cut cable completely and also have Hulu Plus, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. I also bought an antenna, with which we get about 20 channels, including the major networks, ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. The antenna was about $50 and totally worth it. Hulu and Netflix are $7.99 each and my wife already had Amazon Prime at the lower $79, which was increased earlier this year to $99 per year. I’m not sure we’ll renew at that rate, but my wife does like the savings she gets on shipping. We’ve also kind of burned through everything we wanted to see on Netflix, so might drop that one soon as well.
We just renewed our Amazon with the student rate of $49!!! Whoo hooo!
I guess there are some benefits to being a broke (former) student. Once you lock in that student rate they let us renew that rate!
We don’t have cable, Netflix or Hulu Plus. When I really want to watch something, I’ll activate Netflix for a month and then unsubscribe the next month. I do go over to my friends’ houses and watch TV on their sets occasionally.
I’ll be looking forward to seeing that screenshot :)
Whoa – no ESPN? That’s the main reason we’re sticking with cable. That and HBO. We did go without it for a year, but decided it was worth it to us. But…..I still really need to call our cable company – the introductory rate just ended and our bill went way up. Thanks for the reminder and here’s hoping I’m as successful as you were!
The only thing I really miss from cable is ESPN. If there is a game I really want to see, I go to a nearby sports bar. I’d really love to see ESPN decoupled from cable.
I wish I could do that but hard with kids and timing of bed time/etc :( Though someone emailed and said that when your local team plays on Monday Night Football that a local station usually plays it too, so I’m now banking on that! Though it only covers 1 out of all Monday night games, ugh…
my husband was really reluctant to separate from cable for that reason, but now its just an excuse for a trip to the bar….most games we watch come in on our basic cable, i believe its just the monday night games that dont
I called a few months ago to inquire about getting rid of our landline and tbey were so insistent on us keeping then line despite our best efforts they ended up giving us a crazy deal saving us about $50/month for two years. I need to look at our cell phone bills though they cost us a small fortune mostly because of my husbands work, which they wont expense….
Nice! I love reducing those recurring bills. Anytime I can automate more savings, I’m a happy camper. Especially when it’s something I’m paying for every month. I wish we could get our internet cheaper, but, it’s pretty solidly parked at $66/month (we don’t have cable or a landline).
Yeah, and there’s no way you’re gonna cut that off :) I feel like $66 is pretty good though from what I hear from others who only have internet now too… The norm seems to be around $80 I wanna say?
i think im at 57 month with just basic cable and no landline. i call and complain regulary though so i think thats about the bottom
Haha I will never understand cable companies. We pay $40 for only Internet and I’m pretty okay with that!! Hubs always wants TV back around football season but I somehow get away with the no TV thing year after year. ;)
Hah! $40 – awesome. Half of what I thought the norm is I just commented above – you over achiever you :)
Great job!! Just make sure you know when the deal expires if it does at all. When my Mom called to lower her bill, they upgraded her to more channels for less money. The kicker was that when the deal expired, her bill was twice what it originally was. Even though she cancelled all of the extras they added on, the one month of a higher bill basically wiped out her savings.
DAMMMMMN!
I already looked and added to my calendar now so hopefully I’m not an idiot when the reminders come and push it off.
The upgrading to cut the bill is so twisted- oh cable providers, sigh. Good work on the bill cutting though, those are some serious savings over time.
Nice job J$! We’re with DirecTV and the whole upgrading to downgrade thing lives there as well which really doesn’t make much sense to me. But, it shouldn’t surprise me as it seems like you need a PhD to understand their bills, lol. I’d cut cable in a heartbeat but sports is the one thing I couldn’t get – legally at least. We call in several times a year and usually get some sort of discount of it so it only makes sense to do it. We’re a few months out from being able to tell Verizon good bye and I can’t wait to cut that bill!
We are going to be ditching cable this month because I got a letter from the cable company telling me that our bill was set to go up by $60 per month. When I called to try to get a better deal, they were very firm in telling me they could not do better. That to me means it’s time to get rid of cable! So we will be going the Hulu/Prime/Netflix route that so many others are going. We are going to miss cable but it’s not worth so much extra money.
