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Are you wondering how to lower your Comcast bill?
If you are looking for ways on how to reduce Comcast bill, you will love this post.
In this article, I am sharing my practical tips on how to save money on Comcast.
Table of Contents
Are Comcast prices too high for you?
Comcast is one of the biggest companies in the U.S. So it doesn’t come as a surprise it created a monopoly in most areas.
But those were the days of the past.
Today, new competition entered in most regions, which minimized the level of monopoly that Comcast created.
With the entry of more cable and internet companies in the market, consumers now have more choices and enjoy better services.
And as a result, this is why Comcast became more open to negotiation with regards to its bill. Perhaps this is the company’s way of retaining their consumers and maintaining its business with them.
How to lower your Comcast bill
If you follow the ideal household budget percentages, your utilities should be between five and 10 percent of your monthly budget.
Utilities include your internet and cable bills.
If you think you’re paying too much for your these utilities, then something must be done.
Are you a Comcast subscriber?
Did you know you can there plenty of ways on how to lower your Comcast bill?
If you think you’re paying too much for Comcast, here’s great news.
In as little as five minutes, you can negotiate your cable and/or internet cost with the company. All it takes is your time and willingness to speak with a representative over the phone. Of course, a bit of prep work can also go a long way.
Where to start on how to save money with Comcast?
A lot of us are pretty busy. So paying attention to our Comcast bill (or any bill for that matter) may not be the top of everyone’s priority.
But have you ever wondered what if you paid close attention to your bills?
With the savings you earned, would you have picked up a new phone by now?
The rate may have crept up on you, and the next thing you’ll know you get a high amount to pay.
So what do you do to save money on Comcast?
How to lower your Comcast bill
Here are my suggested steps to take. They are quite easy to follow.
1. You need to understand your Comcast bill.
Yes, it can be difficult to figure out what you’re looking at.
You may notice a total amount for the bundled services you subscribed to. Then you may also see the other charges as well as the taxes payable.
For the less circumspect, all the numbers may seem like a blur. So they just go directly to the total payable amount and pay it.
However, if you’re looking to work out a Comcast bill reduction, you might want to pay attention to the payable amount. I suggest you start looking at the second page of your bill.
So what’s on the second page?
It’s there that you will see the details of your payable amount. This page will also fill you in on the gaps for the miscellaneous charges.
Check the second page for the state and city sales taxes you’ll pay. You’ll also notice there is a charge for the FCC regulatory fee. Those charges make sense.
But there are a couple of charges, which can raise your eyebrows.
What is a franchise fee, and why should you also pay another charge designated as franchise-related cost?
So you see, there are charges that are hidden from plain sight. And that apparent total amount due payable by the end of the month, that’s not just for your cable or internet subscription.
2. Did you know you can save on equipment rentals?
Here’s a quick tip on how to lower your Comcast bill: buy your own cable modem.
You can stop the charge and avoid paying the rental fees for the use of Comcast’s cable modem when you have your own.
Don’t know which cable modem to buy?
Here are my recommendations.
Try ARRIS SURFboard SB8200.
- DOCSIS 3 1 Cable Modem best for cable internet speed plans up to 2 Gbps. Note, a 2nd IP address is required from your cable internet provider to reach 2 Gbps.
- 32 downstream x 8 upstream DOCSIS 3 0 bonded channels, 2 downstream x 2 upstream OFDM DOCSIS 3 1 channels
- Two 1-Gigabit Ethernet ports capable of link aggregation
If you have a high-speed internet plan with Comcast, this is a wonderful option to consider. It’s also a great choice if you have multiple household users.
ARRIS SURFboard SB8200 is compatible with the top cable providers in the U.S. It supports HD video streaming and for gaming on multiple devices.
Or you can try Motorola MG7540.
- 16x4 DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem plus a built-in AC1600 Dual Band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) WiFi Gigabit Router with four Gigabit (GigE) Ethernet ports, a firewall, and more. This product is recommended for actual cable Internet service speeds up to 375 Mbps. A Broadcom cable modem chipset provides security from Denial of Service attacks.
- Requires cable Internet service. Approved by Comcast Xfinity and Xfinity X1, Cox, Charter Spectrum, BrightHouse, WOW., CableOne, RCN, Mediacom and other cable service providers. Eliminate cable modem rental fees up to 168 dollars per year. (Savings are shown for Xfinity and vary by provider). Not compatible with Verizon, AT&T, CenturyLink and other fiber optic, DSL or satellite services. Model MG7540 does not have a phone jack. This model cannot be used for making or receiving telephone calls.
- Built-in high-speed Wi-Fi router with AC1600 Wi-Fi provides Internet access for Wi-Fi devices including smartphones, notebooks, tablets, game stations, HDTVs, Amazon Echo, Google Home, Chromecast, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and AppleTV. 4 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports provide wired connections to Windows and Mac computers, HDTVs, game stations, streaming TV devices, and other Ethernet-capable devices.
If you have a standard internet plan, this cable modem is great. You get fast and reliable internet connection without the hitches. It’s a wonderful choice for your cable internet subscription.
With the Motorola MG7540, you can connect all your devices. From computers to hand-held tablets, from streaming media devices to game stations.
3. You can also save money when you use cash back portals.
Are you looking for a wonderful source of instant savings off your cable bill?
Sign up with cash back portals, and get cash rebates on your next payment.
Check out Rakuten (formerly known as Ebates). It is one of the best apps for cash back.
With Rakuten, you get opportunities to earn back what you have spent.
So if you’re looking for ways on how to lower your Comcast bill, Rakuten is a great way to reduce your cable or internet expenses.
4. Check your actual cable or internet and consider your alternatives.
Going back to your bill, you need to figure out how much of the total payable amount is actually split between the internet and cable subscriptions as well as their respective breakdowns.
