Trying to cut costs by cutting "included at no extra cost" items

[tvguy]

Frustrating that you can't get some items ala carte to save money.

1) Roadside Assistance. The maker of my wife's car offers it for 10 years, maker of my car offers it for 8 years. My auto insurance includes it "at no extra cost" and you can't drop it. And the insurance on my classic car offers it on all cars I own, "at no extra cost"

2) Cell phones. I have unlimited calling and texts, and 2 GB of data on the most basic plans. Looking at my phone log, I could get by with about 100 minutes per month of calling , 150 texts and 1 GB of data. But I have no lower option.

3) Cable/Satellite TV. Seems like for every channel I want, I have to accept 20 I don't want. I did drop down one level on my Dish Network account, knocked a whole $10 a month off my $120 bill. And don't get me started on the joke streaming is. I have the free version of Peacock, but not a lot I want to watch there. Share a YouTube TV account with my daughter, $50 a month level, but it is always freezing up. Thought it was our internet connection, but Peacock never freezes.

 

[barkley]

same here. i used to not carry rental car coverage to save money. i would just call and add it when needed then drop it as soon as we were done renting-saved money by only paying for a prorated portion of a month vs. carrying all year long. now it's 'free/included' yet my rates show an increase. i wish i could opt out of all streaming for a discount on dish b/c our internet won't support it-nope. i did manage yesterday to get them to lower my rate by $25 per month by telling them direct was courting me to go back so i'm only paying $10 more a month than i locked in 2 years ago.

 

[Twilghtsprkle]

Free Peacock doesn’t have the shows we like either. We did drop cable and went streaming only, but you really have to spend time & look at what shows you need vs what you can wait for. For instance if there is a show you really want on a service, but it’s the only one on that service it may make more sense to buy the season somewhere. Or wait for your library to get it on DVD.

We currently have Hulu ($2 Black Friday plan), Disney + (prepaid 3 years at $4 a month), HBO max ($150 for year) and Netflix (the middle plan). We also have an antenna to pick up local channels. So $32.50 a month for Tv. We don’t get everything but it’s plenty for us.

 

[shawthorne44]

For Cell phone, just change carriers. Tracfone has an annual plan that should work for you.

 

[tvguy]

For Cell phone, just change carriers. Tracfone has an annual plan that should work for you.

Wow, their website is confusing. Minutes expire, but in some cases they don't. Having to buy or refill cards. No thanks, too much work for too little savings

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Agreed but I think most of the providers know that people aren't using cell phone minutes so "unlimited" is easier. It's kind of like how they'll throw in a home phone for free in a cable/internet package.

3) Cable/Satellite TV. Seems like for every channel I want, I have to accept 20 I don't want. I did drop down one level on my Dish Network account, knocked a whole $10 a month off my $120 bill.

Compare the package you have with the one from DirecTV (promotional offer). Call and tell them you're thinking of switching and wanted to see if they'll match the competitor rate. DirecTV would do it 100% of the time for us and I assume Dish will as well.

I used to do this yearly when I had DirecTV and still do it for my parents. It is stupid but it's the game we have to play.

 

[shawthorne44]

Wow, their website is confusing. Minutes expire, but in some cases they don't. Having to buy or refill cards. No thanks, too much work for too little savings

They do make it seem more confusing than it is. The problem is that they have too many options.
The annual plan is, I think, $125. You'll need a new SIM card, but you need that anytime you switch carriers. After that anything you want to buy is in the Tracfone app. As long as you buy another annual plan before your current one expires, everything rolls over. Since that is once a year, and the phone gives you warnings, it isn't a big deal. You also don't lose any days by renewing early.

The thing about Tracfone, is that it takes care of the problem of paying for 'free included extras'. DH occasionally needs extra texts, so we pay the $5 and get more texts for him. For a few months, I was playing that Harry Potter game where you had to go to locations and every couple of months I paid an extra $10 for another Gb. But, we pretty much just pay for what we use.

 

[The WDW 3]

For Cell phone, just change carriers. Tracfone has an annual plan that should work for you.

we switched to xfinity cell service . $45/month for 1 line unlimited. $80 for 2, and $100 for 3 lines unlimited!

