Negotiate your household expenses like a PRO! 

Yes, read it again if you don’t believe me: you can now negotiate the price of your bills. If someone had told me that in the past, I would have surely taken it as a joke because I couldn’t believe this was possible. However, a variety of household expenses have some flexibility, according to numerous financial experts. Although it might seem strange and unpleasant at first, it’s one of the fastest methods to save a ton of money and increase the amount of funds in your bank account.

But before doing that, make sure you analyze your bill to see how much you have to pay for the service and look for other offers at the same company. And make sure you are patient, polite, but also persistent. Here are some of the seven bills that you can negotiate this year.

1. Rent

Rent is not always predetermined, whether you are moving into a new house or already have one. In fact, there are various techniques for negotiating a lower rental fee. And one of them is to show the landlord other properties around town that are renting for less money and ask if they would be willing to negotiate a lower rent.

Or if they are stubborn and even after this still don’t want to negotiate the price for the rent, you can come up with another deal and propose it, which is that you are willing to stay in their place for a longer period of time and that you’re going to pay multiple rents in advance. Now that’s a win-win situation they might eventually accept. In the end, you can do your best and hope for the best.

2. Internet service and TV cable

We all got caught in that loop of “good deals” that expired after a couple of months, despite the fact that they said this promotional package was going to last forever. But if you don’t agree with the price, you may try your luck to negotiate. Simply contact your provider and ask them if they have other available deals at the moment. At least if they don’t want to lower the price, they can offer you something else in return.

In my case, I talked to my provider last month, and because they were stubborn and the offer they wanted to make wasn’t exactly suitable for me, I told them I considered canceling the service and moving to another provider. This will lead you to the company’s management department, which has more power to close agreements.

3. Subscriptions to various streaming media services

I used to have subscriptions for more than three streaming services. Charmed by every new show that was streaming on HBO or Showtime, I was immediately on board to make a lot of subscriptions. Was that a good idea? After seeing how much money was flying out of my pockets every month (and the irony is that most of the subscriptions have the same deadline as the bills), I started to reconsider the whole thing. Think about what you watch on a daily basis and which streaming service delivers the best programming for you. This way, you will start saving more money by canceling a service that you don’t watch anymore.

…psst! If you don’t know how to have a persuasive approach, don’t worry! This book helped me get through my fear because I am a very shy person and it gave me another perspective on how you can actually convince someone to negotiate the price without being rude or annoying. It is available both on Kindle and in paperback!

4. Healthcare

Unfortunately, medical debt is one of the main reasons every single American citizen is angry. And even if you have good health insurance, for example, only one unforeseen stay at the hospital can add up pretty quickly in medical bills. But despite this, remember that healthcare is still a negotiable thing! Because eight out of ten medical invoices contain some sort of inaccuracy, it is important to start by ensuring that the bill is accurate. If the sum is correct, you can still try to negotiate the prices by making a call to the department of your hospital or your medical provider.

First, ask right away about a discount they can offer if you will pay everything in this moment. But try not to give up that easily! Be polite but persuasive because they actually rely on the fact that most people give up after one or two arguments.

5. Phone bill

Believe it or not, in terms of their cell phone service, clients have a lot of authority. That’s why a lot of them are trying to negotiate if something is not suitable for them anymore. And nowadays, if you’re unhappy with the service you’re receiving, you can switch providers because there are several others that are inexpensive, and it’s simple to port your number to a new one.

Check your typical text, call, and data consumption to obtain a sense of the precise services you require. Afterward, find out what each carrier would charge for that service. When you have the data, get in touch with your provider to see what they can do to help.

6. Insurance

When I first bought insurance for my house, I had no idea what I was doing, which is why I ended up paying a lot for some basic stuff. But I definitely learned my lesson! Financial experts say that you can save up to 15% if you know how to negotiate the insurance plans for both your house and your vehicle. So, before calling an insurance agent, do your personal research to compare the prices from various insurance companies to see which one is best for you. In some cases, they are willing to give the customers better deals if they pay upfront with cash.

7. Real estate agent commissions

Another thing that you can easily negotiate is the commission you give to the real estate agent when you’re selling your property. In most cases, they have a pretty big commission, which is not legitimate. It’s true that they help you sell your stuff, but that doesn’t mean you have to pay an arm and a leg for this service. And the bad news is that most of them aren’t even ok to negotiate.

However, you can certainly try! So that you can haggle 1% off of their standard commission, ask them to take a lower cut. If your home is worth, say, $500,000 and you want to sell it, you might easily save $5,000 by negotiating the commission.

Takeaway:

If you’re not willing to negotiate because you’re shy or you simply don’t get the idea, it’s ok. Truth be told, in the beginning I wasn’t much of a fan either. However, with the current rate of inflation, I wished to increase my savings for all the important items, such as vacations, new closets for the house bedrooms, or even just yearly auto maintenance. Even if negotiation is not your “strong suit”, you may still be able to receive a good bargain! In the worst situation, you might hear “no” on the phone, but how would you know if you didn’t ask?

I hope you find this article about how to negotiate useful! And in the meantime, I highly recommend you also read one of my favorites from the website: Need More Money? Here Are 7 Minimalist Ways to Cut Down Costs.