One way to reduce your monthly expenses is to cut back on services and be more conservative with your spending. Another way is to look over your bills and spot errors that are leading to overcharges.

Charges for Services You Canceled or No Longer Receive

TV and phone bills are often bloated with services or features you don’t need or use. To reduce those bills, you can call up the company and cancel those unwanted features to trim the fat.

Sometimes, you can continue to be charged for items that you canceled or no longer receive. Unless you check your bill and read each line, you may never figure this out, leading to unnecessary expenses until you spot the error.

Charges for canceled services are common with TV bills. So if you decide you no longer want specific channels in your cable lineup, check your bill to make sure you’re not charged for them post-cancellation.

On a similar note, you may be charged for features you’re supposed to receive, but never have. For example, your cable company may promise a sports package under your plan. However, if you’re not a sports fan, you may never notice that those sports channels are blacked out.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to check your bill versus whatever features you’re receiving. Make sure everything matches up, so you don’t become a victim of overcharging.

Charges for Nonexistent Equipment

Companies sometimes charge for equipment that’s necessary to receive their services. For instance, you may get charged for each cable box you have in your home.

Whether it’s your cable or Internet bill, look for any phantom equipment charges for devices you don’t have. If you see them, give your company a call and tell them they owe you a refund.

Discounts That Never Get Applied

Have you ever signed up for a cable or phone plan just to get a special discount that you saw in an advertisement? If so, check your bill to ensure you’re getting that discount, as companies sometimes forget to apply them.

This billing error tends to happen with phone bills, so take yours out and give it a strong look.

Outside Companies Cramming Charges on Your Phone Bill

Take out your phone bill and look for any lines that say “Subscription” or “Member Fee.” If you see them and can’t figure out what they are, they could be “crammed” charges from outside companies.

Such companies love to sneak in charges for things like ringtones on your phone bill, hoping that you’ll never notice them. Give your phone company a call if you see these charges so you can get them removed. 

And block the outside company that’s being sneaky.

Medical Billing Errors

Did you go to your doctor’s office for a regular checkup, only to see that you’re being billed for something else? Such a coding error can happen quite frequently, which is why you should always take a close look at your medical bills before paying. A quick call to your insurer can offer clarification on the codes so you can ensure that you’re not being overcharged.

Speaking of your insurer, you want to make sure they always get billed before you do. When you receive a bill, ask if the insurer was billed already so you can keep your costs down.