I made $400 in just a few minutes the other day. Actually, I didn’t earn that money, I saved it. But as Benjamin Franklin said, a penny saved is a penny earned. And $400 saved is 40,000 pennies earned. Definitely worth a few minutes of my time. Here’s how I did it, and how you can do it, too.

My telephone company offers new customers a much better price than I was paying for my phone and Internet service. Although the deal was for new customers, I called them to ask if I could get the lower price on my existing service. The first person I spoke with said the offer was for new customers only, but he transferred me to someone in customer retention who immediately switched me to the new plan. No muss, no fuss, just saving money.

I have to admit that I was a little surprised. I expected some resistance from them, maybe a counteroffer of something not quite as good or something generally less than what I called for. This seemed almost too easy. Now I have exactly the same phone and Internet service I had before, but I am paying about $35 a month less than before the phone call. That means that over the course of a year I will save more than $400. Sweet. And this is not a short-term deal—the price is guaranteed “forever.”

Why not try this yourself for your business and personal accounts? [Read more…]