All the Bills You Can Negotiate Right Now

All the Bills You Can Negotiate Right Now
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Even if you feel fairly adjusted to life during a global pandemic (or did until this week), there’s a good chance your finances could use a bit of extra attention. Whether you’re struggling to make ends meet or just want to save some money during uncertain times, there may still be opportunities to get some of your biggest recurring bills reduced.

We talked about this a few weeks ago when personal finance author Ramit Sethi joined us on an episode of The Upgrade podcast. He called out five main spending areas you can approach to reduce your monthly costs and set aside some cash—whether it’s for an emergency fund or to cover immediate expenses.

Let’s go over Sethi’s five bills and what you can do about each of them. Then, I’ll add a sixth you should keep an eye on.

Remember, you can’t get what you don’t ask for.

Cell phone bill

Wireless carriers have put various customer assistance programs in place to make things easier for customers who can’t pay their bills in full or on time. Many are also increasing the amount of data customers can use at no additional cost, or waiving data overage fees.

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Keep a note of when any promotions you take advantage of expire so you don’t end up with overage charges later on after blowing through your data cap turning your house into an office or classroom. And while you’re at it, review your bill to make sure the services you’re being charged for are ones you actually use. You may be able to adjust your service or switch to a more flexible prepaid plan for long-term savings.

Cable bill

Your cable and home internet have probably felt like essential services during stay-at-home periods. These companies have also been providing flexible payment options and in some cases extending service options at no additional cost.

But there’s a good chance your cable or internet provider is still offering low prices to entice new customers, and may be charging you more for similar service.

This happened to me recently —my internet bill increased after a promotional period expired. I was able to get the company to give me the new-customer price for a package that included the same level of internet and home phone service. I don’t need a home phone line, but I’ll definitely take the $15 savings per month.

Credit card

Credit card forbearance programs are still available, so if you’re short on cash, you can ask your issuer to waive your payments for a few months—although interest will continue to accrue during that time.

While you may have heard that card issuers are tightening their purse strings these days, it doesn’t mean they’ve stopped doing business completely: You can still ask for a lower interest rate and you can still shop around to find a zero-interest transfer offer. (If you do the latter, keep in mind a balance transfer fee of 3-5% will be tacked onto your balance.)

Student loans

Federal student loans are automatically in forbearance and interest isn’t accruing until the fall and private loans are offering accommodations for borrowers having a hard time making payments. That means if you’re struggling, there’s a good chance you can free up some cash from those loan payments to put toward other expenses.

If your income is expected to be lower than usual for a while, you may be able to switch over to an income-based repayment plan when your federal loans payments restart in October. You may even be able to switch to a different payment plan regardless of your income, which could put more cash in your pocket now that you can set aside to pay for any unexpected expenses that may arise.

Rent

Yes, even your rent is negotiable—and even in difficult times. If you’re having a hard time paying your rent, you may be protected by an eviction moratorium in your area. It’s best to notify your landlord or property manager as soon as you anticipate having difficulty paying your rent in full or on time. You may be able to pay your rent in installments or have your late fees deferred.

What if your lease is nearing renewal? Before automatically signing up for another year, ask your landlord if it’s possible to renew without a rent increase, or even better, to get a discount. This tactic tends to work if you’re a cooperative tenant who pays on time (outside of a pandemic, of course), and even better if you’re willing to take on extra duties like mowing the lawn or weeding the garden beds.

While it might make you nervous to have this conversation with your landlord, remember that you’re just doing business. It’s usually cheaper and easier for a landlord to keep an existing tenant than it is to bring in a new one, which requires repairing the unit, advertising it, hosting tours and vetting prospective tenants.

Car insurance

Sethi didn’t include this one on his list, but I think it’s important to mention. Car insurance companies have started to give discounts and refunds to customers during the pandemic. Since driving activity decreased so suddenly in the spring as stay-at-home orders went into effect, there were fewer accidents—which meant insurance carriers could share some of their own savings with customers.

But that’s an automatic discount, assuming your carrier is offering one, and it’s not the only way you might be able to save. Think about your driving habits and how they might change in the next few months: Maybe your office is considering continuing remote work, which means you won’t have to drive into the city each day for work. Updating that status with your carrier could bring your premium down. Your mileage (yep, I said it) may vary, but it’s certainly worth comparing coverage based on how much driving you anticipate doing this summer and fall.

What else would you add to this list? If you’ve successfully negotiated any of your major expenses during this strange time in our lives, tell us about it in the comments.

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