How I Lowered My Cable Bill

73 Comments

1. Hello Brenda,
   I am a purse but. I love them!! Your new purse is beautiful.
   I am sick of cable. I now have a Fire Stick. I certainly hope I install it without problems. I will finish a two year Dish contract in July and want to cancel that service. Dumped the landline a few years ago. Only have the cell phone.
   Enjoy your beautiful purse.

2. Hi Brenda.
   Just wanted to tell you that you can use streamfare.com to watch msnbc live online, free. I dumped cable too, that’s all i watch during the day.

3. Brenda I live in NY and we have the same problems with the phone and cable. We have 2 companies you can choose from here and they are both competing to see who charges the most. What we did was remove all the cable and we now use Netflix which is about 10 per month. That is more than enough for us. I stopped watching the news years ago because it was making me sick. I also have called the companies from time to time threatening to leave and they do in fact lower your bill a bit if you are a good customer and have been with them a while and paid your bill. Good luck.

4. Brenda, have you tried goodrx.com for a discount for Charlie’s prescription medication? They also offer discounts for people prescriptions too. They are accepted by most major pharmacies including WalMart, CVS, etc. Just go to their website and put in any
   medication Charlie (or yourself) may be taking to see if a discount is available. There are discounts available on many medications. In some cases it can make a nice difference.

5. Brenda, I am going to make a suggestion that you will probably ignore, but nevertheless you might want to look into it. The way to save money on your car insurance is to drop your comprehensive coverage and just maintain your liability coverage. If your collision and comprehensive premiums cost $250 or more a year it is time to consider dropping that coverage. You don’t travel or drive that much so you really don’t need comp coverage. We have over $100,000 in cars, I know, I know, my husband owned a dealership what can I say, and he’s not Warren Buffet, and we only have comprehensive coverage on all 3 of our vehicles and they are late model, expensive vehicles. By dropping the liability, we have cut our insurance by more than half. And are you really going to do more than $1000 damage to your vehicle if you are in an accident? You can Google comp vs liability to get a clearer picture of what I am saying. And your insurance co. is going to tell you that you absolutely need both when you don’t, it’s money in their pocket. Just some food for thought.

   1. Well, I certainly messed that up! WhatI meant to say was that we only have liability coverage on our vehicles and by dropping the comp coverage we cut our insurance by more than half. Sorry for the confusion.

6. Get an insurance broker who represents many companies! Ask for insurance based upon your low mileage! It saves a lot! Get an Ooma all of you that have landlines! It saves you at least $35/month! I wrote about it on this blog a few days ago! They are on sale NOW!

7. I am a retired widow and have to be very careful with my money. I had cable tv turned off and kept only internet – as someone said you can watch anything on YouTube. I am lucky that my house and car are paid for. I lowered my electric bill by not using my dryer – I purchased some folding dry bars and hang my laundry on them. Everything is usually dry overnight.

   I wish you the best in your quest to save money.

8. Ugh, cable! I remember 35 years ago when I begrudged spending less than $20 a month for it. I cancelled it when my DD was little and I was single, but my DH must have it, and I still begrudge it. But your bill is outrageous!
   So clever of Ivy to store the faux leaf with her own toys. She is such a help around the house ;))
   I once hit the back of an old car very gently. No damage, but they put in a claim and then called and said they needed a whole new exhaust system?!!!! Well, we paid it out of pocket because we could, rather than involve the insurance company. What a scam.

9. Hi,

   How do I link to Amazon from your blog? I purchase Amazon items several times a month. I have lupus and I cannot drive when I am feeling poorly. Will linking ALL my purchases help you out a bit financially? I enjoy your blog and would like to show you my appreciation for your lovely posts about decorating and gardening. Sorry, I can’t have pets so I can’t buy pet food from your site.

10. Brenda you should look into streaming like many of the posters have suggested. Very economical & lots of variety. Thought you used to be a fan of the Blacklist.

11. I love your red purse. It is stylish and reasonably priced.

12. Love your new purse Brenda! I also love that Ivy is getting into decorating! She is an amazing girl to pick up her toys like she does.