 

[Cadiewampus]

Frustrating that you can't get some items ala carte to save money.

1) Roadside Assistance. The maker of my wife's car offers it for 10 years, maker of my car offers it for 8 years. My auto insurance includes it "at no extra cost" and you can't drop it. And the insurance on my classic car offers it on all cars I own, "at no extra cost"

2) Cell phones. I have unlimited calling and texts, and 2 GB of data on the most basic plans. Looking at my phone log, I could get by with about 100 minutes per month of calling , 150 texts and 1 GB of data. But I have no lower option.

3) Cable/Satellite TV. Seems like for every channel I want, I have to accept 20 I don't want. I did drop down one level on my Dish Network account, knocked a whole $10 a month off my $120 bill. And don't get me started on the joke streaming is. I have the free version of Peacock, but not a lot I want to watch there. Share a YouTube TV account with my daughter, $50 a month level, but it is always freezing up. Thought it was our internet connection, but Peacock never freezes.

Odd we had Youtube TV never had issue with it freezing. We did drop it as it went to $65.00 a month. Replaced with locast.org at $5.00 a month. Has all my local channels and several others that I like but its not in every market. Between it and apple tv (my son gets free he works for apple) Disney plus (other son pays that) Netflix (daughter in law pays) and discovery plus (we pay $5.00) we have plenty to watch. So not much money spent there however we do have Infinity 1.2gig speed internet that cost $140.00 a month. But well worth it.

 

[tvguy]

Odd we had Youtube TV never had issue with it freezing. We did drop it as it went to $65.00 a month. Replaced with locast.org at $5.00 a month. Has all my local channels and several others that I like but its not in every market. Between it and apple tv (my son gets free he works for apple) Disney plus (other son pays that) Netflix (daughter in law pays) and discovery plus (we pay $5.00) we have plenty to watch. So not much money spent there however we do have Infinity 1.2gig speed internet that cost $140.00 a month. But well worth it.

My daughter seems to think the issue with my "new" TV. I finally got rid of my tube TV in 2017 and got what was supposed to be a top of the line Samsung. To get Youtube I had to buy a Chromcast to plug in the back.

 

[MomToOne]

If you don't want much sports, look at Philo's channel lineup to see if it suits you. They have 95% of the channels we actually watch. I am grandfathered in on a $16 plan that isn't available anymore, but their main plan is still just $25 today.

The one station they don't have that I'd like is Bravo, but I just subscribe to Peacock Premium for a month or two at $4.99/month, binge watch the seasons of the shows I like, then downgrade to the free version again.

But if you like to watch sports though, Philo is probably not for you.

Of course, we also have an antenna on every TV for local channels - honestly, I watch more stuff on a local "My Network TV" station than any of the bigger names.

I also watch a lot of PBS programs using the PBS app. That's free for access to current shows, and random episodes of old shows.

 

[tvguy]

If you don't want much sports, look at Philo's channel lineup to see if it suits you. They have 95% of the channels we actually watch. I am grandfathered in on a $16 plan that isn't available anymore, but their main plan is still just $25 today.

The one station they don't have that I'd like is Bravo, but I just subscribe to Peacock Premium for a month or two at $4.99/month, binge watch the seasons of the shows I like, then downgrade to the free version again.

But if you like to watch sports though, Philo is probably not for you.

Of course, we also have an antenna on every TV for local channels - honestly, I watch more stuff on a local "My Network TV" station than any of the bigger names.

I also watch a lot of PBS programs using the PBS app. That's free for access to current shows, and random episodes of old shows.

Just want to watch A's games, which is on one of the NBC sports channels the providers keep dropping. But that is on YouTube, and the game is on right now and the video frozen!

 

[MomToOne]

Just want to watch A's games, which is on one of the NBC sports channels the providers keep dropping. But that is on YouTube, and the game is on right now and the video frozen!

Happen to know you are in my neck of the woods - I've heard through the grapevine that you can use a VPN to bypass the local blackout on As games on mlb.tv. I have no personal experience there (like I said, our household doesn't watch much sports), but you might want to look into it.

 

[tvguy]

Happen to know you are in my neck of the woods - I've heard through the grapevine that you can use a VPN to bypass the local blackout on As games on mlb.tv. I have no personal experience there (like I said, our household doesn't watch much sports), but you might want to look into it.

