WATCHING FOR HIDDEN COSTS

It’s really easy to just pay your bills and not take a look at what we’re spending. I actually took a look and over the past few months, I caught billing errors that have added up to over $2,000! So after discovering this, I thought it was important to share with you some tips I’ve learned going through this firsthand so you aren’t victims of overpaying.

Basically it all comes down to checking your bills as they come in. Think about the number of people who use autobill pay for bills. Now how many people actually take the time to verify each bill to make sure you are correctly being charged? That’s one of the reasons I prefer a no deposit plan for my electricity, it allows us to know exactly how much we’re spending each month.

 To be honest, we always had a pretty good idea of what we were being charged, but never really checked the bill as long as it looked right until now that we are on a budget.

First, if you have any change in your life like a medical surgery, pregnancy/labor or even smaller changes like getting a new cell phone. Be sure to examine your bills immediately following a change. This is where we saw the majority of the errors. Just by switching insurances caused us to be billed incorrectly for large sums of money.

Second, take the time to call and ask questions. If your bill is higher one month when it is typically the same amount each time, then make you sure you get an explanation that you understand of why it has changed.

Third, sometimes getting something resolved completely depends on the customer service agent who is helping you. Recently, I started talking with a representative and needless to say we were not seeing eye to eye. Luckily my phone happened to disconnect and I had to call back. I got a different representative who really took the time to explain things to me. We saved $600 just by switching to someone who could explain the issue and could get it resolved.

Last, be patient. I lost mine a couple of times and because no one could explain to me the reason for the error out of desperation and the sheer lack of patience, I almost just paid the bill. But if you’re patient and can take the time to investigate and ask questions, you can really save yourself from paying what isn’t rightfully your responsibility. Plus I personally feel that customer service representatives are more willing to help someone who is patient and courteous over those who yell.

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