One the easiest ways to trim money in a tight budget is by cutting out entertainment costs. And one big area of spending for many households is the cable bill. Most packages with a good selection of channels are around $80 a month after the introductory rate. If you subscribe to premium channels or have multiple services with the same provider, you’re paying even more. Want to trim those costs? Here are the 5 best ways to save money on your cable bill.
1. Get rid of premium channels.
How much do you really use your premium channels, and are they worth the cost that you’re paying for them? If not, cutting these channels out of your line-up can save you $10-$30 or more, depending on the package.
2. Ask for a discount.
You’ve probably heard customers complain that cable companies only give discounts to new customers. That’s true–they do want to attract new clients. But you may find that your cable company is willing to give you a discount if you can find a good deal with a competing provider.
3. Threaten to cancel.
Speaking of their competitors, one thing that almost always gets their attention is threatening to cancel. But the rep has to believe that you’re really prepared to do it. According to this article, reps work on a commission basis, and their goal is to keep you without giving you a discount. If you’re polite but firm about canceling, though, you may be offered a deal very close to your introductory rate.
4. Combine your services.
If you like your provider and don’t want to give up any of your channels, you can easily save money by combining services. We actually did this for a while before we decided to go another route. By having the telephone, internet and cable combined, we saved about $50 a month total.
5. Ditch cable.
Ultimately, we decided to ditch cable altogether. Honestly, I don’t miss it. We use a Roku player to watch Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime to keep up with our favorite shows and movies. My husband does miss live sports, but we often watch those with friends anyway, so it hasn’t been that much of a hassle. Now, we have access to almost everything we want for about $25 a month.
Have you cut back your expenses? How do you save money on your cable bill?
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Taya
Monday 16th of March 2015
Yes. Threatening to cancel does wonders! I just moved and had to deal with all these other fees. I told them I need to put my account on hold to catch up. And wow, to my surprise the things that got waived!
Donella Crigger
Tuesday 17th of March 2015
That's a great tip, especially when you have a larger bill than expected.
laura
Monday 16th of March 2015
I honestly am thinking of cutting my cable. We don't really use it.
Donella Crigger
Tuesday 17th of March 2015
We didn't use it much, either. The hubby works so much, and he's really the only one who watched it. It wasn't worth the huge bill for a few hours a week.
Wendy
Monday 16th of March 2015
We've also been debating getting rid of Dish and switching to something else, although right now we don't have many extras on our package. I'm just not sure how much data we would use per month if we went to Netflix or something similar. Any ideas?
Donella Crigger
Tuesday 17th of March 2015
Sorry, Wendy, I honestly don't know how much data we use. To my knowledge, it's not limited by our provider (Time Warner Cable). We've never hit any limits, anyway.
Sam @ PancakeWarriors
Monday 16th of March 2015
I got rid of my cable because of the costs, these are great tips though!! Always ask for a discount!!
Donella Crigger
Tuesday 17th of March 2015
That's what we ultimately ended up doing. It was a great decision for us, but I definitely understand if someone wants to keep their cable.
Kori Tomelden
Monday 16th of March 2015
This is something that we're looking to do as well. I keep debating if we should just ditch cable all together but I can't give up sports that easily. Although, if I really start thinking about it- having cable is definitely a luxury. And if it all comes down to it, I'll part ways to save money.
Donella Crigger
Monday 16th of March 2015
My husband misses cable for the sports even though all we ever watched was college football (only WVU) and the 49ers games. I'll have to admit that I do miss watching the Mountaineers play. Other than that, though, no cable has worked out wonderfully for us!