Requesting some advice from digitally saavy posters.

[19333lion]

I am paying roughly $95 a month for Verizon cell phone service and another $215 a month for their internet and cable.

How can I cut my costs in half without losing a lot of the programming available I now have (including the Big Ten network)?

Thanks in advance for constructive (i.e. serious) recommendations.

 

[LMTLION]

I love bargains and hate contracts, so here is what I do:
Cell - Visible, a pay as you go unlimited talk, text and data service by Verizon on their very own network. The family plan is $25 flat rate total per line (that includes all taxes and fees) with a party of 4 - otherwise starts at $30 for a single line. With this service you pay for the phone itself, but there is no contract. I keep my phones for around 4 years so I am currently on an iphone 12 after being on the 7. I will probably buy a 14 or 15 next year or year after. The visible service is very reliable and even includes 5G.
TV - Fubo - my favorite live tv streaming service. I pay $94 with taxes because I pay for an extra NY sports package. Fubo is specifically built for sports fans and includes the Big 10 network. It has a feature that you can enter a home zip code, so despite living in PA I choose a NY zip to get the NY stations to watch the Giants and Yankees. It has most of the standard cable channels and all the major networks. It has Hallmark Channel for my wife so it works for us! Again, it is a streaming service, so no contract.
Internet - This is very local, so locally I have RCN at $68/mo with taxes for 300 mbps. That handles streaming, computers and video game system for family of 4.

 

[GregInPitt]

Can't help you regarding Verizon internet and cable as we have FIOS and pay just over $200/mo for TV, internet and a land phone. I've tried Comcast and it was undependable. The FIOS gives us about every channel we could imagine. I can't remember not getting a game I wanted other than the NFL's venture with Thursday games on Amazon. FIOS is the best but pricy.

But we had Verizon cell service at just under $140/mo for 3 lines, and that was with a 5gb data plan. But when I got a new iphone a couple years ago my service in our home became spotty. I spent some time (i.e. wasted some time) with Verizon customer service (calling it customer service is a joke....) until I finally went and checked out T-Mobile. I eventually fired Verizon and hired T-Mobile and have better service right here in suburbia and also much better coverage at our hunting camp above Williamsport. On the switch we got 2 new phones by trading in our iphone 10's (had to pay the tax on them). My wifes old SE didn't have trade in value but they gave her a new generation SE for 1/2 price. Our bill now is just over $130 and that include the payment on the SE. And unlimited data. Unlimited data added to our Verizon service would have been around $200. So I recommend firing Verizon wireless.

 

[junior1]

I am paying roughly $95 a month for Verizon cell phone service and another $215 a month for their internet and cable.

How can I cut my costs in half without losing a lot of the programming available I now have (including the Big Ten network)?

Thanks in advance for constructive (i.e. serious) recommendations.

so much depends on where you live...but my thoughts..
$95 for cell phone seems a little high..not much though. I'd worry about that one last.

$215 for internet and TV is high. I's start with internet. Call around and see what kind of offers providers in your community are offering. Take the one that has the highest speed and lowest cost. Internet is internet - as long as it works. I had spectrum, cancelled, then come the offers...from $79/month to 29.95.

TV...there are so many options available..Youtube, Hulu+, fubo, directv stream....look on line there are normally some comparison sites. You can ofterntimes negotiate what you want for about $75/month.

 

[PSUSignore]

$95 for cell phone is very high. I'm on Google Fi, $20/month + $10/GB of data used, rounded to the exact amount, no shady rounding up $10 billing practices, it's great. Since I'm on wifi most of the time my bill is usually somewhere around $40, and Google Fi is hardly the cheapest MVNO cell provider out there. The big advantage with Fi is some of their plans include international data at the same rates, which is quite unique. They even cap my bill at $60 so I'd never come close to what you're paying. Fi runs on T-Mobile, so if you're in an area where they have good coverage it's a good option.

Cable and internet is tougher, it really depends on your viewing. I segregated cable from internet once Google Fiber was in my area, that's $70 a month for their Gigabit plan which is plenty. They now offer 2GB and 5GB plans but I can't see how that'd be necessary for a single family home.

Cable is still pretty high at $125/month. It used to be $115 but cable companies play the game of increasing the fees every few months so it creeps upward over time. I will call periodically to negotiate with the retention department to get promotions, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Obviously pay attention to the add-ons you're paying for and remove services you don't use. I only pay for one box with HD DVR and no premium channels, and it's still $125. I keep inching closer to switching to apps but YouTube TV is up to $75 now, so with that and a couple of streaming plans you're right back at the same price point with worse coverage of live sports.