Good luck!! I hope you don’t miss it and you can forever save mad money! :)
Appreciate the article and sharing how difficut it is to understand these offerings on cable/internet service. Gotta tell ya not a fan of the $120 a month bill let alone the $170 a month bill. I fought this fight about a year ago and my bill now is $77 for cable and internet. Like you no MTV and no ESPN….but for me it is a way to “wean” ourselves from cable altogether. Next price hike ….we’re done…we’ll cut the cable. Please keep us up to speed about the next generation of TV’s and how we can benefit from the technology. I will probably always keep our landline…for me $1 a day for reliable communication with unlimited calling…well…is a bargain. I didn’t see any mention to find savings with your electric. I was able to save quite a bit by changing electric providers and making changes to some appliances. Best move? GEO Spring hybrid hot water heater. Take a look….a lot of incentives available and a 10 year warranty….And amazing electric savings.
Great job on getting it to $77! We’ll probably make it there one day, but not anytime in the near future :) And you’re right – we haven’t tackled the electric bill yet. I’m slowly going down them one by one as my patience/energy allows so keep your eyes open for a future post on the others. Though since we rent now and don’t own this house we’re in, I’m not sure how flexible our options will be.
There is plenty of competition in the cable/ internet space, so you can often save by bundling services or mentioned you might be looking to jump to a competitor. Your current provider would much rather offer you a discount than lose you all together,
Yeah, I actually looked into other providers in the area but they all have the dang bundles and would have cost pretty much the same, if not more. Though I didn’t threaten us leaving completely, so maybe I’ll do that one next when our discounts run out :)
Im actually glad to hear you still have cable, because we do too. And no, you are onto the only ones who have never used netflix. We are in that club too. :)
AWESOME!!! Nice to meet you cable lover :)
Because WOW! recently came to our area, Time Warner has been really lowering it’s rates to be competitive. My boyfriend got his bill from $110 to $92 (including tax). This is great for all of the channels and DVR that he has, not to mention high speed internet.
For the 720 vs 1080, it all depends on how far away you are from the TV! This is a nice graphic and shows that our long living room lends itself to 720! http://icdn3.digitaltrends.com/image/720vs1080-625×1000.png
And e-mail me if you need some help finding some streams for the game tonight. I’ve been watching MNF through the webs for about 5 years now without having cable! It can be done! Just make sure you have adblock ready. :)
Just hoping Jamaal can roll through NE tonight! GO CHIEFS!
Haha… I wouldn’t even watch it on the computer if I could – I’ve been trying to stay far away from it at night as best I can after being on all day long. But one of these days I’ll be able to stream it on my new used TV and then you’re on! :)
I use an HDMI cable to watch it on my big screen! Loving this game tonight!
J. Money with faster internet = total internet domination
Nice!!! I’m also looking to downgrade TV package with FIOS but wife loves her TVLand which doesn’t come with lower package and at this time of year ESPN is my prime viewing channel. Has anyone used the WatchESPN app for Android and used it with Chromecast to cast live games and shows to TV? Gonna see how that works and might be a prime way to begin the downgrading process but still have to convince the wife.
We only have Netflix and pirate the rest (in Canada it’s legal to download just not legal to reshare! I’m not even stealing!!) so total cost is $7.99
And right now I have the student discount on our internet bill (ONE good thing about the MBA) which brings our internet bill to $30
Total cost of tv-watching = $38.
Can’t save $50 because we don’t even pay that ;)
I hate you. (And by that I mean I love you – little miss pirate stealer ;))
I just did the same with our cable and Internet bill! It went from $157 (since I let the promotional rate expire…ugh) to $117/month. At first, I IM’ed with a rep online who offered some lackluster promotions for current customers (upgrading our Internet speed and adding more channels that we wouldn’t watch), so I asked if I could get new customer pricing since I was a loyal customer of several years. He wouldn’t budge, so I pulled out the new customer promotional prices at a competitor. I was firm on wanting to stick to our budget, so I told him it would be much easier to save money by switching to the competitor. At this point, he called me on the phone for a last ditch effort and then transferred me to another rep; what I’m assuming was a retention specialist.
Magically, the second rep was able to offer much better pricing. It wasn’t quite as low as the new customer pricing, but we were able to upgrade our Internet speed and save about $40/month! And yes, we still get ESPN, which was one of the reasons why we got cable in the first place.
Gotta love that “switching” card!
I will never comprehend how the cable companies operate when it comes to their pricing, unless I pick up a new side hustle and go work for them part-time! I can’t say that I understand the emergency situation that is ESPN and MTV lol. Since you value your football, what are you going to do to still watch the games?
