Are bundles always better?

Recently cable and satellite companies have been "bundling" services together--cable, phone, internet, etc. Most of the time if you bundle together your cable, internet, and phone service you get one bill from one provider at one price--usually around the 79.99-129.99 range.

I would advise anyone who is thinking about "bundling" services to save money to shop around and do some research first. Most of the time, these "bundled" savings end after a certain period of time (usually a year) and the companies hope that you'll forget and continue to happily pay your bill after the "trial period." When you sign up for these services you're seldom told this.

When dealing with the satellite companies make sure that you aren't locked into a contract. Satellite companies are notorious for this. You usually get a lower bundled price than even the cable company has, but after the rate goes up after your "trial period" then you are told to either deal with it or pay the steep fees to get out of the contract.

The best thing to do when ordering any type of service is evaluate what you really need. Ask yourself a few questions:

• If you have a cell phone, ask yourself if you really need a home phone also? (though the home phone may only be $10 more dollars a month, that's $120 dollars of savings that you could have kept in your pocket book)
• If you want to cancel the service if the rate goes up, can you without penalty?
• Add up the services that you want individually and compare the prices, are you saving any money?
• Is the cable company cheaper? Is the satellite company? Are you getting the same services that you want at a good price?