Do you know how much an average American spends on the Internet every month? Around $69!
It was a shocking revelation to me. And since I was always frugal about house expenses, I simply couldn’t understand how it happened on my watch.
Anyway, it was time to get into action and explore ways to reduce my internet cost. Although my wife hated me for this and called me “Mr. Frugal”, I was determined to lower the internet bills at all costs. Eventually, I found some easy yet effective ways to save money on internet bills, which I’ll share below.
Understand Your Internet Needs
Everyone wants a high-speed internet plan because no one wants their favorite shows to buffer or online games to lag. It’s understandable. However, you need to differentiate between your “needs” and “wants” to lower your internet bills.
You don’t always need to go for an expensive high-speed internet plan unless your life depends on it.
If you don’t join online meetings or use bandwidth-heavy work tools, and only scroll social media or communicate with your loved ones, then you don’t need a fast but price internet connection. However, keep in mind the number of devices and users when accessing your internet.
A general rule of thumb is that you should get a faster connection if there are more devices or users.
Once you understand your household’s needs, the next step is to compare different ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and their plans.
Compare Different Plans
There’s no shortage of cheap internet plans offered by ISPs and you just have to choose the most cost-effective one. Now, how can you compare different plans with so many ISPs available today? Surely, you can’t call each one’s customer support or visit their website, right?
Don’t fret! Because I’ve got a brilliant solution. Search for a reliable internet plan builder, answer some really easy questions, and it’ll offer internet plans by different ISPs that meet your requirements.
Having said that, don’t forget to research the shortlisted ISPs. It’s a possibility that some ISPs may offer very cheap plans and provide equally low-quality services.
Bundle Your Internet
Do you, by any chance, use cable TV or phone services? Or, have you installed home security to secure your house? Regardless, it’s possible to bundle these utilities with your internet, and all of that for a lower overall cost.
Internet bundling is a great way to reduce not just the internet, but other utilities’ costs as well. Most ISPs that offer bundled offers have discounts or promotions to attract more customers. Not just this, they may also offer free ads-on like WiFi equipment, security suites, gateways, etc.
Also, a little off-topic, but another great advantage of internet bundling is that you receive a single bill of different utilities. Plus, you have a single point of contact, so if your services get interrupted, you only need to connect to a single customer support center.
Watch Out For Miscellaneous Fee
Some ISPs sugarcoat their offers with free WiFi equipment, gateways, security suites, and whatnot to attract new customers. However, the day the promotional period ends, they start charging for it. On the other hand, common folks like us think that only the internet prices have increased since the promotional period has ended.
Besides this, some ISPs have capped internet plans, and charge an overage fee in case customers exceed the allotted data limit.
Here, I would suggest you read the fine print provided by your ISP. Read it carefully to understand if you’re being overcharged by your ISP in any way. And, if that is the case, contact their support at the earliest to resolve this issue.
There’s one more suggestion before I wrap up. It’s more cost-effective to buy your WiFi equipment than to rent it from your ISP. It’s because buying WiFi equipment may cost a lot less than paying a handsome amount to your ISP every month.
Having said that, conduct thorough research about this, because not every ISP allows you to use your WiFi equipment on their connection.
If you want more information, explore our website: whatutalkingboutfamily.com.