Surf to Save
By Mark K. Solheim
Featured in:
When you want to trim your tele-bills, the Web can help you.
Those wired and wireless signals that zoom in and out of your house can really zap your budget. Add up what you pay for local and long-distance phone service, wireless phones, Internet access, and cable or satellite TV, and you could easily be on the hook for hundreds of dollars -- month, after month, after month.
So it's worthwhile to spend a couple of hours shopping for cheaper service. It's fairly painless -- as long as you have access to the Internet -- and saving several hundred dollars a year is not out of the question. Kiplinger's checked out a number of sites and picked the best for each type of service being shopped. As a bonus, some sites offer rebates (in addition to the providers' promotions and discounts) on some wireless, Internet-access and satellite-TV orders.
Long distance
SaveOnPhone.com analyzes more than 350 different long-distance plans and ranks them using a "savings score," which reflects rates, billing increments, monthly fees and the like. You can use the site's long-distance calculator to plug in the state-to-state and intrastate minutes you typically use. Then click to get an estimate of your monthly bill.
If you're a heavy long-distance user, consider spending $6 for TeleTips, the residential long-distance comparison chart published by the Telecommunications Research & Action Center. Trac prices more than 60 plans, based on common calling patterns -- heavy day, or night and weekend calling, for example.
Wireless phone
At MyRatePlan.com, you can get estimates for a single phone or family wireless plan. The site lists up to 20 plans that fit the usage profile you input, ranked by cost. You also see a "TruBill" estimate -- the actual cost of a plan, taking into account additional minutes you may use that aren't free and roaming and long-distance charges. Finally, the site links to details on contract requirements, activation and other fees, current promotions and optional features.
One caveat: Don't buy from this or any other site without reading the fine print. If you buy from a site other than, say, Sprint or another primary provider, and you cancel your contract, you may have to pay an early-termination fee to the vendor on top of the one you pay to the service provider.
Internet access
The best site for finding a deal in high-speed Internet access is GetConnected.com. Type in your phone number and address and it pulls up DSL, cable and satellite providers available where you live. But it won't find every Internet service provider, so use Cnet.com (click on "Internet" and then "Internet access") to search for cable and DSL plans in your area. If cost is more important than speed, go to DSLSaver.com to compare dial-up ISPs.
Satellite TV
MyRatePlan.com gets the nod for helping you choose between the two major satellite-TV providers, DirecTV and Dish Network. First, check out the programming you'd get by clicking on various packages from each provider. The way channel logos are grouped, it's easy to compare who offers what. Then add any premium movie or sports channels you want. The site keeps a running tab of your monthly estimated bill. Again, read the fine print. Termination fees can be stiff.
None of the sites include one potential money saver for heavy-duty tele-users: bundled services. Plans that combine phone, wireless and Internet access are mainly the domain of your local phone company, so start there to see if you could save.
-- Reporter: Alison Stevenson
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