Trimming the budget again

So I get my bill for my phone, the landline, and it's gone up again. Just a few more cents to $69.03 but still enough to get my attention. 

When I first signed up for this service, it was pretty cool. All distance, caller ID, all the bells and whistles...plus it had an intro rate of about $40. 

I should have known better.

So here it is, several years later and the intro rate is long, long gone and the bill is going up slowly but surely in the meantime. Time to do something about it.

Now I need a landline, that much is true. But do I need the long distance part? Probably not, I could use my cell phone. So I checked into AT&T and saw I could get a smaller package for about $30 that would give me unlimited local calling and 200 minutes in local long-distance. Sounded not bad. Then there would be a "nominal" charge for the extras, such as non-published, caller ID and so forth. Nominal? Yeah, right. That brought my bill to about $42 including taxes and everything. 

That would save me about $27/mo., over $300/yr. Not bad.

But I could do better.

Then I called my cable company, Wide Open West (luckily we have options where I live). They currently supply my internet connection so it was only a matter of adding on to my bill.

I had been leery about cable phones for the mere fact that if the cable goes out, then I have no phone. But I've got a cell phone so that dilemma didn't hold much water.

We settled in on a landline, including free installation, that would give me the local, local-long, and long-distance like I have now, plus all the bells and whistles like caller ID and so forth.

I also decided to up my cable connection speed to 50% more since I was already going to shave some money off my budget.

Bottom line: The addition of the landline service and the increase of my cable internet brought my bill up a total of $32.

So eliminating my AT&T plan and getting basically the same service, and increasing my internet plan, I will save $37/mo. or close to $450/year.

That's not too shabby.

So if you're wavering between keeping your landline or dumping it for your cell phone, think about the alternative. You probably already have cable so bundling in a phone shouldn't add too much.

On to the next budget cuts...

Cash is king!

Did you ever think that you could save money simply by paying cash? Sure, we all went for the reward credit cards to gain some money on the money we spent, but now that a lot of us are knee deep in debt, why not save some money by not using your credit card?

Remember some years ago when Mobil gas stations offered a cash price and a credit price? Then the credit card companies said something like it was unfair and they stopped. Well, they were on to something back then.

My vet gives a 5% discount if I pay cash.

My dentist offers 5% off if I write a check.

Heck, I offered cash to have a window replaced and got a substantial discount.

Why? Because credit card fees are amazingly high. So are business bank fees. Of course, there are those (like my painter and electrician) who probably prefer cash so they don't have to claim it, but that's their choice, I'm just trying to save my money any way I can.

Cash is becoming more and more popular once again. It has advantages other than just saving money like I mentioned, it also has accountability and a sense of what you can afford. My mother told me a story once about a training session she had while working at a department store.... about pushing the credit card to the customer. It went something like this (at least it's how I remember it, it was a long time ago):

Say you have $10 in your pocket to buy a birthday gift for a friend. You find several items that you think said friend might like. Then you spot something that said friend would absolutely love but it's $5 more than you have in your pocket. But if you get a credit card, you can buy it. 

Most people would probably buy the more expensive item on a credit card. After all, it's only $5, right?

That's good business for the store, they just got you to spend 50% more money.

And that's just for starters, because if you don't pay off a credit card each and every month in full, they're getting a lot more of your money.

That story sounded a lot better in my head, but I think it makes a lot of sense.

So the next time you need something, whether it's at the doctor, a painter, or even the department store, it doesn't hurt to ask if there is a cash discount. Most places don't advertise it, but a lot of places you wouldn't expect would take you up on it.

Cash is king.