Cry :(
Cutting cable and going with a couple work arounds saves us $55 each month, it’s great and if anything I feel like we watch better shows and only when we want to watch them and pay less, I’m with you.
I had been calling every 6 months for 6-7 years to keep our cable bill in the $110-$125 range instead of the $160-$190 range that they wanted. It works. :-) About a month ago, we decided to cut cable altogether and our bill is $45. BUT, we still need to switch to Ting or Republic Wireless since our cell phone bill has been at $150 a month for unlimited everything with Spring forever…
Yeah, the cell phone savings is pretty incredible! I do miss my iPhone but I do NOT miss paying $100 extra every month ;)
(And great job calling every 6 months – what a fantastic habit to get into)
I’ve actually been without a regular TV so long that I don’t know how people with TVs can stand the commercials and having to wait for certain times for programs to be on. You can find almost anything online! Although I also could care less about sports, which is probably a cable-cutting deal breaker for a lot of folks.
Is it weird that I actually *like* commercials?? :)
Only on TV though – I can’t stand radio commercials.
Cable? Who needs cable.
I got a $20 pair of HD rabbit ears a few years ago and have never looked back.
Good stuff! Saving money and getting higher internet! Love it!
The thing I need to do is figure out if consolidating any insurance will help me save money. I have my home and earthquake with State Farm, my car with Geico. So far combining those into one doesn’t save money. Bout to get life insurance though and if I bundle that with my home it might be entirely covered! Which would be cool! We’ll see…
It’s a great thing to look into for sure :)
Nice work on cutting it down $50. I have always been amazed on how much you can save when you buy more. It makes no sense and only in the cable industry does that type of math work. I haven’t had cable in nearly three years, but I don’t have much time to watch TV anymore.
Wait, did you have to sign up for a contract for this new deal? I know how DirecTV works. I started out paying $34/month. After 1 year all the promotions expired, leaving me with a $75/month bill. And since it was a contract, I had to wait another year to cancel. I knew what was coming, but was excited for the value that first year. After the contract expired, I dropped it and switched to $7.99 netflix streaming along with an antenna which provides the major networks for free, in higher quality HD than you get with a cable/satellite provider (sunday football never looked so good).
It seems like your main issue is the TV itself. Dropping cable altogether is a savings of at least $100. A decent new 32″-42″ TV can be had for $300-$500 new. That new TV with $7.99 netflix will pay for itself in less than 6 months. I get all the HBO and fancy channel series on Netflix (ok I admit most shows are a season behind) but I can watch it whenever and wherever I want with netflix.
Yeah, the options open up like crazy once we upgrade TVs. Just a matter of time really until we do that (and nope – no signing or extending of any contracts on our cost savings here! I made double sure of that, believe me :))
When I 1st read you cut your cable down $50 I thought you dropped cable, BUT while going from $170 to $120 is commendable, YOU”RE STILL SPENDING $120 A MONTH ON CABLE!!!
Just drop the cable, we did and it’s the best thing we ever did, no regrets at all. We do have a Roku box with Amazon prime, but that’s it!
We spend on our priorities – so cable may not be worth it to you and/or others, but for us it is at this given point in time. I’m sure there’s stuff you spend money on that we never would ;)
It definitely helps to call and ask to get any promotions. I was also able to make about the same cut a while back.
Great job J.! We have a faster internet connection too, I just upgraded last month and for me it was one of my best decision for this year. :)
Saving an extra $50/month is nothing to sneeze at. Great Job! My wife and I just celebrated our 1 year anniversary (yay us!). We have a solution to saving on T.V., Internet and Phone that works well for us but may not for most. WE DON’T HAVE A TV. Sometimes it’s tough not being able to watch sports when I want, but we’ll go over friend’s houses if we really crave TV. We also don’t have land lines, just two cell phones, which may not be the best set up but it works for now. We pay $65 for internet and $60 for both our cell phones for a total payment of $125! Pretty sexy I’d say.
This our situation! We just don’t have a TV at all!
Instead, we have our computer on a rolling desk that we pull out in front of the couch when we watch a movie together. In our last apartment we had a fixed desk and put the couch on rollers : ).
We pay for Amazon prime at a discounted student rate of 49/year. No Netflix, Hulu Plus etc.
When we want to watch something on TV itself I go over to a friend’s house.
I admire y’all – I can’t ever watch anything on our computer cuz I’m so tired of staring at it by the end of the day when it’s TV time :( But when we upgrade our TV later I’ll finally at least be able to stream it all!
