# So I just saved alot of money in not a lot of time!



## The_Mechanic (Jan 6, 2012)

Thought I'd share this with you guys because I did it in a frugal mindset. So today I had the day off from work and decided to look into my monthly fees and how I could lower them. I decided I was paying too much for my cell phone and too much for auto-home insurance. So I did shop shopping around for submissions, and after about 90 minutes of browsing around the net I decided to place a couple phone calls. After another 90 minutes of phone calls here are my results:

Cell phone bill reduced from 65$ to 55$ a month (for exact same services offered, no company change) 

Auto and home insurance reduced from 120$ a month to 82$ a month for even better coverage! (changed company)

Total saved :48$ a month, so 576$, plus taxes which comes out to 656$ a year!!!

I'd say not bad for 3 hours work! And I also invite you guys to do the same! I was out to save a couple hundred bucks a year..I wasnt expecting this much though!


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## Guigz (Oct 28, 2010)

Shopping around for insurance each year is one of the most lucrative saving activity.

Insurance companies usually have way better rates for new clients versus existing ones (at least, in my experience). 

To add to The_Mechanic's list, especially if you live in Québec (the province):

Shop around for a better internet rate. Since the CRTC's decision regarding independent ISPs came into effect (February), much better rates can be had for high speed internet rates. For instance, the bundle that I have is 15$ cheaper per month, and I also have almost triple the bandwith and double the speed on top of that.

Electronic box


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## The_Mechanic (Jan 6, 2012)

Yea TV and internet will be my next stop. I'm paying wayyy to much for internet and TV well i dont watch much so i'm sure i can reduce that too. Wasnt aware of the crtc changes for internet though, i'll have to take a look at that!


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## bayview (Nov 6, 2011)

Interesting. An insurance broker got me a good deal for my auto and home insurance combo in my first year here. Do you guys mean i shop around when my next renewal is due and not retain my broker services.

Thks!


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## Zeeshan Hamid (Feb 28, 2012)

The_Mechanic said:


> Total saved :48$ a month, so 576$, plus taxes which comes out to 656$ a year!!!


More actually, since it's a tax-free return (what I mean to say is that your income would probably have to go up by $1000 for your take-home to go up by $656). Good stuff.


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## Sherlock (Apr 18, 2010)

But aren't there dangers in switching your insurance too often? Don't they always ask how long you've been with your previous company, and refuse to insure you (or give you worse rates) if you switch around a lot?


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Sherlock said:


> But aren't there dangers in switching your insurance too often? Don't they always ask how long you've been with your previous company, and refuse to insure you (or give you worse rates) if you switch around a lot?


Well, if they give you a worse rate because you've switched around too much, then don't switch to them. Heh. 

I always shop around, but only switch if I find a significantly lower rate. I won't bother switching for just a few dollars difference.


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## rusty23 (Jan 25, 2012)

thanks for the reminder called bell saved $25 from sat/internet (not great but good enough 18%) and saved $15 from my rogers cell bill (have to sign new 3 year but i need a new iphone still using my original iphone 3g and it's slow as balls now).


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## CanadianCapitalist (Mar 31, 2009)

I second the recommendation to shop around for Internet subscription. Switching from Bell to Teksavvy will save you about $15 or so per month for the same speed and a much higher bandwidth.


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## dave2012 (Feb 17, 2012)

Reducing our costs has become a fun hobby of mine! Our 10 year term life insurance is coming up for renewal. After some research we found out we can save 50% by not renewing and just starting new policies with the same company. The renewal amounts are twice as expensive as getting new policies because you don't have to get another evaluation and medical check, you are just covered regardless of your health. We opted to go through the process to get new policies since we are both still in great health. Once we have the new policies in place we can cancel our existing policies and enjoy the savings for another 10 years.

Last year one phone call was all I needed to reduce our web server cost by almost 50%.

Credit card processing... check!

Car/boat/trailer insurance... check!

Unfortunately we are running out of fixed costs that we can have reduced. Gotta think of something else!

Thinking of cancelling cable for the summer which will save us a ton in $$$'s for Rogers old fashion TV delivery. Can't wait till Apple comes up with their system!


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## Guigz (Oct 28, 2010)

dave2012 said:


> Can't wait till Apple comes up with their system!


Oh yeah, I am sure that Apple will be releasing a system that offers more bang for buck.

They are in the business of selling fashion items....

If you want inexpensive, go for OTA adn save ALL your cable bill.


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## groceryalerts (May 5, 2009)

dave2012 said:


> Reducing our costs has become a fun hobby of mine! Our 10 year term life insurance is coming up for renewal. After some research we found out we can save 50% by not renewing and just starting new policies with the same company. The renewal amounts are twice as expensive as getting new policies because you don't have to get another evaluation and medical check, you are just covered regardless of your health.


It is incredible that figure. I was also shocked that the company does not want you as a repeat customer - great find!


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## Mall Guy (Sep 14, 2011)

Sherlock said:


> But aren't there dangers in switching your insurance too often? Don't they always ask how long you've been with your previous company, and refuse to insure you (or give you worse rates) if you switch around a lot?


Really what they want to know is how long you have been insured, and if you have ever been deigned coverage. There may or may not be anything in the advantage of being with the same group for 10 or 20 years as the actual claims adjustment is done by the back shop (and third party) and not by the person you do business with . . . hey, just like the banks !


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## sisco (Oct 18, 2011)

groceryalerts said:


> It is incredible that figure. I was also shocked that the company does not want you as a repeat customer - great find!


The reason that term insurance renewal rates are so high is because they are guaranteed. Even if you have developed some kind of medical condition in the 10 years that you've been in your term policy, you can still pickup the renewal clause at the stated rate. SOOO, if you have done the 10 years and are still healthy, it almost always makes sense to reapply for coverage.


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## dave2012 (Feb 17, 2012)

@groceryalerts,

Actually we aren't changing insurance companies at all. Like sisco mentiones, we're just starting a new policy with them to get the better rates rather than just doing the auto renewal.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

I recently did this with my TV provider. The bills were getting too high and they recently increased by $4 per month. So I called and asked if there was anything they could do to reduce this, given I was a longtime customer. So I got a whole bunch of bonus packages for $16.50 less than my current price, for 3 months. So about 20 mins on the phone and I saved about $50 incl tax. Maybe they will have another thing I can do in 3 months?


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

the-royal-mail said:


> So about 20 mins on the phone and I saved about $50 incl tax. Maybe they will have another thing I can do in 3 months?


This is an yearly ritual for me now for several years.
All the discounts last for a year.
So every year around the same time, I call, threaten to cancel everything, get transferred to the retention/loyalty department, and renew my discounts.
As a result, I have been paying about the same for all my services for the last several years.

The "sticker prices" in the meantime have gone up nearly double.
I cannot even imagine paying $80 for TV, $50 for Internet, $30 for home phone, $80 for cell phone, etc.

Were it not for the discounts, I would probably have canceled everything a long time ago (except perhaps the Internet).


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

We are planning to move in the next several months. We are overdue to take a look at phone, internet, and entertainment offering as well as home insureance coverage. I know that we will save some money. 

We check our insurance costs on a regular basis just to make sure that our premium is in the ball park. We replace one car last year. The company we deal with wanted a premium of just under $1200. We shopped the coverage to another very good provider that we had dealt with on my father's behalf. Their policy came in at $800. This year it went down to $775.


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