If You Don’t Ask, the Guaranteed Answer is NO!

Create Some Good Fortune for Yourself

You may have heard this statement before, but I’d like to make it for those of you who haven’t heard it:

If you don’t ask, the guaranteed answer is no!

Now, with that in mind. Here’s a list of things you can do to try to lower your outgoing expenditures:

Call each credit card company and ask them for a lower rate. Tell them that you are considering moving your debt to another card with a lower interest rate and see what they say.

Call your phone company and ask them if they have a lower priced plan that has a few less features. Ask them if they have any new plans that would give you basically the same features at a lower price

Call your cellular company and ask them the same things as you did to your phone company.

Call your cable company and ask them if they have any plans that are cheaper than what you are paying today. Tell them that you are considering changing to satellite because you saw a free equipment and free install promotion with a lower monthly payment

Call your internet company and tell them that you are having trouble meeting your bills and are considering changing to a lower priced internet service. Ask them if they have any slower speed plans that cost less. Don’t let up on them. Tell them that you will probably have to cancel once you sign up for the other service that is cheaper. (if you have cable internet access, tell them that you are considering switching to the low cost DSL. It doesn’t matter if it’s not available in your area. They don’t know that.

Call your garbage service and ask them if they have any less expensive options. Do you really need yard service? Would it be cheaper to buy your own garbage can at Home Depot and then cancel your monthly rental of their tub?

Call your insurance company and ask them if you can lower your cost by increasing your deductibles. Insurance is becoming less and less a tool to cover small expenses and they usually increase your premiums if you make small claims. Insure yourself for the first thousand and save on the monthly premiums.

Call any companies that you have high interest debt with (department stores etc) and ask them for a lower interest rate. If they say no, pay the debt off with a lower interest credit card and then cut up the card.

Did you just get charged a fee for a transaction at your bank? Call them and ask them to take it off. If you are a good customer, most of the time they’ll take the fee back off.

Any other ideas? The point here is that you have to force the companies you do business with to give you the best possible rates, services etc. They won’t call you to lower the price you are paying for their services.