Lower Your Bills With 3 Phone Calls, step by step

As we all hunt for ways to save money these days, it is straightforward to overlook the fact that sometimes ya simply have to ask. In fact, by making a few calls to the companies behind our three biggest monthly bills, Sherry and I managed to save $590 for the coming year. Here is how:

It began when we got a Comcast bill that was suddenly $30 higher than before. Seems the “triple play” promotion we were on (for our internet, cable and home phone) had expired and we were now paying regular rates. But as loyal customers since 2006, I was not having any of that. So I got Comcast on the horn, explained my dissatisfaction and simply asked them to assist me lower my bill (oh, and I might’ve hinted that the Verizon guy was knocking on doors around here lately). Next thing I know, I am transferred to their “Retention Department” and I am back on the promotion for another year – I did not even have to put up much of a fight (which is good, ’cause Sherry’s the real negotiator in the family). And not only did I squash the $30 increase, our new monthly bill is in fact $8 less than it used to be. That is $456 that we are not shucking out to Comcast this year. Score!

So I took my new negotiating confidence and dialed Geico to take a crack at our car insurance bill. We have hadn’t re-visited our coverage since enrolling in 2006 so I thought it was time to check in. And once again, I simply asked the rep if she could assist me find a way to save money on my bill. I thought my clean driving record would be the ticket to more savings, but it was in fact our marriage license that did the trick. Apparently we had never updated our account to show that Sherry was a Petersik (she was still listed as my “friend” – ha!). With that little update, $134 magically dropped off our annual bill. If only we had done that 18 months ago when we got married…

Going for the savings hat trick, I chose to tackle our cell phone bill. I took my same, straight-forward “can you assist me save money?” approach with the Sprint guy (we have to stick with Sprint to keep our fairly decent company discount) and… struck out. Apparently our two-year-old plan is fairly much the cheapest and most basic one out there. Ah well. At least I learned that we are eligible for $300 in new phones. Not a bad consolation prize.

In total, I was likely on the phone for 30 minutes total. Certainly time well spent for saving nearly 600 buckaroos this year, especially since all I had to do was ask.

Have you folks talked your way into some savings lately? Do you have any other tricks for trimming your bills? Let us know, ’cause I for one am eager to make more calls… especially if I am doing it from my fancy new cell phone.

For more ways to save money, check out this article from thenest.com and this article from BHG