It's Negotiable

It occurred to me that one of the most overlooked ways to save money on your bills is really quite simple:

Ask.

That's right. Ask for a lower rate, better deal, bigger savings. Of course this won't work for your utility bills (although most local gas and electric companies have programs to lower rates for low-income families), but you may find that most of your other monthly expense are quite negotiable.

When we think of negotiating, quite often the word conjures up the exhausting haggling that's required when purchasing a new or used car. (Edmunds.com has great tips on how to negotiate the best car price, by the way...) But getting a better price doesn't require a marathon of endurance like buying a car. It doesn't even require the back-and-forth offers and counteroffers of buying a house.

Sometimes all it takes is one simple phone call.

Consumerist recently posted about a reader who got a rate reduction from the cable company. All it took was a call to customer service to ask for a discount.

This will also work for your cell phone provider, telephone service, gym membership as well as many service providers and even retailers.

You can even negotiate rental rates. If you are looking for a new place to live and have good credit scores, you can easily knock $100 off the monthly rent. Do some research and see what comparable units are going for on the market. Then make the landlord an offer. The worst that can happen is that he or she says no. Many times they might counter your offer. Quite often they'll spare themselves the agony of repeatedly having to show the unit or the loss of income from a unit vacant for an extended period of time and give you the discounted rental rate.

If your lease is coming up for renewal, compare your rent to other units. In a tough economy, chances are your landlord is renting apartments for less than what you signed up for a year ago. If you've been a good tenant who pays on time, he or she might be willing to reduce your rent rather than deal with finding a new (and not necessarily better) tenant.

Phone service is best negotiated at the beginning or towards the end of a contract. If your contract is coming up for renewal, research other providers and see if your current provider will match their deals. The same applies to cable or internet providers. If you're not locked into a contract, you have the flexibility to negotiate. Most companies have an entire department dedicated to "retention"--which is to say finding ways to ensure customers on the verge of terminating service STAY customers by offering them lower rates.

You can apply the same strategy to magazine subscriptions (Why is it that NEW subscribers always get better offers than RENEWING subscribers?), gym memberships and credit card interest rates. You can even ask big ticket item retailers for a better price.

In negotiating a better deal, your power comes with the ability to walk away. The worst that can happen is that you get a "No."

But you'll never know--or save--unless you ask.