How Do You SAVE Money for your...

[brunette8706]

internet, cable and telephone?

We just got our COMCAST bill yesterday for the bundle of Internet, Cable and Phone and it's currently costing us $124.00 a month.

Is anyone out there saving money by getting a cheaper internet provider? Are you just using cell phones instead of a landline?

Any tips or suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks again.

Brunette

 

[TifffanyD]

Hi there,

We use cellphones only and have no landline. We have internet and "cable" bundled for $49.99 a month. This includes just the basic basic cable with networks only so we can watch prime time television. We have better internet because I work from home twice a week. We also have netflix 1 at a time unlimited which runs under $10 a month and which gives us unlimited "watch it now" movies and shows. We spent $120 for a Roku which lets us stream all of this watch it now content directly to our television. So including netflix we spend $60 a month for the television and internet - not too bad.

 

[brandip22]

My landline is just the basic- no caller id, call waiting or anything. I actually called to cancel it completely and they asked me if I needed it for my alarm- yep forgot about that! since I had called to cancel, I actually got a great year-long discount on my internet through them as well. I use bellsouth, but I get the landline and my DSL for $27 a month, and that includes taxes and all. We live in the sticks, so we have DirecTV for that. If you call to cancel your phone, you may get a keep me deal like I did. They know they are losing out to cell phones and will try to help out.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

We save money by not having cable. We weren't watching tv at all.

We have two landlines (dh has a home office) and our dsl through Verizon for $60ish each month, incl. all taxes and fees.

 

[Lisa_M]

We have basic basic cable through Comcast for $13/month and our phone/DSL is through verizon $45 for both.

 

[AnastasiaTremaine]

My landline is just the basic- no caller id, call waiting or anything. I actually called to cancel it completely and they asked me if I needed it for my alarm- yep forgot about that! since I had called to cancel, I actually got a great year-long discount on my internet through them as well. I use bellsouth, but I get the landline and my DSL for $27 a month, and that includes taxes and all. We live in the sticks, so we have DirecTV for that. If you call to cancel your phone, you may get a keep me deal like I did. They know they are losing out to cell phones and will try to help out.

You should ask your security company, but I know with ours (APX/Honeywell), we were able to route our calls to our cell phones! I just couldn't stomach paying for a landline when we already had two cell phones.

I wish we could find a way to get cheaper cable internet - I also wish that Comcast wasn't a monopoly and perhaps I am missing something, but I can't figure out why they're allowed to be! I am sore that I have to pay around $55 a month for *just* the internet, but for an additional $7(ish), they throw in basic cable tv service. This annoys me endlessly! I would love to do what TiffanyD is doing, as far as the NetFlix stream to the house...I just wish I could finnagle a deal with Comcast to get the internet down to, oh, $25/month! It just seems so overpriced...though I can't bear to disconnect myself - they've got me between a rock & a hard place, and so I keep on paying them!

 

[BellyBaby]

We looked at our cable and switched our pkg. Lost some channels, but oh well. Every little bit helps.

On another OT note, we started cooking oatmeal instead of cold cereal for bkfst, HOLY a huge $5 bag lasts forever. Good bang for your buck if you have the time. Add cinnamon and raisins, and yum!

 

[friskykitten]

We also have the comcast triple play and spend about what you do a month. When I lost my job we called and cancelled it all. I tried to get a cheaper internet only package with Verizon but it didn't work and they told me it would take them 2 weeks to 6 months to figure out what is wrong with our lines that wouldn't accept their internet. So I went back to comcast and it was going to cost me $60+ for internet alone. For the additional $30-$40 I have the phone and cable. I decided it is worth it. I can't cancel the cell phones without major penalties so all I can do now is pray that a good job comes through quickly. I also thought it was ridiculous that the internet was fairly cheap with the combined package but if I wanted internet alone it was so expensive. All of those taxes and surcharges always make the total bill so darned high. Even with a great deal you end up adding $20+ in taxes and fees.

 

[emh1129]

We had a similar bundle through AT&T up until recently. We needed to cut costs, so we called and cancelled the TV service (Dish network) and trimmed the phone services down & they gave us half price on our DSL. We pay $25 a month now.
We kept our Netflix and watch instant view on the laptop sometimes.
We also get movies from the library.
Mostly, we're just watching less TV now and that's okay- we're finally getting into some nice weather here!

 

[OandA]

I didn't think people still used land lines except for businesses and the elderly.

Anyways, I save money by budgeting. This year will be my first self-funded vacation and it is because I insist on having nest-eggs aside from necessary spending, in case of a bad economy or getting laid off. I went without any fringe things in life (cable, internet, going out to eat, etc.) until I had at least $10,000 saved up for a rainy day. I also have another account where I keep at least 3 months worth of expenses saved up in case of emergency.

Now that I have all of those full, I can spend money my disposable income on cable, internet etc. But not until now.

 

[tonilea]

I didn't think people still used land lines except for businesses and the elderly.

Not everyone has good cell service at home.

 

[MrsPooh]

I didn't think people still used land lines except for businesses and the elderly.

Some people have kids in the house who are left home alone and are not given their own cell phones (gasp!). I don't want my oldest watching the youngest without any way to call for an emergency. Shocking but I'm willing to pay for that peace of mind.

We have expanded basic cable, internet and phone through Charter. Charter keeps moving channels to digital so we cannot see them any longer. Basically we keep losing channels but they keep charging us the same. I did some price checking last month with dishnetwork and others. I then called Charter to see if they could meet/beat the price. They best they could do was raise my monthly cost from $85 to $135. I said absolutely not - don't make any changes and I'll let you know if I'll even keep my service with Charter soon.

