Paying Attention to Utilities

Have you paid attention to your different utility bills lately? There are many articles out there giving suggestions on how to get your electric or gas bill down by conserving energy different ways, such as using high efficiency light bulbs, but this post isn't about those things. It is about Internet/phone/cable bills.

If you have any or all of these services, it may be worth your time to call up the company you have these through to see what the going rates are for their services. They just might be lower than what you are currently paying. This happened to us this past month. We have our internet through Cox. We had signed up with them when we moved in to our place Fall 2008 with a 6-month promo deal--$19.99/month for 6 months for 1.5mb speed--but after that it jumped to $39.99. Last month my husband heard a deal on the radio for 3mb speed for $32.99. It wasn't a 6-month promo or anything like that. It was their standard price. To be honest, I have no idea how long their prices have been this, and how long we have been overpaying for a slower speed, but we didn't let it go on any longer. We called up Cox, and told them we wanted to switch to the 3mb speed. They were very nice and helpful, and the switch only took a couple of minutes. Now we have twice as fast internet speed and pay $7 less per month.

Moral of this story--call your internet/cable company every 6 months or so, just to find out what the current rates are. They might be lower than you are actually paying.