    I had years of fighting with high cable TV bills and rip-offs and when we retired we cut the cord completely as we could not pay the price. These days you can get a wide variety of streaming TV for low prices. The first thing we did was get an indoor digital antenna (we got a “leaf” antenna) so we could pick up the free high definition signals a little better in order to get the best picture on local channels. In place of cable we now have “Sling TV” which is just $20 a month and has a variety of channels. I like the History Channel and HGTV and I can get those plus many others on Sling. We also have Netflix and watch both movies and series programs on it. Since we already have Amazon Prime that also gave us their movie and TV programs. We feel like we have good TV coverage for just $30 (Sling & Netflix) a month and when we had cable we paid over $200 a month!

13. I am with you on Rachel Maddow. I watch and then my sister and I talk on the telephone and discuss the topics of the night. We feel we could fix all the problems if they just put us in charge.
    I agree about waiting until April to pay your taxes, we always owe so we wait until the last day to mail the check. I hope your ss is coming in by then and it solves your $ problems.

    1. My neighbor waited until the last day, sent it in certified mail, the IRS cashed the check and then a couple months later froze his checking and savings accounts. Said he owed them $4000 long story short they told him they’d pay him $2000 and he would have to sue for the rest and he was a state senator!!!!! IRS has entirely TOO MUCH power!

14. Gosh, I tho’t Michigan had the highest car insurance in the U.S. Since I am being given a car after being without one for about three years I am hoping I can figure out how to insure it. I have already cancelled my cable TV and sold my television so that cuts down a little bit. I would like to get a smart TV and find a way to at least get PBS. They have programs once in a while that I would watch.

    I appreciate all the information from other readers in this post for cutting costs, especially regarding TV, internet and phone. I don’t have a cell phone and don’t particularly want one except for emergencies and traveling if I get a car. I still have my land line but I am getting so sick of all the annoying calls I get from scammers and others that want to sell me something. Do you get all those on cell phones, too?

    I’m really grateful for this series of posts and comments on saving money, Brenda. I hope we continue it off and on for a while. I’m sure someone will always come up with a thrifty idea they’ve discovered to save money. Thanks for instigating it!

    1. My phone is next to me on the side table next to the couch where I work during the day on my laptop. If the phone rings, which is infrequent, I look to see if I recognize the number. If I don’t, I just don’t answer.

15. Congratulations on the bill that is great especially because it is a necessity for you! I love the color of your purse. Can you price out a Charlie’s meds online and if they are less ask your vet to honor that price. That is something I have done with good results. Also changing out all your lightbulbs as you can would help and power strips. I have seen a drastic increase in my utility rates this winter. That woman should be ashamed of herself about the auto situation. Hope you Charlie and Ivy have a good evening. Colleen and Baron

    1. I will be reading a book on my Kindle this evening.

16. I only use a basic land line telephone, costs $40 after all the taxes and fees are added. Internet is around $44 when all of the taxes are added on. I don’t have cable TV or satellite, I stream Sling TV online for $25 a month, that includes a $5 enhanced package that includes shows on HGTV, DIY Network, FYI, Lifetime, and some other popular channels, as well as all kinds of news progrrams on cable news including CNN, Blumberg Business Report, etc. No MSNBC programming offered on Sling in the basic service and package I added, but MSNBC programming can be streamed live on the MSNBC station on Tunein Radio, it’s free radio streaming programming online. I listen to Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell on it nightly, and listen to Morning Joe in the morning. You can also get a lot of recent news by checking in on YouTube to see what’s streaming live by various “channels” and under “Recently published.” You can get free political news and commentary at Politico.com online, as well as at Dailykos.com, and many other places. Try news.google.com, too. They will often link directly to articles in The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and other online subscription news and you don’t have to pay for it, it’s all free. Washington Post and New York Times offer free viewing of a limited number of articles each month, as do a number of other nationally recognized newspapers. Time and Newsweek have free access to their articles online, but it’s not the full magazine. You can also find political and other reporting at The Atlantic, Salon, and Vanity Fair, among others. Plenty of free resources online, plus you can always get great news from all around the world at BBC online. Finally, I have a monthly subscription at Hulu.com for $7.99. So my total full-time entertainment package is around $117 a month, but I am thinking of dropping Hulu because I don’t use it much. I really like my Sling TV subscription. I also have a ton of regular free television access with an antenna on my TV, but I only watch Hell’s Kitchen and an occasional Packers game on that, LOL!

