Is there a bill that is just needling at you because month after month you think you're paying just too much? Been there. Done that. I am grateful that I have the money to pay my bills because there was a time when I didn't. But let's face it, we all have things we want to be spending our money on and bills isn't it.

But I learned that just two phone calls can save $600 a year.

Not long ago, my husband called our internet service provider and cell phone carrier to see if we could lower our rates. We have been long-term customers of both and thought it wouldn’t hurt to see what they could do. Two phone calls later and we were saving a little more than $50 a month… and we could all use an extra $600 a year, right?

If you’d like to lower a few of your monthly bills, here are some of our tips:

1. Look for a cheaper package.

If you have had your same package for a long time, rates may have change. We found that was the case with our service provider, Verizon.

They had recently upgraded us to a larger data plan for free as part of a promotion to get us to buy a new phone. But we were not using the extra data and don’t need a new phone and asked to be bumped to a lower plan. That saved us about $25 a month.

2. Find where you’re wasting money.

Our internet bill was the next place we looked and we realized we were wasting money by renting our modem. We could purchase a modem for about $75, while we had been renting it for $7.95 a month for the past 26 months! If you do the math, that’s over $200!

Of course, if something happens to your modem you have to replace it on your own dime.

3. See if a long-term contract is worth the money.

We have very few internet service providers where we live. And we have had the same one for over two years. We realized it was about $15 a month cheaper to just go ahead and sign one-year contract with them.

Since I use the internet to run a business from home, I don’t see us cutting that expense within the next year — so that simply change saved us another $180 per year.

4. Ask the right questions.

My husband just flat out said, “Your competitor has a cheaper rate and we are thinking about switching, what can you do to change our minds?” That got a quick response and a small discount!

You might also ask if they have a customer appreciation discount. Some providers will knock a few dollars off your bill as a one-time discount if you ask politely. Politeness goes a long way.

These are just a few of the ways we’ve successfully lowered our monthly bills. Have you tried anything similar? Or do you have other ideas and suggestions?

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