Cutting Down on Technology Bills

[iboost79]

I was going through my bills and realized that I spend a lot of money each month on technology. I'm talking about the reoccurring bills for cellphone, cable, land line, and internet. I spend about $260/month for those 4 technologies. I researched and did more research on how to eliminate at least 50% of those bills. Here's what I did:

Digital Cable with HD - $90 [now $0]

I canceled my digital cable subscription. I ended up buying an old mac mini for $350 and a TV tuner for about $120. I used this set up to broadcast TV shows on the network websites, Hulu, and Boxee through the Mac Mini and onto the HDTV. Saved money and skipped out on the commercials.

Cable Internet - $50

Kept the internet to dodge the high cable bill. When you order cable internet, you can usually get the basic channels to the TV. There's no way for the cable company to know this. Just buy a cable splitter and connect one end to the cable modem and the other to the TV. You only get the firs 40-50 channels. But hey, it's better than nothing.

Land Line - $20 [now $3]

Canceled my land line. I just downloaded Skype and paid like $3 a month to call unlimited in the US.

Mobile - $100 for individual line [now $50 per person]

Still have my iPhone, but I switched to a family plan with my brother and sister and we saved saved about $15 each as opposed to having 3 individual lines. Plus my 20% discount shaved off some dollars.


Anyone else going this route?

[hermione]

Cable - none
I haven't had cable since 2001 and so have saved a lot as a result. We watch all our TV shows free online - Hulu, WB, CBS, CW, etc. (List of sites to watch full episodes online here.)

Landline- none
We also got rid of the landline phone when we moved to our house in Dec 2006 and just use our cell phones.

Cell Phone - Family plan
My sister and I are currently on a family plan with 400 minutes w/ free long distance, nights and weekends for $55 a month, but we barely make a dent in our monthly minutes so I'm thinking of changing that.

Phone technology - 5 years old
We're still using the Motorola V300 phones we got when we first got cell phones in 2004. They're 5 years old now, a little beat up (the nice blue rubber skin is peeling off in places) but they still work perfectly so I don't see a need to get an iPhone or Blackberry which also come with more expensive plans.

Internet - too expensive!
We do pay a lot for our internet - we only have one high-speed provider out here which is Charter so it's harder to get a competitive rate. We're paying $58/mo. right now (just got out of a $22/mo. promotion) and I'm going to see if I can get that lowered somehow.

I've tried hooking up the cable for our internet to my HDTV but couldn't get any channels.

[gt0163c]

I've cut down my bills a bit by switching around which companies I deal with a little.

I don't have cable or a cell phone, so those bills are $0.

My land line and DSL internet are about $55/month (~$5 for long distance, $50 for phone and internet). I switched long distance providers a while back and got a better rate. For my local calling, I have a plan which gives a limited number of outgoing calls a month and then charges a small fee if you go over. I had to keep asking for a lower plan when I got this set-up, but it works out that I'd have to make over 70 calls/month for it not to be cheaper. I've never even come close to that, so this plan works out well for me and saves me around $5/month (not a lot, but it's something).

I could save a bit more by switching to a slower internet speed at home, but I'm not willing to do that. I watch a lot of television on the internet, and the faster connection speed helps make that possible.

I also recently switched eletric companies and that's helped some with the bills, but that's another topic.

[macro01]

I do have an internet connection (a broadband type) and a old mobile phone.
I'm paying my bills monthly for the internet connection and for the mobile phone I'm just using a prepaid service.

[bhkyra]

I don't even remember the last time I turned on my TV. My monitor is bigger than my TV anyway, so I just watch hulu.

I've never had a landline.

I have the basic plan for my cell phone, for $30/month plus taxes. I text a bit, but not enough to bother paying for a plan (~10 texts/month). So this is pretty much as low as it gets without giving up the cell phone all together. Last time I was in the market for a new cell phone, I really wanted one of the fancy ones with a keyboard and/or touch screen that you could browse the internet on. I probably played with the ones at the store for at least an hour before I finally started thinking.. Why would I want to suffer through REALLY SLOW internet on a REALLY TINY screen? Most of the time I don't need mobile internet, when I do, I use my iPod touch and use someone's unsecured wireless. No monthly service fees for that. =) So I went for the basic free phone.

With the basic phone plan, I don't usually go over, but when I do, it is quite costly, so I always make sure to check where I am at as far as minutes/texts go frequently so that I can ration them out for the month.

I could do without the internet, it is really an entertainment expense for me at home, but I enjoy it enough that it is worth the $35/month. But I could get by without it if I needed to, and if I ever lost my job, that would be the first thing I would cancel.

[trustno1]

Two years ago:

2 landline phone lines (no long dist included)
1 internet dial up line (slow and contract required )
1 cell phone service (minute cap, contract required)
1 ATT long dist service
1 basic cable TV service (one outlet, contract required)

Total Cost was about $180-250/mo

Today

1 cell phone service (Cricket, unlimited calls, text msgs, long distance, voice mail, web access, pics, 3way, no contract, no limits at all)

Cost = flat $40/mo

1 broadband mobile internet (Cricket, unlimited, no contract)

Cost = flat $40/mo

Total Cost = $80/mo

I use cell for everything. Watch TV/movies on internet (connect laptop to 46"HDTV to view/record). Unlimited use, unlimited choices, no extra charges, no contracts and no regrets)

Life is good...lol