Bill negotiation services can be quite effective for cable, cell phone, home phone, satellite, DSL, radio, newspaper, software, etc. There is no charge if they do not save you money.
I use BillFixers but there are several others.
1 Like
I’m not an expert, but you may want to rethink the whole Poland Springs thing, at least about it not being filtered:
Where’s the Spring?
2 Likes
Huh? All I know is that it tastes much better than tap for us. I don’t care where it comes from. My point was that it my not be filtered and thus I can’t get away with longer periods between descaling in the coffee maker…
I really appreciate the info on water filtration. Have always hated my Brita pitcher (with its small capacity and it’s large footprint in the fridge). Live in a condo, so am going to give the undersink setup a go.
1 Like
What about the option of getting a newer fridge with a water/ice system? I know it’s not cost effective to just go out and buy a new fridge just for this function, but when you’re in the market for a new fridge, get one with water/ice system. I buy the generic water filters in bulk to save on shipping and they’re fairly inexpensive and only need to be changed out every 12 months or so. We usually stretch ours to 15 months.
2 Likes
We have one and unfortunately that didn’t quite do it. It solves the chlorine issue but the water tastes like plastic.
If you want to shop there, they offer discounts to the trade. It’s very likely you or someone you know qualifies as trade. This is architects, designers, builders and others.
If you want to get similarly cheap furniture, there is ikea as mentioned. Another place to get inexpensive but nice looking items is modway who knocks off famous designs.
2 Likes
In states where you can choose your energy supplier, generally select the cheapest credible one. In my state I just chose a cheaper electric and natural gas supplier.
4 Likes
Last week I noticed my Verizon FiOS bill jumped up $15 so logged in and saw my 2 year contract had expired. I called up and went to the cancellation desk while looking at online deals. Tell the guy I want what I have and he says he can only get it at $130 which is $8 above my $122 (all taxes and fees included). We have choice of FiOS or Comcast here so get good prices. I saw the same deal online but it showed $100 gift card and he said he can’t do that but I should do the online one.
Turns out online was pretty much bait and switch as the $114 suddenly turns into $155 so I called back Verizon on the phone. I get a new guy and tell him I want what I have and he finds me a deal for $120, $2 less than I was paying a month!! I never had experience where different people accessed different deals but now I know I can Hang Up and Call Again (HUACA) if don’t find something I like with Verizon. 
3 Likes
This kind of goes against the ‘no hardship’ portion of the thread, but @Jaytraders recent thread has me thinking about it. Is it pointless to trim relatively minor expenses like coffee out and cutting cable, when the elephant in the room is monthly housing costs? You could save a lot if you were willing to radically downsize your housing payment. Probably much easier it’s just you or you +1 and don’t care about schools.
3 Likes
Thanks, robstrash. I noticed the same thing and will try these approaches to see about getting a discount on the next 1-2 year rate.
I am so happy to not have to do this every 5 or 6 months with TWC. It was one of my biggest wastes of time because I could not figure out a way to make myself enjoy it, even though it was eventually saving money.
2 Likes
This is what I wish I had done back in 2009 instead of buying my house. Don’t get me wrong, I love my house, but I thought I had to buy it back when the tax man was offering me $8,000 or I would lose my chance cause the market had to be at its bottom (it was, but it stayed there for another 1.5 years by me). Shortly after I bought, a crime ridden apartment complex in my precinct started offering a 1 bedroom apartment to cops for $50 per month. Yeah, it would have sucked to live there, but as long as I didn’t keep anything too valuable inside, drove a crappy car, and always walked around with my gun, I would have saved a ton of money living there. I think they kept that deal for the cops that moved in for at least 2, maybe 3 years. Since I was single and no kids, it absolutely would have been worth the horrible apartment in a horrible part of town if it meant a savings of over $10,000 per year. Well, that’s if I saved it all. Probably would have saved closer to $6,000 per year because I would have taken better vacations and eaten out in the nice part of town a lot more. Still a huge chunk that I missed out on. Oh well.
2 Likes
Given the same figures, and if you were still single, would you even think twice about taking that offer today?
1 Like
I still drive a crappy old car, and the nicest thing I own is my wife’s engagement ring lol. So if I was still single without a kid (which means the nicest thing in my apartment would probably be my laptop), I would take that offer in the blink of an eye!
1 Like
More power to you!
Haha. I could probably live there indefinitely (without a family) and instead of having a nice house to come home to after work, I’d buy a condo in the Riviera Maya or some other vacation spot, AirBNB it while working, and spend whatever I save on my cheap rent taking lots of vacations - I got lots of time off back when I was a cop.
Oops! Forgot that you weren’t a cop any longer. That sort of blew out the point of my question. 
Want cheap without hardship? Learn to do things yourself.
- Repair your appliances.
- Fix your own cars.
- Maintain your house.
- Cook your own meals.
- Mow your yard.
- Manage your own investments.
- Do your own taxes
- Plan your own wedding.
9…
The tools, tutorials, books, and videos are widely available. The cost is a fraction if you do it yourself.
12 Likes
I tried billfixers for the first time, because I was getting annoyed wasting time with Comcast every year. Normally I can fight and get about $20 off per month for a year. This time, I just uploaded the bill, and they got $36 off per month, and keep half. Basically, I outsourced my painful complaining for a cost of $24/year.
2 Likes