3 Measures To Save Money On Home Entertainment Services
Take a close look at your cable and internet bill. You’re likely to see a confusing onslaught of taxes, charges, and add-on fees.
With the opaque pricing and fine print, it’s difficult not to feel home entertainment services are taking a toll on your monthly expenses.
However painful the experience, it’s a helpful reminder: you don’t want to be overpaying internet and cable TV bills that rival your monthly debt payments.
There’s some debate going on today about the ‘cord cutting’ model of saving money on home entertainment, where viewers bypass some direct entertainment services such as cable TV to access content in other forms. However, the viability of this model is still controversial and the cost can even go higher than conventional cable services if premium channels are subscribed.
The good news is you don’t have to opt for such options, as there are measures to have your entertainment services right at your fingertips while saving money.
Start scaling
If you like to save on entertainment costs without giving up on any of the services, try scaling back. A painless way to go about it could be to cancel all the extra features. For example, if you’re paying for extra HD programming, or a tier of premium channels that you barely watch, removing extras from your cable TV subscription could bring your bill down by 50 percent. Recent studies show how many people watch the leading cable Networks in the United States and by looking at the numbers you can identify which channels you can subscribe to and remove in order to save.
Also, you can save money by downsizing internet subscription. If you’re paying extra charges for the most available bandwidth, consider the time when you really require greater bandwidth. You might not need premium internet speed if you use your home internet connection for sending emails and updating social network statuses.
Look for Coupons and Promotions
Whether you are a new customer or an existing one, see for yourself whether your cable service provider is offering a promo code, coupon or a discounted rate on cable TV or internet services. AT&T and Comcast offer such promotions frequently, while Verizon is still offering great promotions for new FiOS users. MoneyNing reveals that such promotions are available for a variety of bundles such as double play and triple play bundles. Investigate the possible savings you might gain by opting for such offers.
You can search for these offerings in newspapers, service provider websites and by calling companies directly. It’s also a good idea to check out reviews that cull provider information and enable consumers to make comparisons between promotional offers. This measure could go a long way to build up and safeguard your personal savings.
Use a Single Service Provider
Although this may seem counter-intuitive, using cable TV and internet from a single company can bring you tons of savings. It’s also a good way to reduce the cost of calling different service providers whenever there’s downtime, as a single customer service department would be responsible for dealing with all your queries.
Sometimes, when you opt for bundled services, you may be offered a promotional rate that can slash your bill and result in savings. Although it’s not always necessary, you get the option of negotiating by citing the fact that you’re opting for all the services from one company. Be ready to mention other providers, as well as their bundle fees, and do your homework when it comes to promotional offers your selected provider is offering to new customers.