Saving Money on Utilities

Home Phone Service: If you want to have a home phone, using VoIP services will cost you a lot less per month than going through your LAN line.  I have been using viatalk for the past 4 years.  It runs about $7 to $8 dollars per month depending on what promotion they are offering.    http://www.viatalk.com/   When you sign up, you will receive the VOIP device, which will use your existing internet connection to provide you home phone service.  I have one of those panasonic cordless phones with the additional handsets.  The phone service includes unlimited local/long distance calls, call waiting, caller ID, voicemail, call blocking, etc.  Check out the website for details.  Paying $7 to $8 beats paying $50 to $70 for phone service per month.  The savings adds up hundreds of dollars over the course of a year.

Cell Phone Service:  Check with your company and/or memberships (AAA, Bar Association, USAA, Government, etc.) to see if an associated discount applies to your provider.  If so, call your provider to let them know that you are eligible to receive a discount.  If you are not sure if you have a discount, then just call your provider and inquire.  Most discounts are anywhere from 10% to 25% off of your monthly bill.  Discounts also typically apply to accessories and phones as well.  You have to call your provider.  They will NOT notify you of any discounts that you are eligible for through your employer or memberships.  The savings on your monthly bills can definitely add up =).

Cable:  Back in December 2011, I discovered the Roku streaming device.  It is awesome!!!  Other devices that can be used to stream are Wii, PS3, and XBOX360.  I started streaming in movies from Amazon (since I am a Prime member) and also Netflix ($7.99 a month).  I actually ended up downgrading my cable service at first and now, I only have Internet service from my cable provider since I found that I wasn't using the cable TV anymore.  This may be extreme for some to think of not having TV TV anymore.  I was the same way, which is why I initially downgraded the cable and eventually, just removed it completely from my bill.  Now I have 3 Roku devices.  You can connect up to 50 devices (Roku, Wii, IPAD, etc) using one netflix account.  How awesome is that!!!

Roku: