Author Topic: Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills  (Read 5409 times)

Saving in Austin

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Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills
« on: February 12, 2016, 08:36:22 PM »
I just followed the advice in this NY Times article (link below) and my cable/phone bill was reduced from $112 to $71 per month. It took about a half hour to call a competitor, get their price and then call my old company to cancel and then they rolled over. No problem

http://nyti.ms/1PSyWh1

GrowingTheGreen

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Re: Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills
« Reply #1 on: February 13, 2016, 12:13:15 AM »
You could just cancel cable all together :)

Rosy

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Re: Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2016, 09:10:40 AM »
As long as you need cable ^^^ to get football - it ain't happening:)

Congrats to the OP for following the advice and saving a nice chunk of money:), but the advice given isn't any different from what is already floating around on this board.

The new NY Times article the OP linked is titled
"Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills From Ethically Ambiguous Experts"

The "experts" are called "Bill Fixers" in this case, but there are other services like that out there. Judicious of the NYT to title it that way, especially since it also says no rules are violated.

Basically, they (the bill slaying service) impersonate you (with your permission) and then charge you 50% of whatever they save you. Now that's a racket - one call center wringing money from another call center:).
Besides, if they only manage to negotiate for a new 1-2 year contract, you will need their services again at a 50% cut.

IMHO, this is the type of service that should be offered by all communities to their elderly citizens at say a 10% charge or better yet free - even AARP should get in on this game. The young and stupid are entirely capable of fending for themselves by coming to MMM:) tongue in cheek of course. 

We're with Time Warner, who is named in this article and let me tell you they are a nightmare to deal with - for our street they are the only game in town. No cables for Verizon Fios yet.
« Last Edit: February 13, 2016, 09:22:09 AM by Rosy »

Tabitha

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Re: Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2016, 09:46:30 AM »
As long as you need cable ^^^ to get football - it ain't happening:)

If you really need cable just for football - NFL Gamepass. 

I got nothing if your definition of football includes soccer or college ball.

Rosy

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Re: Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills
« Reply #4 on: February 13, 2016, 09:49:07 AM »
Thanks Tabitha:) - I'll check into it.

HipGnosis

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Re: Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills
« Reply #5 on: February 13, 2016, 03:59:17 PM »
I had DI$H instead of cable.
I got a Channel Master (brand) DRV+ (model) DVR that records off antenna and cancelled DI$H.
I got an Obi VoIP phone device and I'm in the process of getting my home phone # ported Google Voice (which I will only use for voicemail) on the Obi so I can cancel home phone service and bill.

wienerdog

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Re: Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills
« Reply #6 on: February 14, 2016, 06:02:14 AM »
I got an Obi VoIP phone device and I'm in the process of getting my home phone # ported Google Voice (which I will only use for voicemail) on the Obi so I can cancel home phone service and bill.

I integrated my Sprint mobile number with Google Voice when they offered back in 2011.  I got the Obi shortly after that.  It is nice having one number for home or mobile and the Obi has worked good.  I logged into to their web control page a couple days ago and noticed they wanted $10 to continue updates.  Not sure if it is a yearly thing now or not but still well worth it.

Bardo

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Re: Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills
« Reply #7 on: February 14, 2016, 07:31:13 AM »
You could just cancel cable all together :)

I would agree with this.  Cable TV is such an indulgence, especially when there are so many inexpensive alternatives available.  To me cable should be the first thing to go if you are trying to live frugally.


Nickels Dimes Quarters

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Re: Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills
« Reply #8 on: February 14, 2016, 08:22:19 AM »
I canceled the paid TV service about a year ago. I cannot ever imagine going back. Aside from the monthly fee, being free from commercials has had another welcome effect when I'm shopping. If you don't know about new products and sales, 99% of temptation to buy unnecessary stuff is gone.

And seriously, with Netflix I have more shows to watch than I have time for.

NDQ

Saving in Austin

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Re: Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills
« Reply #9 on: February 15, 2016, 06:57:28 PM »
Sorry I'm just getting back to this post. I'm the OP.

The article started with "Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills..."

I don't have cable.

My bill is for internet service and a landline for my home business.

The "bill fixers" in the article shared some of their tactics.

I just used these tactics and I'm gonna save almost $500 per year.

eostache

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Re: Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills
« Reply #10 on: February 15, 2016, 07:53:36 PM »
I got an Obi VoIP phone device and I'm in the process of getting my home phone # ported Google Voice (which I will only use for voicemail) on the Obi so I can cancel home phone service and bill.
\  I logged into to their web control page a couple days ago and noticed they wanted $10 to continue updates.  Not sure if it is a yearly thing now or not but still well worth it.

No, you don't need to pay them $10. I was able to bypass that when I had to reset my Obi100 a while back. I don't recall exactly what I did, I followed a tutorial I found online. I did not update the firmware. Well, first I did update the firmware and then it didn't work right so I reset it again and it runs fine now with no updated firmware. I had to do all this because I changed the password on the google voice account I was using with the Obi. Maybe there is an easier way to do it but this is what I did.

WGH

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Re: Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills
« Reply #11 on: February 15, 2016, 09:40:11 PM »
I canceled the paid TV service about a year ago. I cannot ever imagine going back. Aside from the monthly fee, being free from commercials has had another welcome effect when I'm shopping. If you don't know about new products and sales, 99% of temptation to buy unnecessary stuff is gone.

And seriously, with Netflix I have more shows to watch than I have time for.

NDQ

Seconded this. Just finished binge watching Breaking Bad all 5 seasons and there's about a million other shows to catch up on as well.

supershrpy

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Re: Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills
« Reply #12 on: February 24, 2016, 11:53:50 AM »
My easy solutions to cutting the cable are an antenna and just use the internet.

Need NFL games?? That's easy just use stream2watch.co - Just use your computer that is connected to the internet and broadcast it to your TV via a VGA cable or HDMI. There are always solutions !! :-)

You can also easily access news and other live TV using that website.

MasterStache

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Re: Tips on Reducing Cable and Phone Bills
« Reply #13 on: February 26, 2016, 08:52:28 AM »
Easiest way to reduce is simply not having it. We haven't missed cable one bit. Actually my kids watch more TV now that we stream (Netflix, Hulu). So that sort of backfired. I could even do without the streaming. I just simply don't watch much TV.