Save Money With Junk Mail

Most people hate junk mail, but what if every time you dropped it in the garbage, you were also potentially throwing out hundreds of dollars in savings? That's exactly what you may be doing.

One of the saving secrets that a lot of people don't realize is that many monthly bills for services such as cable TV, Internet access and phone service are negotiable. If you're paying the going retail price for any of these services, you may be paying too much.

Most service industries are extremely competitive and you will often receive notices in your junk mail about competing services that are offering great discounts to try and get you to switch. While most people see those offers as junk mail, they can actually be leverage to getting a better price on your current service.

Since it cost service industries a lot of money to obtain each customer, most do not want you to leave for the competition. In order to keep you, they will often match the competition's offer or reduce the amount that you have to pay. All it takes to get these discounts is a phone call to the service.

While it isn't essential to have a competitor's offer to get the discounts, it usually makes it a lot easier. Here are the steps that you take:

1. Call the service.
2. Immediately ask for the cancellation department.
3. Explain that you like the service and you really don't want to switch, but you have just received a great deal from the competition. Explain the deal and name the competitor -- your service should be aware of it, because they keep tabs on one another.
4. Ask nicely if they can reduce the amount you are paying for the service, so you don't have to switch. If they can, they will. If they can't, they won't.