Last Friday we received an automated call thanking us for upgrading to digital. After over 70 minutes on the phone with Charter I've been told that I absolutely did authorize them to upgrade me and that once upgraded I cannot be downgraded back to basic. I own one tv and it is not digital capable, we were not given any equipment. How the heck would I be using digital.

Finally I've been told they will put me back to the old plan but I am responsible for calling back in three days to verify that it was done.

Tonight I discussed cancelling television service all together but dh almost cried. I guess the answer was no. His shows aren't on the major networks so just getting a converter box won't help.

We need high speed internet for him to work at home some days and I do some work here as well.

As mentioned before I'm not comfortable leaving the kids without a phone.

I'm tired of feeling ripped off.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

We just switched our phone from AT&T to T-mobile @ Home and it will be $9.99/month which includes unlimited local and long distance, we kept the AT&T internet and only have the $19.95 speed, and we have basic cable that is $51/mo. I am not really happy with my cable, but there are no other providers available to us, except DISH and Directv and I don't really want that right now, and I can't be without my cable.

Suzanne

 

[OandA]

Some people have kids in the house who are left home alone and are not given their own cell phones (gasp!). I don't want my oldest watching the youngest without any way to call for an emergency. Shocking but I'm willing to pay for that peace of mind.

We have expanded basic cable, internet and phone through Charter. Charter keeps moving channels to digital so we cannot see them any longer. Basically we keep losing channels but they keep charging us the same. I did some price checking last month with dishnetwork and others. I then called Charter to see if they could meet/beat the price. They best they could do was raise my monthly cost from $85 to $135. I said absolutely not - don't make any changes and I'll let you know if I'll even keep my service with Charter soon.

Last Friday we received an automated call thanking us for upgrading to digital. After over 70 minutes on the phone with Charter I've been told that I absolutely did authorize them to upgrade me and that once upgraded I cannot be downgraded back to basic. I own one tv and it is not digital capable, we were not given any equipment. How the heck would I be using digital.

Finally I've been told they will put me back to the old plan but I am responsible for calling back in three days to verify that it was done.

Tonight I discussed cancelling television service all together but dh almost cried. I guess the answer was no. His shows aren't on the major networks so just getting a converter box won't help.

We need high speed internet for him to work at home some days and I do some work here as well.

As mentioned before I'm not comfortable leaving the kids without a phone.

I'm tired of feeling ripped off.

Does your husband know that 75-80%% of TV shows are available for free online at the website of the TV station? If you have high-speed internet that may be something to consider. Try hulu.

 

[semo233]

Some people have kids in the house who are left home alone and are not given their own cell phones (gasp!). I don't want my oldest watching the youngest without any way to call for an emergency. Shocking but I'm willing to pay for that peace of mind.

We have expanded basic cable, internet and phone through Charter. Charter keeps moving channels to digital so we cannot see them any longer. Basically we keep losing channels but they keep charging us the same. I did some price checking last month with dishnetwork and others. I then called Charter to see if they could meet/beat the price. They best they could do was raise my monthly cost from $85 to $135. I said absolutely not - don't make any changes and I'll let you know if I'll even keep my service with Charter soon.

Last Friday we received an automated call thanking us for upgrading to digital. After over 70 minutes on the phone with Charter I've been told that I absolutely did authorize them to upgrade me and that once upgraded I cannot be downgraded back to basic. I own one tv and it is not digital capable, we were not given any equipment. How the heck would I be using digital.

Finally I've been told they will put me back to the old plan but I am responsible for calling back in three days to verify that it was done.

Tonight I discussed cancelling television service all together but dh almost cried. I guess the answer was no. His shows aren't on the major networks so just getting a converter box won't help.

We need high speed internet for him to work at home some days and I do some work here as well.

As mentioned before I'm not comfortable leaving the kids without a phone.

I'm tired of feeling ripped off.

I HATE CHARTER!!!! We have phone, cable and internet and my bill just went from $120 to $230!! Somehow, they have kept all competitors in cable out of our town and I don't want to go with a dish. That may be changing soon and I will be the first to abandon ship!! I would rather pay my oil bill than my cable bill!!!

 

[tinkermom23]

I didn't think people still used land lines except for businesses and the elderly.

We don't own a business and we're not old.... but we have a land line and not cell phones. (I know, the minority!) But for us, it's MUCH cheaper to have the land line, and cell phones were a huge budget buster!!!

We have basic cable for our TV, no DVR or TIVO to pay for. And DSL internet which we just upgraded from dial-up.
Our package for phone, cable, and internet runs about $90 a month, depending on how much long distance we call.

I too, would love to cancel cable alltogether, but DH started hyperventalating when I mentioned it!

 

[cheap traveler]

I don't have internet at home, too expensive. My phone is basic with no long distance $17 per month. And our cable is basic for $18 per month, with only 13 channels. We do this because it is what we can afford, and I enjoy the side benefit of having the kids away from the TV because there is nothing to watch!

 

[toledo13]

internet, cable and telephone?

We just got our COMCAST bill yesterday for the bundle of Internet, Cable and Phone and it's currently costing us $124.00 a month.

Is anyone out there saving money by getting a cheaper internet provider? Are you just using cell phones instead of a landline?

Any tips or suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks again.

Brunette

Hello! No land line here, just cell phones. Cable and internet for us is $74 per month. We get high speed internet (wireless) and more than basic cable, but not the DVR, on demand, etc etc. And now that I'm thinking about it... and reading other people's stuff- maybe that's high???

 

[Pigeon]

We don't have cable TV. I wouldn't have it in my house if it were free because I think watching TV rots your brain and lowers your IQ . We have a land line with no long distance and tracfones.

To the poster with the $230 bills, that's just obscene. I don't even have Charter, but I hate them for you!