Comments on: Reality Check: Downgrading Monthly Services

By: Cathy

Cathy — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:12:34 +0000

I recently switched from having a landline to bundling it with my internet provider. Before, my monthly phone bill (landline and cell) was $130 and my internet service was $30. I now pay $30 for my cell and $75 for my bundled phone and internet. The savings is $55 a month. I also live in an apartment complex that offers basic cable for free. While I have digital cable, I only pay $50 for the package. I am looking to drop the one movie channel I pay for, so another $13 a month saved. I also dropped home delivery of the newspaper last year. I still keep up with the news online and less to recycle.

By: Rona

Rona — Fri, 15 May 2009 23:28:34 +0000

My husband and I have Tracfone. I purchased the Double Minutes and then the 400 minutes for $100. That carries me for 6+ months. We don't pay rent or utilities because it's part of our work contract. Netflix and online TV channel websites allow for lots of TV programs to be watched for free. Rona´s last blog post..I Love Pancakes and Waffles - Box or Scratch?

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:32:50 +0000

If you can get high speed internet (around $20 nowadays for the lowest level and NO communications taxes in FL) you can also get Yahoo Messenger phone service and pay $0.01 per min. and no monthly fee to make phone calls out (only). It includes long distance calls (no charge for tollfree). Altenately, they also have a $10/mo service to get a phone no. and receive calls (you still pay for minutes that are non-tollfree).

An even more affordable way to cut phone and long distance bills with your high speed internet connection is to get a USB phone adapter from “MagicJack.com”, $40 after trial and $20 service charge from the 2nd year forward. It gives you a phone number to receive and call from, voicemail and even 911 service. Only drawback is that your computer has to be on and connected to the internet for the phone to work.

As for cable, I think it not only cost money in monthly charges, but also personal free time and higher energy cost (electrical consumption). If it wasn’t because we get it free with my husband’s job, I would do without it, as we have done for nearly 8 years.

By: smallnotebook

smallnotebook — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:54:27 +0000

Eden, maybe try just a temporary cable cut, to see how it goes. I’m glad you experienced great phone savings too!

Hi Dan, I haven’t given them up either, but I did look around to see what the best options available were. Or sometimes even calling the company can help.

Thanks for the tip on another mobile phone option, Holly!

By: Holly

Holly — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:14:26 +0000

Virgin Mobile also offers a great deal on cell service for those who rarely use cell phones.

Linked to your credit card (which it draws from to top off $15 if your balance falls below $5 or so), my service costs me $5 a month. That $5 can be used towards calls which are 25 cents a min for the first 10 minutes of a call, and 10 cents a min for every min thereafter. I use my cell for 5 min a month on average, so this is a great deal for me. For $60 a year, I have a phone in case of emergency.

(Assuming I can find the phone and that it is charged, but that’s another story…)

By: Dan Tanner

Dan Tanner — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 05:12:36 +0000

How can i give up Internet and cell phones? Thats very hard to do. My own services for basic phone + TV+ Internet = $99 and the long distance is not included.

By: Eden

Eden — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:34:11 +0000

Great tips! I did exactly the same thing with my cell phone (I went with t-mobile as well)- the savings are incredible.

Right now I’m struggling with how much to cut from my cable bill. It’s hard to give up TV completely, but I’m sure we would get by.

By: smallnotebook

smallnotebook — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:14:53 +0000

PBS is so fun to watch on Saturday mornings. I love Norm on This Old House. It really was more about the time than the money when we decided to go without cable. Sometimes I miss it. Just not all the commercials!

By: Megan@SortaCrunchy

Megan@SortaCrunchy — Fri, 02 May 2008 22:24:15 +0000

We are ALL ABOUT downgrading the services. I had a prepaid phone for a while until the university gave Kyle a phone so I took his old one/account. You are so right – if you don’t use it much, it is SUCH a better deal.

We don’t have extended cable anymore. It’s actually been almost a year and a half since we ditched it! We pay $17 a month for basic and get PBS (important to me and D) and the networks. OH and CSPAN and CSPAN2. Makes for dull weekends, but it’s liveable. It’s actually kind of liberating, right?