I'm On a Roll

Last week, I wrote this post about how I had saved $201 with one phone call. I suggested that if you looked over your accounts, you might be able to save some money by calling and asking for a better deal.

So I decided to take my own advice. I felt flush with the success of lowering our home insurance premium, so I called the cable company and asked why our "bundle" price on telephone, Internet, and cable had gone up over the past few months, from about $112 to about $135.

The agent looked at our account and told me that our $99/mo "all-the-best" package was a 12-month deal and that it had run out. But she said she could offer me another deal for $104 a month plus tax and box rental, essentially saving us $15 a month. There would be no change in our service and I would have to do nothing. So just by asking, we'll save $180 over the course of the year. Not bad. My next call is the Department of Water and Power. That bill is the big enchilada, around $350 every 2 months. Yikes. Marine-style showers may be in my future.

If you're ready to test out your negotiating skills, check out this article that claims it's a lot easier to get a bargain these days. Apparently it's a buyer's market, and that goes for the doctor's office as well as boutiques and department stores, hotels, and yes... the cable company. It's a haggle-fest out there.

What deals have you been able to score just by asking? Tell us all about your great bargains in the Comments section.