    1. My internet and phone line without long distance is $117.

17. Yes the satellite TV and cable companies are horrible. We stopped having those about 5 years ago… just couldn’t afford it as kept going up and up. No more landline either. We both have cheap and OLD cell phones. I have an old track phone and pay an average of about $5.00 a month for it. Hubby has an old flip phone and that one has Verizon through his daughter on a family plan, so it’s $20 a month. That is about as cheap as one can get…. his phone has unlimited talk minutes, so we use it kind of like a home phone.. when I have to make calls to places and be on hold for 20 minutes! I can’t use mine as that uses up all my minutes really fast. We use an indoor rabbit ear antenna for our TV. We get local channels plus a few others, like Me TV, ION, Comet, CW, which are odd channels but mostly have old old TV shows like The Andy Griffith Show (which I love), old westerns, etc. I like the local TV for current shows like America’s Got Talent, The Voice, music specials, etc. So we just pay for internet, which has gone up again and I need to call around to see if anything else is cheaper. Our little town only has 2 providers I think so not much choice.. and we use the Wi Fi for our Roku stick (which is the best thing since sliced bread!).. as through Roku, on our TV, we get probably a hundred FREE streaming channels.. from news, to home, to movies, to TV series, etc. The Roku is the way to go. Cost $49.99 5 years ago and is still working fine. We also pay for Netflix and Amazon Prime so many free shows and movies, documentaries, etc.

    Your red purse is gorgeous. Something about a red purse. I got one at a thrift store a year or so ago, and every time I carry it, I get compliments! It must really be noticeable.

    I wish you could get cheaper car insurance. That’s outrageous! We pay $112 a month for two older vehicles, but they have full coverage and deductible is only $250 a month and we have high coverage for the PIP and uninsured motorist. I worked for a personal injury attorney for years, and saw so many people who didn’t have enough coverage on their vehicles for uninsured accidents (for their medical bills), so we carry high coverage. Our agent told us that every October, most ins. companies review the bills and to call him every October, to see if he can get cheaper rates for us. That’s what I do. I may need to check with another company though, as this year it went up and he said he couldn’t find anything cheaper. I doubt that!

    It’s SO HARD to live these days being retired. We’re retired.. very low SS and very small retirements from our jobs, but thank God for those. I still work part -time at age 71 as we need the extra couple hundred dollars per month. I don’t know what we’ll do when I can’t do that anymore (or my boss retires!). He’s 65! Costs keep going up, we get a SS raise every few years of “maybe” $10 a month or $20 a month, but by then, all the other expenses have gone way up, like health insurance, car insurance, homeowner’s insurance, taxes, especially taxes. We have to keep cutting things out just to be able to live and afford food. We also go to food banks in our town, once a month, which helps us with the staples.

    Glad you’re feeling a little less pain in your neck. I truly hope the shots help.

    1. I talked to my accountant and am seeing him tomorrow at noon. Will go over my options while he figures my taxes. If the taxes are too much, might put off paying till April if I have to. I normally just pay it to him and he sends it off to the IRS and OK.

18. I think many people are looking for a way to reduce our expenses, especially after retirement. We are looking at ways to cut the cable as well. Our children all use a Roku and stream programs…..Hulu, Sling, Amazon Prime TV, Netflicks etc. I loathe having to use new devices, but for the cost I will learn. It’s shocking when we look at the breakdown of the charges and taxes. Enjoy your red hand bag. It is pretty and you have a wallet to match already. It is too easy to deny ourselves a pick me up.

