Challenge Everything: Saving $60 on Cable

Several months ago J$ over at Budgets Are Sexy started his “Challenge Everything” campaign to save money. By putting everything on the table and doing some leg work, he has now saved himself over $2,000 in realized savings in 4 months.  One of the ways he did this was by cutting back on his cable package. There are many articles online about cutting it all together, Just like J$, Mrs. C and I aren’t quite ready to cut the cord completely, but Mrs. C. was able to get us a great discount on our package and we may be able to save another $13 soon. Mrs. C. is way better at dealing with these people than me and I am extremely thankful that she handles stuff like this for us.

Last week we received our new cable bill and it had increased by $20.  Our promotional period had ended and with it this $20 discount.  We discussed getting the next tier down package and Mrs. C. made a call to comcast to make it happen.  She explained to the Comcast associate that we really couldn’t afford the package now and that we would like to switch to a lower package. He said he could get her a deal if she signed a 2 year agreement.  With this string she got us a $60 monthly discount for the first two years, then a $40 discount for the third year.

For the first two years we save $60 a month which equates to $1,440.  Then 3rd year savings adds another $480, bringing the total to just shy of $2,000.  Saving $2,000 with a 15 minute phone conversation is a big deal in my book.  Check out my article 30 30 minute actions to win with money to get some other ideas of actions you can take today to move the needle. We still plan on buying a modem to eliminate the $13 monthly fee for renting one from Comcast. It sickens me that over the last 3 years I have paid them over $400 to rent something that I can buy for under 100 bucks at Walmart.

Why not cut the cable? Well to start with we like cable. We have fast internet, a ton of channels, and yes, I know we probably watch more TV than we should.  A lot of the shows I like are on channels like H2 which isn’t available on Netflix, and often don’t make it to DVD. We also have a house phone and don’t want to get rid of it. We have had the same home phone number for almost 10 years and most of our family and friends have it memorized. Comcast does make things convenient by having Phone, Cable, and Internet all together.

The main take away for me from this experience isn’t that we saved $2K and kept the services we like, which is awesome, but that by being on the same page with money and working towards common goals, as a team WE are able to earn more, save more, and invest more.  Getting on the same page with your partner is the most important action to take when it comes to finances.

Have you cut out cable completely? Do you find Netflix and Amazon Prime to be acceptable alternatives to “real” cable?

John C. started Action Economics in 2013 as a way to gain more knowledge on personal financial planning and to share that knowledge with others. Action Economics focuses on paying off the house, reducing taxes, and building wealth. John is the author of the book For My Children's Children: A Practical Guide For Building Generational Wealth.

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