We have to be out of our house at the end of the month and I have started the process of transferring all of our utilities over to the place we’ll be renting this summer until our new house is built.
Most of the transfers can now be made online, but I like to use these opportunities to call each company directly and discuss our bill to see if we are getting the best deal possible. I’m glad that I did, since we ended up saving over $300 on our cable and internet bills with just two phone calls.
How Did I Save On Cable And Internet Bills?
First I called TELUS, our internet service provider, to let them know about our move. I noticed that since their last dividend increase my bill had just gone up from $37.95 to $41.50 per month. At the end of the call I brought up the billing increase. I just flat out asked if they had a better available monthly rate, and after a few minutes on hold they came back and offered me a rate of $35, for a savings of $78 over the next year ($6.50 per month).
Next up was our satellite TV provider, Bell XPressVu. I was determined to get a better deal from Bell or I was going to switch to the new TELUS Optik TV to save on cable. We were paying around $80 per month, which was a bit high considering we only watch about half a dozen shows.
The nice thing about moving is that you have a good incentive to switch providers since you are going to make the transfer arrangements anyway. The Bell customer service rep was going to charge me $75 to hook-up the satellite a 2nd time (for the new house), so that’s where I made my move to escalate the call to their loyalty department. I spoke with a very nice woman who not only agreed to waive the hook-up fee, but also managed to reduce our monthly bill by $20 for the next 12 months, for a savings of $240 for the year.
Thinking about calling your provider to get a better deal? Here are a few money saving tips to help increase your chances of success:
Review Your Bill Frequently
I have been a Bell satellite subscriber for over 12 years. When I moved to our current house nearly 8 years ago I called Bell to transfer my service and was surprised to hear that I was paying for a package that no longer existed in their system. It turned out that I was over-paying for similar service by about $10 per month.
Since that day I have made it a point to regularly call each utility company and review my bill to ensure that I am still getting the best available price. We’ve all seen the special offers geared towards signing up new customers but there is never an incentive to keep loyal customers happy. The next time you see a deal offered by your service provider, call and ask for a similar incentive for your account to make sure you save on cable and other utilities.
Call With A Purpose
Just calling and asking the first available representative for a better price on your monthly bill won’t likely get you anywhere. You need to call with a purpose in mind. Have a competitors’ most recent offer in your hands to refer to during the phone call. Know the exact service you are currently receiving and the price that you’re paying.
The first person you speak with is probably a front line employee and they have little authority to offer you big savings and discounts. If you are serious about saving money then ask to speak with Loyalty and Retention, a department who has the authority and incentive to keep you loyal and happy.
Be Willing To Walk Away
Set a savings goal that you want to achieve by the end of the call. If you don’t reach that goal, are you willing to walk away? I have heard a lot of anecdotal evidence describing how easy the customer service representatives will cave-in and do whatever it takes to keep your business, but in reality it’s not that simple. At least it shouldn’t be. As a shareholder of BCE, I don’t want them to just give money away with every phone call.
Know what the competition is offering and how it will impact your bottom line if you switch. Most of the time the introductory offer for new customers is a 3-6 month deep discount before the full price kicks-in. Explain your eagerness to switch and that you are giving your current provider the chance to match or exceed their offer. Being willing to walk away will show that you are serious and that there is a sense of urgency with the call.
Readers: Are you ever tempted to switch to a new provider in order to save on cable or internet charges? Do you regularly call your current provider to check for discounts?
“You can get poor a lot faster than you can get rich.” – Bob Miller
There is a lot more to investing than just setting aside money every month and hoping it turns into a large nest egg when you reach retirement age. Here are 5 common mistakes investors make:
Not Paying Attention To Your Investments
You don’t have to make investing a full time job but you have to put in some effort besides perusing back issues of Money Sense magazine. How well your investments perform can determine when and how you can retire, how big of an estate you can build and whether you will ever get to do the things on your personal wish list.
Whether you’re a do-it-yourselfer or have an investment manager, make sure your assets are managed in a systematic, disciplined way. Have a plan that covers both the short and long term – your life goals. Have a strategy to achieve your goals. Monitor how well the plan is working and adjust it if necessary depending on your results and changing conditions.
Trying To Time The Market
Many people are still searching for the secret of buying low and selling high but it’s almost impossible to pull this off. Even though the market’s overall, long-term trend has been upward, many stocks make most of their gains in short, dramatic spurts. Consequently, the price you pay for being out of the market at the wrong time is enormous.
Not only can you miss out on positive returns, but you’ll also pay transaction costs for making all the wrong moves. Overall, it’s easy to see why buy-and-hold investors have an advantage over those who try to outmaneuver the market.
Letting Emotions Drive Investment Decisions
Money is an emotional issue. It has a lot to do with our feelings of success, security and self-worth. When you use those emotions to make reactive, short-term decisions, you’ll get into trouble.
Irrational fear is usually the force behind the classic investment mistake of selling your stocks after the market takes a plunge. Those with cooler heads and a longer view know this actually may be the time to commit more money to equities.
Some investors are too conservative and let inflation eat away at their low returns. Others ride a tide of enthusiasm and go for the “get rich quick” schemes and super-aggressive investments hoping for a quick score and ignoring the higher risks.