Unfortunately, your Comcast bill does not disclose this information.
The Comcast’s website too does not give many details regarding this. So you can only deduce and figure it out for yourself.
So how do you figure out the corresponding precise amounts for your cable and internet subscriptions?
First, you go to your subscription plan and see how much you’re paying for your internet and cable TV.
From the amount due for your bundled service cost, you subtract the payable amount for your internet. So you will end up with a monthly cost for your cable TV.
But as we have mentioned above, that is not really the true cost of your cable subscription.
Check your Comcast bill, and you may see other charges like HD fee, DVR fee, regional sports fee, and broadcast TV fee, among others.
You might also want to throw in the franchise fee and that franchise-related fee too (but you may want to divide the amount since I believe those two are applicable to both cable and internet subscriptions).
Remove those charges from the aggregate amount charged for cable TV, and that’s your approximate cost.
After taking all factors and charges into consideration, you will arrive at an estimated monthly cable and internet cost.
If you find your cable and internet cost too high, you have to options: first, you can negotiate to lower Comcast bill or, second, you can cancel your subscription and move to another service provider.
The second option may be a bit extreme, and you should only consider it when you have exhausted all other viable options.
5. How to negotiate your cable bill from Comcast?
You’re probably wondering, “How to make my Comcast bit cheaper?”
… hmmm?
Start with negotiating for a Comcast bill reduction.
Pick up the phone and invest in a couple of minutes as you speak with a customer service representative regarding your woes.
You’ll be surprised to know most people get good results when they talk to an agent about their Comcast bill. You can ask to take off a particular item on your bill, resulting in a reduced payable amount.
There are two ways to do this.
First, you speak with a regular customer service representative and share your woes, particularly focusing on your bill.
After expressing your intention to cancel your subscription, the customer service rep will likely forward you to their customer retention department.
The second way involves getting to the customer retention department. So it’s either you go through the regular customer service route or go directly to the retention department.
When you get to the retention department, that’s where the real negotiation happens. The customer rep will likely accommodate your wishes, hoping for you to stay with the company.
6. Is the idea of calling Comcast not appealing to you?
Here’s a great app that does all the work for you.
Check out Trim.
This automated platform is driven by algorithm. It monitors your bills and looks for ways on how to cut your expenditures.
If it sees that you are no longer using this particular subscription, Trim will notify you of it. Then it will cancel that unused subscription. In the alternative, this app will negotiate to lower your bills.
What’s great about Trim is that it will also look for cheaper alternatives for you to consider to replace your current subscriptions.
7. Check for alternatives.
Didn’t get the reduced bill you were asking for?
Then perhaps your next best move is to look for an alternative to your current subscriptions.
I will only suggest finding a viable alternative if you have exhausted all your other options (or if you have grown tired of the services provided by Comcast after seeing better ones from its competitors).
First, you look for alternative service providers.
As for cable TV, you might want to consider video streaming services.
Also, why pay for cable TV if you seldom watch TV anyway?
And did you know there are more interesting and entertaining options online than your usual cable TV?
The most recent video streaming options for me include Hulu and YouTube TV.
What’s Hulu?
It’s a video streaming service that provides a wide range of plans.
What’s great about Hulu is that you can watch your videos anywhere using your computer, tablet, or mobile phone. You can’t do that with your TV.
In addition, Hulu features a Live TV plan that lets you in on over 60 live and on-demand TV channels. Watch your favorite entertainment programs, news, and sports events wherever you are.
And guess what, Hulu also has a DVR storage feature. So you can record your live TV programs and watch them later.
How much does Hulu cost?
Its lowest price starts at less than six bucks. This rate increases, however, the more packages and options you sign up.
Check out YouTube TV.
Would you like to watch your favorite TV shows on your phone or tablet?
Stream it wherever you are with YouTube TV.
For as low as $40 a month, you get access to a good chunk of your usual cable TV channels. Plus, you can save your favorite shows in cloud-based storage.
What’s great about YouTube TV is that you can watch your saved TV shows anywhere you are on your mobile device.
With Hulu and YouTube TV, you can forget about your cable subscription.
Here are your other alternatives to Comcast.
Have you heard of Dish?
It’s a traditional satellite TV provider that offers virtually packages similar to Comcast.
However, Dish offers an edge in a couple of things.
First, there’s the Dish Hopper DVR, which allows you to record 16 shows at a time.
Second, you can watch Dish Live TV on your mobile phone, tablet, or computer.
Third, Dish gives you access to NFL channels likes NFL Network and NFL Redzone.
Fourth, Dish offers free installation.
Lastly, Dish subscription packages start as low as $59.99, and you get around 190 channels.
There’s also a two-year price guarantee when you sign up with any Dish package.
You should also look into Verizon Fios.
It’s the closest subscription service to Comcast. The bundle packages are somewhat similar to what Comcast has to offer too.
However, when you subscribe to Verizon Fios, you get a detailed account of the miscellaneous fees you will be paying.
Are you thinking about how to lower your Comcast bill?
Do you want to reduce Comcast bill?
Are you paying too much for Comcast?
You’ll be happy to know you get more success when you negotiate to cut your cost.
Why?
Cable TV and internet service providers spend thousands of dollars every month to acquire customers. So the last thing they want is to lose a customer.
Even if you’re just paying a few hundred dollars in your bill, Comcast would do what it takes to retain you as a customer.
The company’s customer service representatives will do what it takes to keep you.
This is something to keep in mind when you approach the negotiation.
What’s the worse that could happen if you fail in negotiating for a lower bill?
Nothing. You just pay the amount stated in your bill with the option to discontinue your subscription with Comcast. Then you just look for a better service provider.
What tips do you have on lowering your Comcast bill?
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