Happy Friday: Negotiating the Savings…
Sent from reader, Cindy:
First off, thank you so much for all you do! You’ve saved me so much money over the past couple of years. Thanks to you, I already have my Christmas presents bought and I paid a fraction of the price, which makes the holiday season even sweeter.
In the spirit of savings, I negotiated with my cable and internet provider. All I did was research better prices from other providers in my area and asked for a discount. I think a lot of people just accept the prices. Before using your site, I would’ve never dreamed of asking for a discount. I got $240 knocked off my internet bill for the year and $150 off off satellite. (Note from Collin –> More on this same topic HERE).
Then, I shopped for a new phone carrier. I went to Ting (which uses the Sprint network.) My bill should be $23 a month instead of my $65 one from Sprint. Essentially, the same service, same phone number, and I brought my phone with me, at a fraction of the cost.
Next up, I’m going after my energy bill. AEP Ohio is offering a free in-home assessment where they will install a free smart strip, give you LED lightbulbs, and install low flow showerheads and faucet nozzles. You can also get a free energy kit by mail. You have to take a quiz first, then you offered the in home assessment or energy kit. (Note from Collin —> Read more HERE about how I was able to score a free energy kit).
HAPPY FRIDAY!
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I tried getting directv to drop my bill (it was about to go up $40 per month!!) they only offered to drop my package to lower my bill, which isn’t really offering a discount…. So we switched to Dish. We are now locked into a price for 2 years. It won’t go up within that 2 years. We’re saving $40 per month.
Republic is a similar service to Ting. I’ve been paying $12.21 for cell phone for the last 2+ years. 😁
What type of cellphone do you have ?
I love republic! Best part is that my parents house gets bad cell reception -but my phone works great because im using their wifi when I’m there. 😉
anyone can use wifi with a smartphone
Typically phone providers don’t use wifi to actually make phone calls. Republic does. I meant that I can make phone calls over wifi when there is no cell reception.
… But thanks for clarifying, yes, anyone with a smartphone can use wifi! Ha-ha.
My power company has a program that allows them to put a governor on my electrical box and they give me a discount every month. I’ve never noticed a service interruption.
Great job!
I called Direct TV and let them know about another local competitors ad offering a much better price. They asked who the provider was, what the deal was, and they matched everything!! It’s always worth the call.
i actually called directv earlier this week, i was told a customer is only allowed a certain amount of discounts a year, i almost maxed out my discounts and was only able to get 15$ off a month. she told me to call back in a few months and my account would qualify for more. so never give up and keep asking
It is totally worth it to ask and research. We were with Verizon wireless for years, and I needed a new smartphone, and was needling to add 2 smartphones to my plan. I had an old plan with 6 free gigs of data. I called acct sales, asked if there was anything they could do to help me since I was a loyal customer. They ended up giving me a Buy one Samsung s7 get one free, another smartphone for $5 a month, 6 gigs of free data, 20 bucks off my monthly bill, and another 20% discount for my employer who partners with them to offer a discount. It never hurts to ask!!
Doesn’t work with Charter Communications – they could care less
Agreed! Charter in WI is awful.
If you belong to Sam’s Club watch for a Charter rep stand and negotiate with them. They got us a better deal.
You go girl! 👏🏼… I know you’ll spend the extra minutes net wisely!
So true!
Anyone know of a good, less expensive wireless supplier that uses Verizons towers? TIA
Total Wireless and Straight Talk both use Verizon towers.
republic wireless uses wifi and then switches to all cell towers if wifi is unavailable. you get unlimited talk and text. data is unlimited on wifi and you can choose what cell date plan you want. plans start at $10. my husband uses it and we love it. when i finally upgrade to a smartphone, i’ll switch to republic.
The new republic plans start at $15, Im pretty sure. They went up when they added all of the phone choices. BUT, if you get an old republic phone somewhere online, you can use it on old $10/month plan.
data is unlimited for ANYONE on wifi. its free wifi its already been paid for.
I live in Cincinnati and dropped Verizon 3 months ago for Total Wireless, who uses Verizon towers. I’ve have had no issues and saved a ton.
I am desperately looking to lower my family cell phone bill……
Cricket is great – they use AT&T towers
Second this.
Once a year I go to monthly services (cell, ins.,etc. ) to try to negotiate. When direct tv stopped negotiating, we dropped them and just went to antenna, when us cellular got too pricey, we moved to Republic. Gotta cut when you can!
Simply just calling your cable provider every few months to check for new promotions can lower your bill too. Shocked when this happens just by calling!!
We switched from Directv and to Dish Bc they didn’t wanna give us a discount to lower our monthly bill. And I’m definitely gonna look into the AEP OH info provided Bc that’s who our electric provider is. Thanks!
Update.. online it said I qualified for the in home assessment but would cost me $25! No thanks! They already get enough of my money!
Good for you Cindy!! I honestly have a phobia of calling and dealing with companies on the phone. I have to really psych myself up to get ready to battle. To make matters worse, I usually get transferred several times and have to repeat my request. It’s zero fun making those calls and sadly, I believe they are counting on people like me to keep paying the higher prices.
Ask for the loyalty/retention department right up front, that’s usually the only department that has authority to discount.
DirecTv jacked our bill up from $70 to $120 and I called and told them they could either drop it back down to $70 or I was cancelling my contract. He offered us $70 a month for 2 years or if we signed another 2 yr contract, he would drop it down to $60 a month for 2 years and upgrade us to mini genies. We had Dish and I am not a fan of theirs. They refused to lower our bill, so we left and went to DirecTv.
When the NFL Sunday ticket became available this year for some reason ours did not renew. Which was fine with me as I always ask for a cheaper price. So I called and got the nicest person. My DH is a TV junkie and our normal bill to DirecTV was $199. monthly without any sports packages on it. The guy hooked me up with Sunday Ticket and said he will see what he can do for me. By the time he was finished we now have a regular bill of $139. per month and that includes Sunday Ticket and he says that it will drop after football. To say the least I was thrilled! We have been a customer for about 18 years but I have often gotten discounts in the past but this one was the best!
Anyone have any luck with Service Electric in lowering their bill? I feel like they have a monopoly here so they offer to cut back your service to drop the cost only.
Has anyone considered getting rid of your cable/satellite altogether? We’ve had no service for at least 8 years now and don’t miss it at all. We have Amazon Prime and Netflix and honestly don’t even use that much. There is so much more to do with your life than watch TV. Pick up a new hobby, read a book, go for a walk, play a game with your spouse or kids.
We got rid of DirecTV a few weeks ago & haven’t missed it! We do have Vue right now but plan to drop it after football season.
Cable and Internet are included in our HOA fees but we haven’t actually watched cable in almost a year. It’s there, its hooked up, we just have to switch to the tight input on the TVs but we watch Netflix all the time. We had Prime for a while too and never watched it either. If we move to a different neighborhood I think we’ll go Internet/Netflix only.
Couldn’t agree more!!! I’ve wanted to get rid of tv altogether for years!! We would all do so much more together than sit and stare at a screen. What a waste of life. Not to mention the $1,300 we’d save every year! We could spend it doing fun things and making memories together!!
I live in Massachusetts and I’ve never heard of Republic I’ll have to Google them