Article Sphere Logo
 
Main Article Categories

 Alternative Medicine
 Arts And Entertainment
 Automotives
 Beauty
 Business
 Communications
 Computer And Technology
 Disease And Illness
 Finance
 Food And Beverage
 Health And Fitness
 Home And Family
 Home Based Business
 Insurance
 Internet And E-Business
 Legal
 News And Society
 Pets And Animals
 Product Reviews
 Real Estate
 Recreation And Sports
 Reference And Education
 Self Improvement
 Shopping
 Travel And Leisure
 Women Health And Fitness
 Women Interests And Issues
 Work At Home
 Writing And Speaking
 All 511 Categories
 
"Personal Finance" Article
 Article Directory Home Finance Personal Finance

The Phone Call That Saved Me $60

By Expert Author: Steve Gillman
View Summary | Submitted: 2007-07-22 | Word Count: 495 words | Views: 96 view(s)
Steve Gillman
My wife and I are always looking for ways to save money - a habit from leaner times. But sometimes it's possible to stumble upon new ways to save money when we're not even looking. This happened to me the other day.

I was considering whether to downgrade our cable television service. We would be traveling occasionally during the next six months, so if the disconnect and reconnect charges weren't too high, it might pay to cut back to basic cable for a while. I called and asked about the charges. It was unfortunately $20 to downgrade the service, and would be $50 to upgrade. A total of $70 to save about $20 per month for anywhere from three to six months (we weren't sure how long).

Before I could finish doing the math, the nice lady on the phone told me I shouldn't disconnect and reconnect. Too much trouble and expense, she assured me. Instead, she suggested that she just give us $10 off the bill for the next 6 months. That seemed fair. We weren't even sure what we were going to do, and we saved $60 for asking.

My friends consider it lucky when these kinds of things happen to me. Of course they don't call and ask. I once talked my satellite television provider down from a $150 upgrade charge - down to zero! The key? I threatened to cancel the service altogether. What else can you save money on with a phone call or two?

More Ways To Save Money With A Phone Call

If you are one of the uninformed and unfortunates who still pay annual fees for your credit cards, call the credit card companies and threaten to cancel. If you have been paying on time, they won't want to lose you as a customer. In that case, the operator will transfer you to an "account specialist" whose job it is to change your mind. Tell this person that you just don't want annual fees, and he or she will usually drop them for you. After I first heard this years ago, I had the fees dropped on three out of four cards within the hour.

Getting a few quotes on something is another great way to use the phone to save money. This can even work with large purchases like appliances. But the more important things to get quotes on are those that mean recurring expenses. Save $150 per year on insurance and it can really add up over the years. Different carpet cleaning companies can vary by as much as $200 for cleaning the carpet in your home. Call and ask.

Last Christmas season, we called Delta Airlines directly to get a ticket for my wife's grandmother to come here from Ecuador. The round-trip cost? $504 - savings of about $200 over the cheapest online price quote (we had checked extensively). As I said, we are always looking for ways to save money - and sometimes all it takes is a phone call.
About the Author/Author Bio

Copyright Steve Gillman. Want to learn the Seven Keys To Saving Thousand Of Dollars and Over 400 Specific Ways To Save Money? Visit: http://www.99reports.com/ways-to-save-money.html

Article Source: http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/The-Phone-Call-That-Saved-Me--60/98045

This Article has been viewed 96 times.

Comments on this Article


More "Personal Finance" Related Articles

 

Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Personal Finance" article category.

People interested in the above article "The Phone Call That Saved Me $60" are also interested in the related articles listed below:

Living in today’s world is not easy task. It is extremely hard to lead a simple life away from expensive objects, unnecessary expenditures and countless credit cards. I sometimes feel as if I were dragged by the society and the media to spend as much as I earn, and maybe more. Many find themselves in the same situation.
Approaching the age of 60 should be one of the most exciting times of your life. You can finally stop working all the time and begin spending your time doing the things you’ve been waiting to do for the last 20 to 30 years.
Traveling, buying a cottage, getting that little red Ferrari you always wanted...sounds pretty much perfect, right? Not really.
Worried about saving for your retirement? Make sure you hit your retirement goals with our 3 simple tips for retirement saving success. Things you never knew about finances and expenses that can truly affect your saving plans are also discussed.
Vans are ideal for any commercial purpose and sure that is why they come with a price. Now, the advantage of having a van of your own is immense, as it enables you to save a lot of money, which you might have spent on hiring transportation. Further it also acts like an asset and can be useful for future purposes. So, if you are trying to buy one and do not have the necessary finance, then consider applying for van finance.
If you’ve run up huge debts on store cards, you’re not alone. Every year in the UK, thousands of people seek debt advice to deal with the financial problems arising from this method of credit.
By any standards, we look to be in a bit of economic mess right now and in many ways the future looks bleak and uncertain. If you are in danger of losing your home or your job, you know this only too well. If you are in a predicament like this, I don't doubt that you are feeling fearful, angry and worried about your future. Who wouldn't be?
We receive many questions regarding debt settlement and specially inquiries as to whether certain debts can be settled or not. This is an important issue as not all debts can be settled with regular debt repair agencies. And thus, prior to hiring the services of such agencies you need to make sure that your particular debts are suitable for settlement or else you would be just wasting money.
Article Directory Home Finance Personal Finance

Can't find what you're looking for? Try Google Search!
(Search in 26 languages: English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Arabic, Italian, German,
Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Dutch, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Greek, Serbian
Slovak, Hebrew, Swedish, Romanian, Polish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish, Czech, Croatian, Bulgarian)
 
 
Copyright © 2005 - by Larry Lim, Singapore - Article Search Engine Directory at ArticleSphere.com™
All Rights Reserved Worldwide. All Trademarks and Servicemarks are the property of the respective owners.
Template Design by Internet Marketing Singapore | Internet Marketing | Singapore Classified
Español Français Bulgarian 汉语 漢語 Croatian Czech Danish Dutch Finnish Deutsch Ελληνικά Italiano 日本語 한국어 Norwegian Polish PortRomanian Русско Serbian Slovak Swedish [أربيك] Hebrew