I've got access to all the games now through YouTube TV, so no need to work around the system

 

[kristenrice]

I have a cell phone plan through Sprint/T-Mobile. When I tell people what I have and what I pay, they don't believe me! I have been a Sprint customer since 1999 and we have rarely changed plans, just upgraded as needed. Right now, we have (6) iPhones (all bought at BestBuy and paid in full) and an Apple Watch which I got for 50% off from Sprint. They give me a credit each month as long as I "financed" it over 24 months so the added cost to my monthly bill is about $12 We have unlimited talk/text/data on all 6 phones, and each phone also has a 50GB hotspot as well. My total monthly bill, all in, is under $260. It varies, based on the taxes each month, but there is no way I am ever going to switch companies.

 

[tvguy]

I have a cell phone plan through Sprint/T-Mobile. When I tell people what I have and what I pay, they don't believe me! I have been a Sprint customer since 1999 and we have rarely changed plans, just upgraded as needed. Right now, we have (6) iPhones (all bought at BestBuy and paid in full) and an Apple Watch which I got for 50% off from Sprint. They give me a credit each month as long as I "financed" it over 24 months so the added cost to my monthly bill is about $12 We have unlimited talk/text/data on all 6 phones, and each phone also has a 50GB hotspot as well. My total monthly bill, all in, is under $260. It varies, based on the taxes each month, but there is no way I am ever going to switch companies.

Wow, I won't complain I guess since I am complaining and paying less than you with Verizon. People have different wants. My DIL HAS to have a new phone every year. I kept one 14 years, and only retired it because it was analog and they were going digital. I got bought up a few times. I was PacTel Cellular which sold out to Air Touch Cellular which sold out to Verizon. But I have had the account since 1990.

 

[MrsPete]

Frustrating that you can't get some items ala carte to save money.

1) Roadside Assistance. The maker of my wife's car offers it for 10 years, maker of my car offers it for 8 years. My auto insurance includes it "at no extra cost" and you can't drop it. And the insurance on my classic car offers it on all cars I own, "at no extra cost"

2) Cell phones. I have unlimited calling and texts, and 2 GB of data on the most basic plans. Looking at my phone log, I could get by with about 100 minutes per month of calling , 150 texts and 1 GB of data. But I have no lower option.

3) Cable/Satellite TV. Seems like for every channel I want, I have to accept 20 I don't want. I did drop down one level on my Dish Network account, knocked a whole $10 a month off my $120 bill. And don't get me started on the joke streaming is. I have the free version of Peacock, but not a lot I want to watch there. Share a YouTube TV account with my daughter, $50 a month level, but it is always freezing up. Thought it was our internet connection, but Peacock never freezes.

Agree that this is frustrating. "At no extra cost" really just means "If you're going to buy the main item, no choice is paying for this additional item".

Cell phones: We got a tablet, which is literally never used, because adding it made our bill lower. Weird. I asked a couple times, and I know I looked like an idiot. It's time for me to go over and see about new options /see if I can lower my phone bill.

Cable: Dump the whole thing! Go with a streaming service -- consider Sling as a first option, but you don't need to be loyal to any service. You can keep one for a couple months, then switch to another -- and it is cheaper than cable.

 

[tvguy]

Cable: Dump the whole thing! Go with a streaming service -- consider Sling as a first option, but you don't need to be loyal to any service. You can keep one for a couple months, then switch to another -- and it is cheaper than cable.

Streaming would cost me the same by the time I get what I want. And like I posted earlier I am not impressed with streaming quality.

 

[MrsPete]

Streaming would cost me the same by the time I get what I want. And like I posted earlier I am not impressed with streaming quality.

We're paying about 25% of what we paid for cable. We pretty much always have two streaming services, and we change them around fairly often.
Yes, streaming has a few hiccups, but -- for the savings -- we'll put up with them.

 

[tvguy]

We're paying about 25% of what we paid for cable. We pretty much always have two streaming services, and we change them around fairly often.
Yes, streaming has a few hiccups, but -- for the savings -- we'll put up with them.

My wife and I just retired from 40+ years in TV. Hiccups drive us batty.