Cable companies reserve their best rates for new customers. If you're married, the best way to work the system is to cancel in your name and have your spouse sign up in hers. Then when her promotional period ends, probably 1-2 years, switch it back to your name, repeat as needed. Aside from those methods there aren't great ways to get cable companies to play ball anymore.

 

[PSUSignore]

Internet is internet - as long as it works.

That's not necessarily true. Some providers have data caps with additional fees or speed throttling, some have more downtime and outages, etc.

 

[19333lion]

$95 for cell phone is very high. I'm on Google Fi, $20/month + $10/GB of data used, rounded to the exact amount, no shady rounding up $10 billing practices, it's great. Since I'm on wifi most of the time my bill is usually somewhere around $40, and Google Fi is hardly the cheapest MVNO cell provider out there. The big advantage with Fi is some of their plans include international data at the same rates, which is quite unique. They even cap my bill at $60 so I'd never come close to what you're paying. Fi runs on T-Mobile, so if you're in an area where they have good coverage it's a good option.

Cable and internet is tougher, it really depends on your viewing. I segregated cable from internet once Google Fiber was in my area, that's $70 a month for their Gigabit plan which is plenty. They now offer 2GB and 5GB plans but I can't see how that'd be necessary for a single family home.

Cable is still pretty high at $125/month. It used to be $115 but cable companies play the game of increasing the fees every few months so it creeps upward over time. I will call periodically to negotiate with the retention department to get promotions, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Obviously pay attention to the add-ons you're paying for and remove services you don't use. I only pay for one box with HD DVR and no premium channels, and it's still $125. I keep inching closer to switching to apps but YouTube TV is up to $75 now, so with that and a couple of streaming plans you're right back at the same price point with worse coverage of live sports.

Cable companies reserve their best rates for new customers. If you're married, the best way to work the system is to cancel in your name and have your spouse sign up in hers. Then when her promotional period ends, probably 1-2 years, switch it back to your name, repeat as needed. Aside from those methods there aren't great ways to get cable companies to play ball anymore.

What is Google Fi? For that matter, what is an MVNO provider? I am pretty far behind the times, as you can see.

 

[Husky]

I love bargains and hate contracts, so here is what I do:
Cell - Visible, a pay as you go unlimited talk, text and data service by Verizon on their very own network. The family plan is $25 flat rate total per line (that includes all taxes and fees) with a party of 4 - otherwise starts at $30 for a single line. With this service you pay for the phone itself, but there is no contract. I keep my phones for around 4 years so I am currently on an iphone 12 after being on the 7. I will probably buy a 14 or 15 next year or year after. The visible service is very reliable and even includes 5G.
TV - Fubo - my favorite live tv streaming service. I pay $94 with taxes because I pay for an extra NY sports package. Fubo is specifically built for sports fans and includes the Big 10 network. It has a feature that you can enter a home zip code, so despite living in PA I choose a NY zip to get the NY stations to watch the Giants and Yankees. It has most of the standard cable channels and all the major networks. It has Hallmark Channel for my wife so it works for us! Again, it is a streaming service, so no contract.
Internet - This is very local, so locally I have RCN at $68/mo with taxes for 300 mbps. That handles streaming, computers and video game system for family of 4.

LMGLION: A question regarding the zip code you use. I live in Florida. If I enter an NY address, do you think I will get the YES Network and SNY with Fubo? Thanks.

 

[gamblepsu]

Youtube TV has the locals big 10 network + philly sports if you're in that market.... price has gone up but still well under $215 a month.

 

[PSUSignore]

What is Google Fi? For that matter, what is an MVNO provider? I am pretty far behind the times, as you can see.

Google Fi is a low cost cell phone service run by Google, and is one example of an MVNO, they use the T Mobile network.

MVNO means mobile virtual network operator. Basically it means the service providers don't own the cell network equipment and they work out contracts with those that do to operate using equipment owned by Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile. These types of providers are generally much cheaper than the big companies that own the equipment. The downside is that the contracted MVNO companies get lower priority if there's any sort of congestion, so a customer on T-Mobile will likely see slightly better performance and speeds than someone on an MVNO that uses the T-Mobile network. There are lots of MVNOs and you've probably heard of several... Mint Mobile, Cricket wireless, Boost Mobile are some of the more commonly known examples.

MNVOs have all sorts of plans, there are hundreds to choose from. You just have to narrow it down to the type of service and coverage you want, what features you need, etc. If you use very little data and don't care about a lot of features you can likely get a plan for < $30.