Overspending on Monthly Bills

We have a bundle with Verizon. We pay $340 for Internet, TV, home phone, and 2 smart phones. So... I'm starting to think I'm getting ripped off.

We pay $168 bundle for internet, landline and cell phones (very basic phones, not smart phones) with Verizon. We cut satellite and cable and just do instant streaming with Netflix for free. There is way more on Netflix (it's on a Roku, we actually have tons of other channels too I never even watch) than I would ever be able to watch. We had HDTV for a whole contract and WHAT A RIP!!!!!! We havent' missed TV at all. Now I never have to see any commercials and I get all my news online.

It is up to you to call and ask for a better deal. The companies don't contact you when a new service hits the market that saves you money!!

We do have a bundle with high speed through Time Warner at about $120 a month. I just got that reduced from $200 a month and it is guaranteed for 12 months.

Our phones are about $230 a month BUT, we have 3 of the latest IPhones with the unlimited internet and texting service and international because we run our company with our phone if we don't have our computer handy.

About once a year, I contact services and ask for better deals. Most of the time, they will cut you some sort of break somewhere!

Good luck

We got rid of cable TV. We have phone and internet. We pay $8 a month for Netflix streaming.

Call your cable company and see if they have a "bundle". We bundled our cable (very basic service), internet and home security and it was CHEAPER than just having cable and internet. My sister added a home phone to get the bundle and just doesn't use the home phone.

Look at your cable package and cut back there. We looked at which channels we actually watch and selected that package. We do not have any premium channels. Instead, we pay the $4 to rent a movie On Demand- no need for HBO.

As for the cell services, you are kind of stuck unless you want to change providers. Most providers are moving away from "basic phone" packages. I would focus on reducing the cable or finding a new way to bundle it.

You have to make a decision on what is important to you.
- Cut the phoes down to regular cell phone, no thrills
- cut cable to basic
-what internet usage do you have, can you run to the library? Can you use it at work? How much do you really use it?

I see no reason why you need internet at home and on the phones. Pick one..

As others have said, shop around.

Good luck

Can't see any savings coming if you are set on smart phones. Most are around 50 a line.

So far as cable and internet unless you have a high cost of living there it would appear you have a lot of fat in that budget. I have the fastest internet and the full spectrum of stations and mine is 120 with taxes. I know I don't need what I have but since we have fat in our budget we just don't care.

I hear you! It seems to get crazier all the time. I currently don't have a smart phone b/c I don't want to spend the extra money, but I really want one! We haven't had cable for a couple of years now, so we could cut that expense. I do have netflix and hulu subscriptions though, which still ended up being cheaper than cable for us. Unfortunately, there isn't a cheap way to have it all. You just need to figure out what you can go without and take it from there.

We got rid of cable and have regular antena tv for the basic channels and Hulu and Netflix for other shows. Plenty to watch and I love that TV isn't just a surf fest, we plan what we want to watch and the kids hardly watch any. Sometimes they watch a marathon of one show or another on Netflix, but then they move on to other things. Same with me, I watched almost an entire season of Hoarders over the weekend, when I was cleaning and doing laundry. haha.

Call and ask.

I have never been turned down when I have done that. There are so many competing companies, they want to keep you.

L.:

If you don't watch TV that often - cancel it. Use Hulu - it's $7.99 a month and you can watch your shows.

If you need a computer - see if you can use the "hot spot" and cancel all the cable side.

Contact your cable provider and tell them you are looking to save money - they want to keep your business...not lose it...they may help you find a better plan...same with cell phone...check with pre-paid plans and see what would work best for your family.

Good luck!

Cable TV is a huge expense & waste of money in most cases.

We have cell phone coverage for 2 (smart phone unlimited data packages for just under $150, but we could drop that down if we wanted to) & we only have internet service through a provider @ home for about $40.

We also splurge on Netflix streaming... $8/month, & we have not yet run out of things to watch!

So yes, there are better ways, but it's a matter or realizing what is a necessity & what is a want. In today's day & age, internet has pretty much become a necessity for many things, esp if you have children in school, or work from home in any capacity. But cable TV & excessive smartphone data plans (admittedly I have that!) are not necessities, & we can live w/o them.

Good luck rebudgeting! T.

Get rid of the cable. We don't have cable. Our internet, 2 cellphones cost $150/month. We have streaming netflix for $8/month. Most networks will let you stream TV shows online the next day. I even watch Psych which is on USA through free hulu, although I do have to wait a while. I also love True Blood & Game of Thrones which is on HBO and I just buy the seasons when they come out on DVD.

Check your cable providers website for promotions, and check their competitors, too. You may want to switch companies, or bring up the better deal to your current company, who may be able to match it or at least give you a discount.

I'm looking to change right now, too. Best deal - $99 for unlimited phone, internet and tv, and it's an upgrade from the basic plans we have right now, with 1 year contract and 2 year price guarantee. Also, straight talk has $45 unlimited talk, text and data plans and use Verizon or ATT cell towers. It looks like there is some competition out there!

We pay over $150 for our cell plan but we have the best U S Cellular has to offer and we never have to buy a phone or pay for repairs/replacements. I can't imagine having any other plan.

We have free wireless through our city. It was done through a FEMA grant for the emergency workers. The city residents get to use it for free but there's no support for it and every time a city vehicle drives down a busy street everyone on that street loses their internet for a few moments. I don't have any issues with it because we live on a dead end street.

I think that your internet and cable sounds about right too. So I don't think it's money wasted. You could ask about a less expensive plan on either or both of them, say you are having to cut back and don't want to have to terminate their services because you value having it, they should really try to see if they can give you some sort of good deal.

We got rid of our cable and don't miss it one bit!! We pay $70 a month for a large internet plan and then we watch our shows on line on project free tv.

I recently switched from regular cable to DirectTv because of the promotion plan that they were giving out. I had to keep my internet through my cable company but even without having the "bundle" I am saving over $50 a month. Another thing you can do is call your cable company and ask what promotions they have available right now. That can sometimes get you a cheaper rate as well.
The same goes for cell service. When your contract is up, shop around for other carriers. You never know what promotions are out there and what some companies will offer when you tell them you are planning on leaving.

I pay about $140 for cable, internet and home phone bundle. I would just get rid of the cell phones, or at least switch to regular cell phones and get rid of the smart phones. Sure, they are convenient and fun, but are they really necessary?

Get rid of one of the internets- if you stick w/smart phones, go to metro Pcs or another low cost unlimited plan. Go to basic cable or no cable (that would be hard for us!), netflix or Hulu plus are cheap and give you more options if you want to cut down or cut out your cable.

Well, some of the options include things like running Netflix or Hulu through a game console or Roku box instead of having cable TV. We are considering doing that, as we only have a few shows we actually watch. We can get a lot of kids' programming from other means.

For the phones, decide how much data you use. My DH and I have different monthly data plans and neither of us has gone over in the year we've had it. We may change his plan to be the lower data use like mine to save a few bucks.

We do feel that a home phone line is important to us, with a small child in the home and for emergencies. If the power is out for a long duration, then cell towers go down. We were grateful a summer or two back when we had a corded landline phone.

We saved quite a bit when we switched providers, so check out different plans. If you can get away with DSL, consider one of the "little guys" for some of your services. My friend has no options but Comcast and was sick of them, so she dropped them for Roku.

Shop around for these like you would your home/auto insurance. There are promotions all the time. Good luck.

I agree, pick up the phone and ask your servicer what can be done to bring down the bill. They will understand that you are not happy with the amount you are paying and they know you can go somewhere else.