Good job on your challenge and hitting all 3 to get them lowered
Way to go! It is rather ridiculous how many hoops they have you jump through with all the bundling and packaging. Their prices and plans make no sense at all. Our apartment complex offers a package deal of basic TV and Internet for $75. I would rather get rid of the cable since we don’t get many channels, but they don’t give us any options.
Interesting… $75 is great, but of course only if you use it!
Hey J$, has your wife looked online to see if MTV posts full episodes online for her favorite shows? That’s how I get my Teen Mom 2 fix for free…
Hah – nice. I’m not sure if she has or not, but she’s like me in that she doesn’t like watching stuff on our computers after sitting in front of them all day… Though when we get streaming eventually (when we upgrade our TV) I’m sure she’ll be all over it ;)
That’s great you were able to save $50 a month! That adds up to a lot of cash over the years, especially if you invest it or use it to help you make money.
My wife and I actually did away with cable all together and switched to a couple streaming services instead. We pay around $20 a month plus the initial cost for the Roku setups. You should check into it.
We also use the bare minimum as far as internet. Our connection is ~3mbps and works just fine for our needs. Good luck!
Nicely done :) I could personally be pretty fine without cable down the line, but the internet is a biggie. Would be hard to sustain my sanity running all my online projects from home if I reverted back to the AOL days, haha… But we all have our own priorities, right?
Have you tried the ESPN app? I think you just need to sign in with the same info you would sign in to see your account online. But I think you would need to have ESPN so maybe sign in with a friend or family members info???? I am going to try the Disney app with my parents info, if they can ever remember it, and see what happens. :-)
We actually changed our account A LOT since this article was written and no longer have ESPN anymore :( But we’re also saving $80/mo+ now so all good with me! :)
https://budgetsaresexy.com/2015/01/final-cable-tv-savings/
I just wanted to share that about a year and a half ago we switched our cellphone service to Ting. Their prices are great, especially if you don’t use a lot of data outside of wifi. I have two smartphones on the plan and my monthly bill runs approx 32.00 per month. No contracts, you can buy your phone from them or elsewhere. It’s great if you primarily use your cell for calls and texting. Also, the customer service is excellent. I can’t recommend it highly enough. We just got tired of paying Verizon for more than we needed. Ting may not work great for families with teenagers but it works great for boomers.
YES! I’ve heard great things about Ting too. We’re rocking Republic Wireless over here, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m jealous that you can use iPhones with Ting ;)
I’m in the middle of a move from Massachusetts (Taxachusetts) to Arizona. One of the biggest reasons I’m moving is to save a lot of money on cost of living. I won’t go into details, but suffice to say, it was killing me to live in Massachusetts. My Comcast bundle package along was costing me about $170 a month. Once I move into my place in Arizona (a 2 bedroom, older doublewide mobile home that I’m paying only $13,500 for, and is fully furnished, with park fees of $495 a month), I plan to get only Internet, no house phone or cable. I already pay for a cell phone, $80 a month, and I’m not willing to go cheaper, as I like having unlimited everything (although if I end up using wifi at the house, I may not need the unlimited data anymore). I have both Netflix and Amazon Prime, so I don’t need cable. I can get local channels with an antenna. Don’t know how much Internet alone will cost yet, but I’m sure it will be cheaper than a bundle package. I will miss The Walking Dead, however.
Good for you!!! I want to live in a double wide so bad myself, however the others in my household do not agree with me, haha… Way to take advantage of the savings! Sounds like a great new adventure :)
I bought a MUVIBOX, it has saved my family so much every month, check it out
http://www.muviboxes.com
Hi lacy,
When i saw your post about Muvibox, i thought you were just spamming for sure. But i went on their website just to read about it. For some reason I decided to give it a shot (Only because they had a 100% money back guarantee). I received the box yesterday and I must say, im in total shock that it actually works as they said it would being able to watch any show. How is this possible without paying any monthly fees or subscriptions? Do you work for them? I have no idea how I’ve never heard of this box in the past, but thank you sooo much.
haha, I was wondering that too but seemed legit when I took a look before deciding to not delete the comment :) glad it was!
Last year I finally shopped our home and car property casualty insurance rates. We had been with State Farm for 40+ years. After doing alot of pricing, I finally settled for a company called State Auto. We got the same coverage as our previous company and saved $1348 per year. Hope this helps someone.
Nice, congrats!