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Verizon Fios Promotions 2016

February 17, 2016 By Amanda Blankenship 1 Comment

Verizon has seemingly dominated the world of wireless. However, through Verizon Fios, the company is also making strides in dominating other technology services in the household as well. Bundle up all of your services through Verizon: wireless service, home phone, television and Internet, and it isn’t as expensive as you think it is.

Verizon, while a reliable company, has also had a growing reputation as being kind of expensive. However, Fios is not as expensive as you think it is. Actually, the services are comparable to some of the go-to companies for cheaper services.

Verizon is offering some of the best promotions on Internet, phone and cable bundles in the country. Here are some of the deals Verizon Fios is offering in 2016:

Cable/Home Phone/Internet: $69.99/month
Cable/Internet: $64.99/month
Local TV channels, HBO and Showtime for $50/month
Internet $49.99
Cable/Home Phone/Internet + $300 Visa Prepaid Card: $79.99/month
Custom TV Only: $54.99/month
Order Verizon Fios online and get the setup fee waived ($80 value)

A Few Things to Note:

If you order any of these promotions online, you will be able to receive the limited-time deal of receiving setup for free. You can also get any of these deals with no commitment. Of course, committing to a year or two years will (in some cases) save you some money. However, in the case of the Verizon Fios Triple Play, you can still receive the services for $69.99/month but you will not receive the $300 Prepaid Visa.

You should also note that most of these promotional prices require one to two years of a contract with the company. If the pricing is for a two-year contract, the price is subject to raise after one year.

Each of the Verizon Fios promotions have the option for “Custom TV.” This means that you get to choose some of your channels, which is great because who watches ALL of the channels? You can also get HBO, Showtime and other movie channels for the first six months of your contract in most cases.

If you are an existing Verizon customer, you can use these Fios promotions to your advantage. If you see a promotion that you think you could benefit from, you can call Verizon and talk to them about switching your current plan OR haggling for a new price.

Verizon Fios Reviews

Last but not least, you are probably wondering what people have to say about the Verizon Fios services. Verizon is one of the most reliable companies in the nation, however, what are consumers saying about the Fios services? As far as the actual TV/Internet/Phone, consumers absolutely love Fios. It seems, however, that people enjoy Verizon Fios until they have to give customer service a phone call. In just about every review of the company’s services people praised the quality of the television, Internet and phone but (almost) all of them have something bad to say about customer service.

Before you make any decision about Verizon (or any other company), be sure to compare pricing across the board. Of course, bundles can be convenient, but they can also be more expensive in some cases. Be sure to always compare.

Photo: Flickr: Mike Mozart

Monthly Bills You Shouldn’t Pay

January 21, 2016 By Alexa Mason 3 Comments

Many of us fall victim to paying for monthly bills that aren’t truly necessary. Sometimes they’re for items or services that we believe we need and sometimes they’re bills that we don’t realize we could do without. Below is a list of monthly bills or expenses that you might be paying, but that you can probably cut:

Cable TV

The price of cable television seems to be rising every few months, and more and more channels seem to be falling into the premium cable packages. Paying $50 to $100 a month for cable isn’t a smart investment if you’re someone who only watches a few shows or who is trying to stay on a budget. If you’re still determined to watch your favorite shows, consider getting a Netflix or Hulu account. Even better, many networks will provide a free stream of each episode about a day after it airs, meaning you don’t have to worry about paying to watch some of your favorite shows.

Landline Phone Bills

Fewer people seem to have a landline these days, and if you still own one it might be time to cut it. While some people still prefer having a landline for various reasons, it’s one of the easiest bills to cut from your monthly expenses. Even cutting a small $15 bill a month might do wonders for your bank account.

Gym Memberships

Did you know that most people who sign up for a gym membership rarely use it each month? Gym memberships can be very expensive and it’s easy to sign up for one thinking that you’re going to be good about going to the gym. However, it’s not a good sign if your gym keeps charging you a monthly bill when you’re not using their services. If you have a membership you don’t use, think about cutting it.

Dry Cleaning Bill

Do you send your clothes out to be dry cleaned each week? Maybe you swear that you have a couple of items that need to be professionally cleaned every few weeks. One trip to the dry cleaners can end up costing you five times more than what you would have paid to wash a basket of clothes yourself. Many items, even fragile clothing, can be hand washed or taken care of at home. If you’re looking to cut a monthly luxury expense, your dry cleaning trips should be one of the first things to go.

Satellite Radio or Premium Music Subscription

Do you hate listening to ads on music stations? Maybe you don’t think paying an extra $10 a month is that big of an expense. Considering that you can listen to a lot of online music for free, that $10 could be better spent elsewhere. Programs such as Pandora or Spotify allow you to listen for free and honestly, the sudden interruption of ads is something you get used to.

Identity Theft Protection

Nobody wants to deal with having their identity stolen. It’s a horrible thing and can take years to fix. However, many identity theft companies charge hefty monthly fees in order to “protect” your identity. But that money you pay is not always worth it since sometimes even the best hackers and scammers can steal a protected identity. The decision to cut this monthly bill will be on a person to person basis, but it is important to decide whether or not your money is being spent wisely by investing in this type of protection.

Monthly Banking Fees

Many people are charged monthly banking fees and don’t even think twice about it. Have you ever paid a small fee because you didn’t have direct deposit or because you didn’t have a certain balance in your checking account? These are fees that can be easily avoided if you know what to look for when you open an account. To avoid these monthly fees, sign up for a free checking or savings account that doesn’t require a minimum monthly balance or direct deposits.