    1. I try not to feel guilty about the red hand bag and all the money I’ve paid Nathan to do things around here. Was trying to help him out as much as get things done. I’m listening to MSNBC in the background on my laptop. So I’m good.

19. Little Miss Ivy Lou gotta love her ,I do love her antics !
    I have a leather red bag and I love it ,yours is very nice and you deserve it for Christmas .
    How is your pain level ??
    I am having spinal surgery in February I don’t have a choice my choices are that or a wheelchair .I have had an awful few days but still trucking along .
    Sounds like you are doing good with your budget ,and helping us with your ideas as well .Thank you .
    Hugs to you and the fur babies .
    I love your blog it helps me get thru my days .
    Peace !!!

    1. I’m sorry you have to have surgery. That’s what I’m trying to keep from happening to me. My pain level I think this week is down some. It’s been three weeks since the injection.

20. Youtube shows from MSNBC, heck you can youtube just about anything from TV shows to movies. The new antennas are great for picking up local stuff.

    1. I don’t care about local stuff. It’s too depressing. And I never watched network channels like NBC, etc. I have no idea what shows are on anymore. Really don’t care. I work during the day and read at night. When it’s spring I’ll be outside on the patio gardening.

21. You should call around to get cheaper car insurance . We also switched to direct tv now and like it

    1. I have. Car insurance is very high in OK.

22. So happy you got your cable bill down. Wow, an hour and a half on the phone to do it. Kudos for your patience and tenacity! Love your new red bag.

    1. When I returned the TV electronics, I asked the clerk if a lot of people were bringing them back & cutting cable, and she said yes. She said that people are figuring out there are a lot of things you can do with Wifi.

23. We eliminated our expensive cable bill last year. It kept increasing which really made me angry, so we eliminated it. We have Hulu and Netflix. Those are no contract and when we don’t want to pay for them anymore or no longer like the programming, we will elminate them. For these 2 services and our internet, with taxes, we are paying under $100/month. I’m all for keeping these companies from robbing us blind. The taxes and fees on our cell phone bill infuriates me, but we have to have them for work purposes since we don’t have a landline at the office or at home. Love and hugs!

    1. Wow, wish I could get 2 services and internet for under $100. My internet alone is $100.

       1. Same here – we have Netflix and Hulu. With those two services and internet, it’s under $100/mo. However, we also have a bundle pkg with that internet…we have basic cable (local channels only and only on one TV) simply because it was cheaper to keep it than not (with the internet). Our cell phones are also with the same company – AT&T. We don’t have a landline.

24. I’m glad you were able to lower your cable bill Brenda. That will make things alot easier for you.

    If you want some noise in the background, you could always buy a radio and leave that on. That’s what I do! I hear the news, weather, interesting facts, music to sing and dance too. Some stations you can even win prizes! Plus there’s no bill at the end of the month! Yeah!

    Now, on to fixing your glass sliding door! I know, there’s always something that has to be done! ?

    1. I had the cable news on just so I’d know what was going on in the country, like the ridiculous shut down that will mean children hungry because SNAP has been cut. However I know it riles me up no end to hear all the craziness going on, and I really don’t need that stress.

       1. SNAP is being continued through Feb. Just read that on a news site tonight.

          1. Yes, SNAP is being funded through February and then they will make provisions for it after that if the shutdown is still going on. No one has had their SNAP benefits taken away due to the government shutdown.

25. Keep a record of the returns of electronics. The companies do not like to take them back and can ask for proof of a return a year later.

    1. I have the receipt in my purse. I’ll put it somewhere else and keep it.

       1. That is so true Dianne Tolar! I turned mine in and didn’t keep the receipt and noticed about 5 months later they were still charging and wouldn’t go back. Took off from the day I called. I’ve learned a valuable lesson from that. Another blog I’m on said to buy a cheap divided envelope type that can be closed and put every receipt in it and that’s what I’m doing for 2019. She marks each section from Jan-Dec.

