Personal Finance News Friday 6/28

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

First person: How my family saved $1,281 a year on our cable bills

Here's one family's true story about how a few phone calls saved them more than $1,200 a year on their cable TV and Internet service.

By Terence Loose | Yahoo! Homes 

 

 

Do you feel like the cost of entertaining your family with cable TV and Internet is running a little steep?

 

Well, with a few polite phone calls to your cable company, and perhaps one of their competitors, you might be able to lower your cable and digital services bill.

And before you scoff at the idea, consider what a May 2013 Consumer Reports telecom survey found: Of the surveyed respondents who negotiated the rate on their triple- or quad-play bundle, about 44 percent reported savings of up to $50 a month.

 

I know. You don't believe you can save money on your cable bill. I didn't either, until not only I, but my younger sister, and my mother all saved tens of dollars every month by sacrificing less than 30 minutes apiece to customer service.

Each one of us went about it a little differently, though, so read on for our stories and pick the style that best fits you for a chance at savings. Because, frankly, if my mom can do it, anyone can.

Terence Loose's Approach Saves $381 per Year

Like most suburban middle-class households, my cable bill ran on autopilot: Around the second of every month, I got my Oceanic Time Warner cable TV and Internet bill and promptly ignored it.

Then some automated system removed $143.35 from my bank account and I went on with my TV watching and Internet surfing. I knew that the promotional deal I received when I signed up had long-since vanished and my rate had increased, but I figured there wasn't much I could do about it.

 

Then I spoke to Jeff Blyskal, a senior editor at Consumer Reports, for a story on how to lower your digital services bill. One of the things he told me was, "What we recommend is that when the price goes up after the promotional deal ends, don't just sit there and take it. We suggest that you bargain to keep the price down."

 

About two months later, I sprang into action and checked the Internet for the cost of my services from my cable company. It was not $143.35. For new customers, the cost was under $100. So I called customer service.

After speaking to woman I'll call Sally for about 10 minutes, explaining that it was very annoying that I, a loyal customer for over four years, was paying over $40 more per month than other customers, she assured me that she could help me out. I thought, "Wow, that was easy."

Then she offered to drop my monthly Internet modem lease fee: total savings, $3.95.

That simply wasn't enough, so I added that I could always switch to DISH satellite service (something Blyskal said to say). But Sally held firm and I could see I wasn't going to get far. So I asked for a supervisor and was promptly switched to John (not his real name either).

John was super-nice and asked what webpage I was getting my under-$100 figure from. I told him and he said, "That's our mainland rate; I'm sorry I can't give you that."

I live in Oahu, Hawaii.

 

I prepared to dig in, then he said, "But I can lower your bill to $110. That should save you some money." After local taxes, my monthly bill for digital cable and Internet came to $111.55.

I thought about bargaining some more, but frankly, I'm that guy who pays full price to the hat salesman at the flea market, so I said "thanks" and declared victory.

Total savings: $31.80 per month / 381.60 per year
[Do you want to save money on your cable bill? Click to compare rates from providers in your area.]

 

To read the entire article from Terence Loose | Yahoo! Homes :

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/family-saves-1281-on-cable-234332222.html

 

 

Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs, but how high he bounces when he hits bottom. -George Patton

 

 

Hi my name is Philip J. Miano and I am the founder of PJM Personal Finance and Productivity Coaching specializing in Budgeting, Debt Reduction, Bank Reconciliations, Goal Setting, Time Management, and Organizational skills. Please visit my website: http://pjmcoaching.com.