Comments on: Three Phone Calls, $590 Saved

By: YoungHouseLove

YoungHouseLove — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:28:59 +0000

Wahoo! So glad!

xo,
s

By: Susanne

Susanne — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:26:26 +0000

I’m a regular reader and am always impressed by your DIY prowess. I’m working on getting our bills under control and being more intentional about spending our money. I took your tip and called Comcast today and got $20 off our bill for the next year. I’m so proud. Thanks for the suggestion.

By: ryan

ryan — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 06:06:39 +0000

A lot of comments about lowering Apr on credit cards….just don’t carry a balance…I never have. In fact every six months I search for a new card that is offering reward points just for getting the card.. and I only use rewards cards. I make about $500 off of credit cards a year. I have 9 credit cards now.

I’ve been doing the Comcast thing for years now. Just call them and ask them when the soonest someone could come collect the equipment. They’ll give you the new customer pricing.

I also have a corporate discount with Sprint. According to them I work for cox communications…I don’t. I work in a restaurant but i found steps online to do the corporate diwcount online. My bill should be $180 but instead I pay $125 for my wife and i.

By: Chandra

Chandra — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:48:43 +0000

Comcast is very good about working with you. I’ve had their service for two years, but I’ve recently switched over to Verizon Fios. Once my promo expires, I hope they are willing to work with me.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 20:27:00 +0000

We had great luck with Vonage — they lowered our rate twice to keep us as customers! We just called to cancel and the first person we talked to could lower our rate!

By: Annie

Annie — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:34:27 +0000

It’s often possible to reduce your gym membership dues. Talk to the membership folks to see if they might be able to lower your rate — especially during a period when they’re running a promotion for dues that are less than what you’re currently paying. Also, see if you can get a gym discount through your employer or health insurance company. And, some employers and insurance companies even pay YOU to work out.

By: Ronda

Ronda — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:17:48 +0000

Unplug everything in your house!

I saw this tip about not leaving a cell phone charger pluged into the outlet because it still pulls power even when you are not charging the phone.

I leave all countertop kitchen appliances unplugged until I go to use them. I also unplug the television and DVD player in the living room when I leave for work and at night before going to bed. My son does the same in his room. This has dropped my power bill about 30-35% percent every month.

Also if I leave for a weekend or vacation, I turn off the heating/AC completly and unplug lamps (except those on a security timer) and the washer/dryer.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:59:16 +0000

My sister used to work for the retention team in a major telco here in Australia. She recommended calling and politely indicating that you are considering taking your business elsewhere. The telco will work out how much money you have spent over your contract’s minimum amount and then can spend that amount on keeping you as a customer. Ie. if you regularly spend $10/month over your contract for 24 months, that’s $240 worth of discounts that they can give back to you. This may be in the form of a new phone (or a better phone than the standard offered), a monthly discount or a better plan for no extra cost.

For utilities, we regularly have sales people coming to our door offering discounts. Instead of giving our business to annoying door-to-door sales people, we called our existing provider for our gas and electricity and told them that we were being offered discounts by other providers. In the interests of keeping us as customers, our existing provider matched the discounts.

By: Debkb

Debkb — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:37:16 +0000

As someone above suggested, try combining your homeowners and car insurance if you don’t already. And shop around.

A few years ago our rates were getting pretty high (through MetLife) so I shopped around at smaller LOCAL agencies. I went to 3 and gave them all the same info and got premiums from them all. Then I came home and did my homework on the insurance companies that were providing the actual coverage. The one I chose turned out to be the 3rd largest insurance co. in the US, but I had never heard of them til I did my internet searches. I ended up getting better coverage and cut my bill for both homeowner and auto by
just over 30%. Yes, over 30%! We went from paying just over 3k to just under 2k a year and because we’ve been with them for about 5 years, with clean driving records and no homeowners claims, our 2 policies have gone down to under 1500.00 a year, even with our coverages going up to reflect increased costs to replace, repair or rebuild(shudder).
Two afternoons work saved me over 1k a year. Well worth it.

Hope I wasn’t too long winded!

By: Kristy

Kristy — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:05:44 +0000

The property tax item is a huge thing in states that have a Homestead Law like Florida. I purchased my house in 2008 and the property was not Homesteaded. It is now eligible with the new tax year. However, they don’t lower the monthly rate with your mortgage company, you must ask for a print out and submit it yourself. The change will happen even if you don’t get involved but the money savings will take forever if you wait on them.