To guard against emotional reactions you need a well-thought-out investment plan that you are willing to commit to.
Underestimating How Much Income You’ll Need
The biggest risk you’ll face is not the chance of losing your principal, it’s the risk of not accumulating enough so that you outlive your money. Calculate how much income you will need and factor in inflation (easier to do when you’re closer to retirement than when you’re just starting out).
Life spans are getting longer with each generation so you may be drawing on your savings for thirty years or more.
Don’t assume you’ll stay healthy. The cost of chronic ill health can mean huge financial setbacks especially if you will eventually need to move to a senior care facility or a retirement community.
Solely Measuring Performance Against Market Indexes
It’s gratifying to learn your portfolio has outpaced the TSX or the Scotia Bond Index and indeed that is how portfolio managers have measured their performance relative to their peers, but it’s much more important to know how well your investment program is doing in relation to your personal goals.
Your results may look great against market benchmarks, but still fall short of the asset growth you’ve targeted. If your portfolio loses money in one year, you’ll have to earn a greater amount in the next year to stay on track.
Look at your actual return after taking into consideration taxes, inflation and other expenses.
By avoiding investing mistakes you will build your wealth steadily and consistently over time without taking unnecessary risks. You’ll know where you’re going and how quickly you are getting there.
Many people are beginning to feel the pinch as rising inflation has started to impact our overall cost of living. We have high gas prices, the cost of food has soared and even auto insurance rates are starting to increase, leaving consumers wondering if inflation is getting out of control.
One of the benefits of creating and sticking to a budget is that you can analyze data from previous years and identify the expense categories that have been increasing. I thought it would be interesting to compare the first 4 months of this year with the same time last year to determine my personal rate of inflation.
Income
We are a single income family now with my wife staying at home full time to look after our daughter. Last year my wife was still receiving maternity leave benefits (until mid-March), so we didn’t have that income to count on this year. Meanwhile, my salary increased by 4.4% year-over-year after receiving an annual raise last July.
Net Income = plus 1.5%
Energy Costs
Our energy costs consist of our electricity bill, natural gas bill and water bill. Our electricity provider charges a fixed rate of $0.07/kwh, while we pay a floating rate for natural gas at around $3.50/GJ (compared to the fixed rate of $6.59/GJ). Our energy costs are fairly cheap, but likely due to a colder winter our consumption has increased year-over-year.
Net Energy Costs = plus 6.7%
Other Utility Costs
Since we cancelled our landline, our other utility costs consist of my wife’s cell phone bill, our cable bill and our home internet bill. One thing I find interesting about these utilities is that as a shareholder of Telus, Shaw and BCE I really enjoy it when they increase their dividends, however I notice that the next month my bills have all increased by the same percentage. All three of these companies increased their dividend in the past 12 months and our utility costs have risen right along with them.
Net Other Utility Costs = plus 4.4%
Grocery Costs
This is the big one where consumers are starting to feel the effects of rising inflation. Of course, there are things you can do as a family to help lessen the impact on your wallet. Our family creates a meal plan every month that keeps us on track and helps us to avoid impulse spending, and we also make sure to compare grocery store prices to maximize our value for money spent.
Our grocery costs include baby expenses and cleaning supplies. Overall I was surprised to see that our grocery costs only increased at a normal rate of inflation.
Net Grocery Costs = plus 2.0%
Fuel Costs
Gas Prices have been soaring this year. Compared to the same time last year, the prices at the pump have increased by about 30%. I don’t typically concern myself with the cost of gas since I live in a small city and have a very short commute to and from work. Fuel costs make up approximately 1.5% of our gross income.
After reviewing this expense perhaps I should change my attitude. Our fuel costs almost doubled from the same time last year! The cause of this is difficult to pinpoint. We redeem our Air Miles for gas gift certificates and could have had a large redemption last year.
We might have taken a couple of extra trips up to Calgary earlier this year. Either way, I’m going to keep an eye on this category to make sure it’s not becoming a trend.
Net Fuel Costs = up 82.1%
Insurance Costs
Many Canadians have reported that their home and auto insurance premiums have increased considerably in the last year. Luckily we haven’t seen this in our case.
Every year I call our insurance company and try to find ways to save on auto insurance, and last year we managed to lower our auto insurance premiums by over 25%. I haven’t made that phone call yet this year, but since we are moving into a new house later this summer we will need a new home insurance policy and I’ll try my luck then.
Net Insurance Costs = minus 27.4%
Tax Expense
Our tax situation has changed considerably now that my wife is staying at home and we have a child. I feel like single income families are taxed unfairly (ok, I’m a little biased) and we should have the ability to be taxed as a family rather than as one income earner. However, there are a few tax breaks that we can claim and our overall tax burden has decreased this year.
Net Tax Expense = minus 10.8%
My Personal Rate of Inflation
Everyone’s situation is unique and it is difficult to determine if inflation is truly impacting your personal budget or if certain circumstances have led to an increase (or decrease) in expenses.
With our net tax expenses reduced, our overall personal rate of inflation has actually decreased by 3.6% so far this year. Without the tax expenses included (a more accurate measure of spending), our personal rate of inflation has decreased by $14 or 0.01%.
Have you determined how much inflation is impacting your overall cost of living expenses?