by Mopes

Created on: February 04, 2009

If you're one of the many that spend over $100 per month on your telecommunication services, you're absolutely paying too much. It can be difficult to keep these costs down, between home phone and cell phones there's about a thousand additional services that you can be charged for. There are a few simple steps you should take to reduce the overall cost associated with these services.

1. Read your bill every month

Believe it or not, most people don't actually read their bill. They check to see how much they owe, then they pay it. While this may seem like the easiest way to handle your monthly bills, it's absolutely irresponsible. Your service providers give you an itemized statement breaking down the cost of each service you're being provided. It's important to review this breakdown every single month. You don't want to be surprised by any cost increases or additional services just appearing on your account.

2. Consider which services are necessities

When you signed up for your phone service immediately, you probably just took the best deal at the time. The problem is, the best deal at the time is usually an introductory rate offering free services within a package. Make sure that everything you're paying for is being used frequently. If it's not being used frequently, consider cutting it out completely.

3. Call your provider often

With the amount of competition in the telecommunications industry the available plans provided by each company are being changed constantly. Every few months there's a new option that may save you some money. If you're reviewing your bill each month, you already know what you're being charged for. But are you aware of the cheaper options?

4. Threaten to cancel

If your provider isn't offering you better options, just threaten to cancel your service altogether. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere there are several other companies that would be more than happy to offer you an introductory rate that is much lower than what you're paying now. If you threaten to cancel, most companies will give you their current introductory rate. Sometimes it will be even lower, in an area with heavy competition. If they don't offer you anything, follow through. Call up the competition and have your current phone number transferred to them. (Make sure you do not cancel first, most providers need an active account to transfer your service.)

If you consistently follow these four simple steps, you are guaranteed to shave at least 20% off of your monthly spending on telecommunication services.

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