Top 10 Tools and Tactics to Trim Your Bills [Lifehacker Top 10]

Top 10 Tools and Tactics to Trim Your Bills [Lifehacker Top 10]: From Lifehacker: "Cutting down your cellphone, rent, credit card, and other bills is the gift that keeps on giving, all year 'round. Try these negotiation tactics, savings tips, reminder plans, and other tips to cut down your paycheck killers.

Photo by Casey Serin.

10. Double-Check Your Credit Card Statement

When you've automated your finances and feel like you're watching your purchases at the store, it can be easy to overlook the surprisingly frequent purchases you didn't make on your credit card bill. As Consumer Reports points out, it happens all too frequently—even twice in two months. Having to provide a card twice because it "didn't go through" is a red flag, but sometimes stores, restaurants, and online vendors are just overzealous with their charges. (Original post)

9. Reduce Your Rent with a Letter

Rent increases can seem like a fact of life, but if you're in an area hit hard by the real estate downturn, it doesn't have to stick. The Wall Street Journal detailed the efforts by some Manhattan roommates to run the math and reduce their rent with a letter, and it worked to the tune of $300. Your mileage will certainly vary, but if you're consistent with payments and fairly reliable, you don't have to pay more when everyone else is paying less. Photo by Editor B. (Original post)

8. Use Junk Mail to Reduce Your Card Interest

Those dozens, maybe hundreds of credit card offers you get each year, promising that you'll be approved if you even so much as sneeze so it sounds like 'yes'? You can use those offers, and a strategic phone plan supplied by The Simple Dollar blog, to lower your current card's interest rate, if you're having to pay on it every month. Photo by amishsteve.

7. Skip the Dry Cleaning on Certain Clothes

'Dry clean only' is not a hard and fast rule, according to a veteran dry cleaner. For clothing made primarily of polyester and nylon, washing yourself, on a gentle cycle, is entirely do-able, according to EcoSalon's interview with an expert. Cotton, which you'd think could be handled at home, should actually go to the cleaners if the tag says so, to avoid shrinking. Bamboo, too, is a safe DIY cleaning candidate, but ... wait, who owns bamboo-based clothes? Photo by Wm Jas. (Original post)

6. Never Pay Late Fees with Smart Reminders

Paying late fees on bills that merely slipped your mind or missed your desk stinks. There are ways to triple-check you know a bill is due, and they're all free. For bills that offer online payments and email statements, we suggest our set-and-forget system for sorting reminder emails. Personal finance manager Mint.com also offers free email and SMS reminders when bills are due, whether or not you're signed up with the biller itself. Finally, there's 'batching your bills"—calling your billers, asking to reset your billing periods to a common point (the first or 30th, perhaps), and then paying them as they come in. It gives you a clear view of your obligations for the month and fewer mid-month doubts about what you owe. Photo by *_Abhi_*. (Original post (batching))

5. Offer Up-Front Payment to Cut Medical Bills

The billing offices at hospitals, doctor's offices, and insurers are not suffused with an air of optimism. They pretty much expect to hear excuses, hound people, and eventually ring up collections offices. That's why calling them up first thing and offering to pay your bill in full can actually cut real money off the top, according to the NY Times' Bucks blog. Since posting this, we've heard from lots of readers, in comments and email, who succeeded with this tactic. It's one of the most honest savings you'll see in modern times. Photo by ernstl. (Original post)

4. Learn the Art of 'Just Asking'

It seems strange to think that, after you've signed up for a service or started shopping at a store, you can ask them to pay less for something and get that offer. But as Jason found out, there are ways of getting people on the phone, or talking over a counter, and reduce your bills by just asking. In his case, he picked up a serious discount on cable and internet, discovered semi-secret Office Depot sales, found out about customer rewards programs he'd never known about, and even got a larger garbage can at a lower cost. Photo by stopnlook.

3. Track Your Phone's Data Usage and Switch Accordingly

It's been easy to get aggravated at cellular companies for making the switch from all-you-can-eat unlimited plans to measured tiers. Don't they take enough already? But the majority of smartphone users don't use as much data as they think, as Fierce Wireless points out, and would probably save money on a capped plan. How to know if you're in that minority? Use the tools we compiled to monitor your cellphone data usage, whether you're running Pandora while you're driving or doing some occasional tethering. (Original post: tiered pricing)

2. Hit Up BillShrink

They started off by comparing and analyzing cellphone plans for you, which was already helpful and impressive. But now service comparison site BillShrink can tell you the best deal possible on credit cards, television service, savings and CD accounts, nearby gas, and, still, the best cellphone and smartphone service. There's a bit of casual business partner promotion, as you might expect, but BillShrink at least arms you with a realm of options to look through. (Original post)

1. Run Through a Day-Off Checklist of Savings Moves

What if you actually acted on all those things you always say you'd do 'If I had the time'? Better still, what if someone made you a checklist of potential savings to check out, interest rates to boost, credit cards to swap out, and utilities to ring up and ask for a better deal? Ron Lieber made exactly that checklist, and told the story of his productive day off. (Original post)

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What's the best move you've made to save monthly money in the last year? Where did you find not-so-obvious savings inside your services? Spread the wealth in the comments.

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