Longview Hills @ Newport Oregon

Let's Save Bucks!!!

Send in your money saving ideas. Lets see if we can all stretch our retirement dollars a bit more. I'll start with one given to me by Dan and Sue Wilson a few years ago and I will testify it is a beauty.

Cancel your local telephone long distance service. They more than likely have been overcharging you for years and years. They could because they were the only game in town. Oh go ahead and keep your basic local phone. Just drop off the long distance service.

You can try this idea before you cancel just to prove to yourself it works. First go to COSTCO or have a friend go and pick you up an MCI long distance credit card. It costs around $20 and is the last card you will have to buy. They charge you 3.5 cents a minute for a call anywhere in the US. Dirt cheap.

How it Works:

This card has an 800 number on it which is a toll free local call. Call the number. A recording will come on and ask you to select "one" for English. Punch the 1 button. It will then ask you to enter your pin number that is on the card. Do it. The voice thanks you and asks you to dial your number area code first and tells you how many minutes you have left. Then you dial and are connected. That's it.

What are the advantages?

1. Way lower long distance phone bill.
2. Take the card with you when you travel. It works the same way wherever you may be... In a hotel room or an airport lobby.. Same low rate.
   
3. We buy more minutes and keep the same card right over the phone. $60 worth lasts months and months. Jacky can tell you how long she usually takes to use up the time. Maybe she will in a comment.
4. Staying at a friends house but want to call long distance for some reason? Use their phone and your card and they incur no charges on their bill and you get a better rate than they get anyhow.

Now that dialing sounds like a bit of a put off doesn't it? Well, if you have a home phone that has memory storage on it (usually that's a cordless phone folks) you can do away with getting the card out, dialing the 800 number, Then the pin number and finally your long distance number.
Most modern phones are set up to automate this operation for you. You program the memory on your phone to remember the 800 number then program it to remember the pin number that way you are only 2 key presses away from making your ultra cheap phone call.

Yes it is worth it.. I promise. Try it for the price of the card at COSTCO without risking what you have now. You won't lose a thing. You will use your $20 worth of minutes. No loss there. Nothing lost at the phone company... Win! Win!

Now we know that those that resist change or feel technically challenged will say no. I will help set up your phone if it can be set up and there are a group of people that will probably help if it becomes a large project.

What's your money saving tip? email me.