The cost of having cable television and high speed internet in your home is increasing every year. My bill has gone up every few months for the last two years and I finally decided enough was enough. I started looking into other options. I’ve never gone with a satellite service provider before but I thought that if it could save me money I would be willing to give it a try.

I was stuck paying $150 a month for cable. I have 2 televisions in my home and both use an HD converter box. One of them also uses DVR. I also have the Internet through the same cable provider. I do not have a home phone, just a cell phone. To me, $150 was way to much money for what I was getting.

After talking with some friends of mine I realized that I should call my cable service provider and ask to cancel my service. I didn’t know what would happen next, but I assumed that they would offer me a discount in my monthly bill if I agreed to stay. I knew that if they did not offer me a deal to stay I could just hang up without canceling my cable.

When I spoke with the customer service representative she asked me why I wanted to cancel. I explained that I thought I was overpaying for the services I was receiving. After we went through the summary of my charges she said she could reduce my bill by $40 each month. I happily agreed and decided that I would not cancel my service.

I don’t think this would work if I was a new customer that was already getting a deeply discounted deal. Most of the cable companies offer a short term incentives like 50% off your cable bill for the first 6 months. Once that discounted period is over you may be able to call in and get a deal like I did. $40 a month is HUGE when you are on a budget. Every dollar counts.