          Also, Brenda, a friend was stopped in a line of traffic and when she got a chance she pulled out to go around a couple of cars. The man in front of her did also and sped up and took a picture of her tag and reported to his insurance co that she had hit him and ran!!!! It was several months later that she found this out when her insurance called her. She told them straight up she had witnesses that knew she didn’t have damage to her car from hitting him. Ins co knew it was a scam, even his ins said it was. It went away!

26. Brenda, I pay $15.00 a month for my phone service, and I have long distance. I have Straight Talk. I don’t have cable. I went to Wal-Mart and got a black box that allows me to pick up about 13 channels. I don’t need 50 channels because I can’t watch but one channel at the time anyway. I pay nothing for internet. My sweet neighbor gave me her password and told me to use hers. I can pick up a signal from my sliding glass door. I hope you figure out a way to trim your monthly expenses too.

    1. I don’t know what else I can lower in terms of bills. My electricity just keeps going up. I have it averaged over 12 months. I don’t have natural gas. My car is paid for. The insurance is eating me up, but nothing I can do because that’s the lowest around here I can get. Some of my biggest bills are for my Charlie boy. Vet visits, medication, special food. But I’d do anything to keep my precious boy alive.

27. I can’t possibly afford cable so I bought a digital TV antenna from Amazon for $25, mostly for watching local and national news. I get ABC, CBS and some other cable channels.
    I don’t like leaving the house a lot and despise big box stores so I do have Amazon prime which offers free shipping, free books and Amazon prime video for watching movies. It’s $119 a year, so say, $10 a month and it’s well worth it to me.
    I don’t have a landline, my cell phone has unlimited minutes, text and data for $30 a month. I like having the GPS available on my phone when I’m in the car. My high speed internet is from AT&T for $40 a month.
    My car insurance here in Orlando is a shocking $200 a month vs. the $85 a month I used to pay in another city in Florida. Electricity and water are high too and my rent in a condo complex in a slightly seedy part of town is $910 a month. And that rent hasn’t been raised in the five years I’ve lived here. Rents here are easily $1200 and over for a one bedroom apartment.
    Retired and on SS, my income is not keeping up with the costs of living. I think many women have always had an internalized fear of becoming a “bag lady.” My fear is becoming closer to a reality every month.

    1. My fear has always been having to live under a bridge and listening to the noise of the highway. My ex used to say I’d end up living under a bridge. I know this is awful, but every night before I go to sleep, I visualize him in a coffin in the ground. Just to know he can never hurt me again. Is that terrible?

       1. Not at all!

28. Way to go on lowering your cable bill. Shame on the people that basically scammed your insurance company. Absolutely ridiculous!

    Love your new purse – enjoy it!

    1. I could not live with myself if I’d done what they did to the insurance company. And to me! I told her my dog had just died and I was a little distracted. She was an older woman. Thought she would be more empathetic.

29. Love your new red handbag! Enjoy it and don’t feel guilty. I have been able to lower my internet and tv substantially because I’m able to switch around providers so it’s more competitive. The car insurance keeps going up and I’ve never had a claim or ticket on my 9 year old SUV. My daughter and two grandchildren have been living with me for 3 years for free and she just told me they are finally moving out. This is really going to save me money!!!
    Hugs to you, Charlie, and Ivy.

    1. Yep, you’re going to save money now!

30. We had our Charter TV disconnected to save money.
    The newer type rabbit ears bring us over a dozen stations in the DFW Texas, area.
    We have ABC, CBS, NBC for news and weather and shows if desired. Several stations have older shows, comedy, etc., if we wish to watch.

    So enjoy your messages every day! Thank you!

    1. I never watched local network stations.

31. Hooray for you!
    Did the same a couple of years back,realized cable is a complete rip off,I have WiFi with their modem and I have a firestick and all the tv I want,like you,its mostly background noise..
    Ivy is just like a little kid,a box full of toys and she’s playing with your decor,to funny 🙂
    Love the purse.

    1. I have WIFI because I work during the day on my laptop in my living room. The modem, etc., is in my bedroom. Kind of nice having this total silence really. I take two different meds for BP. Maybe not hearing all the crazy BS on the national news might just lower my blood pressure. I don’t care about local news. If it isn’t happening right here at my apartment, I don’t want to hear about the murders and gang activity.