Payment Protection Plans

A lot of credit cards will offer you the option to sign up for monthly payment protection on your purchases. This is a fee they’ll charge to cover your credit card payments in the case of death, unemployment, or disability. However, many of these plans come with fine print that has very specific qualifications that might not apply to you or your situation. While payment protection plans can be great, they can also end up costing you a lot of money in fees that you don’t really need to be spending.

Paper Statement Fees

Do you like getting paper statements so that you can file them away for future reference? Have you ever noticed that some companies charge a small monthly fee for each paper statement you receive? While some people may resist going digital, receiving digital statements is usually an option with no associated costs. If you realize that one of your bills includes a monthly fee for paper statements, it might be time to think about switching over to receiving electronic statements.

Extra Insurance Coverage

A lot of people sign up for several types of insurance coverage such as home, auto, or renter’s insurance. However sometimes one insurance plan might actually cover certain items for another type of insurance. For instance, a lot of credit cards have a driver’s insurance policy on rental cars meaning that you don’t need to add that extra bit onto your auto insurance. When you receive your monthly insurance bills, check to make sure that you’re not paying for something you don’t need.

Photo: Flickr: Brendan Wood

Lessons Learned from the Netflix Price Hike

July 28, 2011 By Jennifer Derrick 16 Comments

Last week Netflix raised their rates, increasing the price of some plans by as much as sixty percent. Where before a plan with one DVD out at a time and unlimited streaming was $9.99 per month, the same service will now cost $15.98. Ouch. The outrage online was swift and furious. Customers were losing a great deal and weren’t shy about bashing Netflix on Facebook and blogs. As someone who uses Netflix heavily as a replacement for cable, I was among the outraged. (I’m still deciding what to do with my subscription: scale back, keep it as is, or cancel altogether.) Once I got over my shock I realized that Netflix’s action has reminded me of a few key financial/consumer lessons that apply to all kinds of goods and services.

A price increase might not break the budget, but it does have to be considered: No, an extra $6 per month isn’t going to break my budget. I can afford it, but it doesn’t mean that I like it. And it doesn’t mean that I’m going to pay it. When something that isn’t strictly necessary goes up in price, I have to evaluate whether or not it’s still worth it. Do I get enough value out of the service to justify the increase in price? In the case of large price increases, can I trim another area of my budget to cover the new cost? Do I want to do that or is the other choice more important/valuable to me?

Most of us have a finite amount of discretionary money. When something goes up in price, choices have to be made about what to keep, what to cut, and where the extra money will come from. In the case of Netflix, while $6 isn’t a huge amount it does become problematic when added to the recent price increases I’ve seen for many other things I use. Eventually something has to give and the budget has to be remade. Netflix is still a good deal compared to cable for me, but at the new price I have to ask myself if I use it enough to justify it or if I should drop down to a cheaper alternative. While it might not break me to keep things as is, a price increase requires evaluation.

Always push back: I’ve enjoyed reading a lot of the comments posted on Netflix’s Facebook wall and blog. While some have just been foul mouthed rants, many have been carefully considered arguments against the increase, eloquently expressed disappointment, and well-considered suggested compromises. People are exercising their right to push back at the company rather than just take poor treatment.

As a consumer, you have the right to complain and to take your business elsewhere if you no longer care for the way a company does business. Whether it’s Netflix, a phone company, a clothes manufacturer, or a grocer, you have the right to express frustration and dissatisfaction. It might not make a difference every time (as of this writing Netflix hasn’t changed it’s mind about the price increase), but it does let companies know when they’ve done something wrong or upsetting. The only way some companies are ever going to know how their actions affect customers is when those customers tell them. So speak up if you’re dissatisfied with a company, but remember that the most successful complaints are often the most polite.

Find alternatives: It’s my job to find alternatives when a price increase derails my budget. I can either find a less expensive alternative service that’s close to what I had (in this case I’m looking at Redbox, Hulu, and Amazon’s streaming service), or I can find something new altogether. As consumer’s we’re free to vote with our wallets and to give our money to the company that provides the best bang for the buck. If that’s Netflix, great, but if it’s someone else it’s your job to find that out and make the switch. Don’t just blindly pay the increase without looking at other options. This goes for every good and service you buy. It’s a big marketplace and there are lots of companies that want your money and are willing to compete for it.

In the wake of Netflix’s increase, I’m realizing that I was spending too much time watching TV. This was part of why I got rid of cable, but slowly I’ve given more of my time to DVD’s and streaming. If I cancel Netflix and use Redbox, it will be a good way for me to control my watching since I’ll have to drive to a store to get a movie. This is a good chance for me to get back to my reading and other hobbies. So, in a way, the increase is a positive for me. It may force me not only to consider alternatives for TV viewing, it may force me to consider alternate activities, as well.

I can afford this price increase without tearing my budget apart, but I’m reminded that it always makes good financial sense to consider all of the alternatives and evaluate that value of any service. Some people I know are opting to keep Netflix, but are trimming their cable expenses or dining out budgets to cover the increased cost. Others are trimming their Netflix plans back to keep the cost close to what it was. To them, Netflix is worth the adjustment. In my case, Netflix likely isn’t worth the price anymore. There are other choices and other things I’d rather do with my time. In either case, we are acting as informed and conscientious consumers instead of blindly paying increases on discretionary items. That’s a big part of successful budgeting.