Does buying things in bundles really save you money or should you buy a la carte? I decided to show how we saved money and why I agree with Ramit’s a la carte ideas for cable, high speed Internet, and phone packages.
It’s not just seeing if we can save money with a package. We need to ask ourselves do we use the cable, Internet, and phone bundle to justify buying the plan. Sometimes it’s cheaper to build your own package.
Here’s an example using our cable, Internet, and phone company as an example.
Time Warner Cable offers a package for the three:
|
Standard Cable |
$53.45 per month |
|
Road Runner High Speed Online (up to 7 Mbps) |
$47.95 per month |
|
Digital Phone Unlimited Nationwide* |
$39.95 per mont |
|
Total |
$141.35 |
Wow, this looks expensive, but the features look about right. Before we can figure out a plan let’s see what the cheap bundle look like.The very basic bundle is broken down like this:
|
Basic Cable |
$12.25 per month |
|
Road Runner Lite 768 (up to 768 Kbps) |
$19.95 per month for 12 months |
|
Digital Phone Local* |
$19.95 per month for 12 months |
|
Total |
$52.15 |
*apparently voicemail is an extra $3.95/month
So we liked the price much better, but it didn’t have features we want like faster Internet and unlimited US calls.
My recommendation is to call the cable company to see if there are any specials you can get. If you live in an apartment complex, talk to the leasing office to see if they have any deals.
Believe it or not,with some planning we created our own cable, high speed Internet, and TV package:
- TWC Basic Cable $12.25/month
- Road Runner High Speed Online $34.95/month
- Skype US/Canada $5.95/month
Total $53.15/month
So, by picking and choosing a la carte we came out with a bundle that is a dollar more than the cheapest bundle and we have better features for phone and Internet (Skype, a voip phone company, includes voicemail with price).
The beauty is that you can always upgrade later if you decide.
How did we save money on the bundle package?
- We realized that we don’t watch too much television and decide to go with basic cable.
- We asked the leasing office and our apartment complex has a special for the high speed internet and signed up.
- We decided that Skype had the feature we wanted from a landline at the fraction of the cost.
So go look around and see if you can save a bundle by building your own bundle.
Photo Credit: Midnight-digital
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hello, I like the site!
I also sport the Thesis theme. Good topic. If I was writing on your topic, I’d try to get involved with Facebook. Tons of college students hang out there.
Very impressive, Green Panda! I’ll have to try this when the Boy and I get our own place.
Check out mfaorbusts last blog post..Mom and Dad Unveil Sweeping Plan for MFA Student
@Miguel Thanks for the tip!
@MFA It helps to keep the college student mentality and look for deals!
Has anyone considered or tried MagicJack for their phone service?
I ordered it recently to try it out…if it works as advertised, you get unlimited local and long distance over VOIP through your high-speed internet for about $19.95 a YEAR (other than the 1st year where you pay for service and product; I think it was $39.95). It even comes with some features like forwarding, caller ID, etc.
If it works out with quality, that would definitely be a savings.
(I am not nor have I ever been a retailer/salesperson for the MagicJack product; I am only making comments about the ‘advertised’ expectations)
@Derek: I found from BB Gadgets that Magic Jack has ads for its system and there are some privacy concerns.
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/04/14/magicjacks-eula-says.html
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