32. We cut cable TV last year, and then my husband hooked us up to Google Voice for our phone. It is a free service for our landline. You need to have Google Chrome to use it. We now only have Verizon for internet capability, and pay $39.99 per month for that. We use an antenna for local TV stations. Before all our changes, we were paying $226 for internet, cable, and phone. You might want to look into Google Voice to be able to save even more money.

    1. I’ll check into that. I didn’t know you could just get computer internet at Verizon. Or are you talking about your phone?

       1. We are only getting our computer internet connection from Verizon ($39.99).

33. I have not had cable for years and simply can’t afford it. Like you I have basic landline phone and internet. I can find enough on my computer to amuse myself.
    If you miss favorite shows on MSNBC you can just listen to it live online. Go to their web page and click on “Listen” at the top, then scroll down and click on the arrow to start listening. Maybe other readers would want to do this.

    1. Hm. I didn’t know this. Thanks for telling us all. I like Rachel Maddow.

       1. My fave show too!

34. I cut the cord on cable a couple years ago and I don’t miss it at all. I get Internet only from Xfinity/Comcast for less than $65.00 a month and I use streaming services and over the air for TV. I have DirectTV Now, Amazon Prime and Netflix. You could probably get by with just DirecTV Now for MSNBC. For phone, I haven’t had a landline in years. Just my cell phone. I bought a phone outright and I use AT&T prepaid for $45.00 a month. Don’t miss the landline at all either. I am surprised at the cost of your car insurance. I have progressive and I have full coverage, because my car is financed. My monthly payment is about $75.00 a month. I live in Colorado, which is an expensive place to live these days, but things could be more expensive where you live. I sure hope you can get it all down to a manageable level. I may be facing a similar situation soon myself.

    1. I heard that OK has the highest car insurance in the country. That is the bare minimum I’m paying for with $1000 deductible. I don’t like cell phones. Don’t particularly like phones period. Would rather email. I never texted and refuse to. I don’t watch movies or TV shows.

       1. I think y’all have the highest cable service too. I’m in VA and use cox and pay $149 a month for basic cable, high speed internet, and phone (though I haven’t used a landline in 5 years, it’s cheaper to include it in the bundle than without it).

          1. It’s true, Oklahoma has really high car insurance. I guess we pay for all the tornado claims.

35. One nice thing about renting a modem is if you start to have problems with it, or think it might be outdated, just return it, and they should give you another.

    Several years ago my mom was leaving the local VA after visiting my dad, who was a long-term resident there. She was thinking about some upsetting news they’d received that day, and ran into a car because she was distracted. It occurred on the grounds of the VA, and one of the security guards responded (thankfully) and wrote up a report. And the same thing happened to her! He turned it into my parents’ insurance company, claiming a lot more damage than what she did. Luckily, their insurance agent called the guy’s bluff. Things like this are sadly no longer isolated incidents.

    1. I told my insurance company when they filed that they were getting scammed. They said that part of the company was somewhere like St. Louis, so they had no control.

       1. Seriously? OMG, call those idiots at the insurance company and tell them they better do something about it. Saying that “that part of the company” was in St. Louis is about the biggest BS story I’ve ever heard! SO WHAT? Ever heard of phones? Or computers? You really need to be a bigger advocate for yourself if you don’t want to be continually taken to the cleaners, as they say. Tell them you’ll take your business elsewhere if they don’t take the time to straighten this out. Isn’t that why you pay all that money to them?

36. You should take an online defensive driver course, Brenda – that will save you money on your insurance for the next 3 years. I take it every time it expires to keep my bills down.

    1. I haven’t had an incident in probably 30 years. I haven’t had a ticket in probably 10 years. I’ll ask about this. The insurance company told me there was no way to lower my bill as I already have a thousand dollar deductible.

       1. Found this online: https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/9-cost-effective-alternatives-to-cable

          1. https://www.inc.com/sarah-jackson/best-tv-streaming-services.html

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