So this is something I have known about and have done in the past, and I kept meaning to do it, but today I finally did it. I lowered my cable/internet bill.

Truthfully I was considering cancelling cable anyway. I’m paying about $117 per month for high speed internet and basic digital cable. I should note that I am paying $10 extra for higher speed internet and getting a $10 discount for bundling cable and internet so that is pretty much a wash.

Since I don’t watch a lot of TV I wasn’t too concerned with cancelling it altogether. I know my wife enjoys watching Fox News in the mornings and watching TLC and HGTV during the day as she is folding clothes and stuff. For the kids we have a few shows we DVR for them like Tom & Jerry and Martha Speaks. So when they want to watch TV we generally have something available.

Since I have built my own media center pc, we have the benefit of watching shows online. I recently discovered hulu desktop which makes it even easier. So that being said I was totally ready to just cancel cable altogether. I guess the biggest sacrifice would be from my wife who, like I said, enjoys Fox News and TLC. One other downside that I would miss is being able to see the 500 or so movies that will be playing soon on all our channels and recording the ones I want to see. I think this is one of the coolest features of Windows Media Center.

So I determined to call and cancel and figured that Comcast would offer me a deal to get me to stay. If the deal was good enough I would take it. Before calling I read some great tips from Matt Jabs that helped me stay upbeat and friendly with the customer support person.

I was connected with "April" and the conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi, I currently have cable and internet and I would like to cancel my cable TV service only.

April: [Gets my name and retrieves account] OK, do you mind if I ask why you want to cancel?

Me: I just want to lower my bill.

April: OK, well, how about I see if I can lower you bill. It appears you are currently paying $117… per month, is that right?

Me: Yeah, that sounds right.

April: It looks like you are paying $10 extra for an 8 megabit connection. I can remove that $10 charge for a year. For your cable service, I can reduce the price to $29 per month for a year. Would that work for you?

Me: So what would be my total bill?

April: It would be $71 per month, saving you $46 dollars per month.

Me: Wow, for a year huh? Yes, let’s do that.

April: OK, you’re all set.

Me: Really, that’s all I have to do?

April: Yep.

Me: Great! Thank you very much.

April: No problem. Thank you for being a Comcast customer.

So I spent a total of 3 minutes and 45 seconds on the phone and saved myself $552 over the course of the year. I would say that was worth my time and I don’t mind keeping cable TV around either. Especially now that I have a big screen to watch BYU & Utah football games this fall! Oh, did I forget to mention that?