Tips for saving money on internet service as suggested by the ThriftyFun community.
Consider Dial Up
Ask yourself if there is a real need to have the fastest Internet service at premium prices. Keeping your computer maintained will keep your computer functioning faster.
Consider unlimited "Dial Up Service" for $9.95 a month. I prepay 3 years and have not had a problem with my local ISP. I feel I have more time than money! There is nothing that I need that fast to pay a premium price to have the fastest Internet Service.
By Syd from Dunkirk, MD
Look For Local Providers
We have been using Provide.net for about 2 years now. It's only $10 a month and we never have problems with them. They are more Mac friendly too. It's a local service and that's the key. You want the local services because they don't have all the overhead and advertising the big guys do. Everyone I know who's had AOL has problems and they're way too expensive. We had Earthlink before for $20 a month and they were fine. But it's only a connection to the internet and all of them can do it.
By Vicki
AOL Visa
I don't advocate this for everyone, but if you are disciplined in your spending, this might work for you. AOL Visa has points you can redeem for AOL, you get one point for every dollar you spend. I have been buying down my points regularly and end up with free AOL at least several times a year.
The kicker is that you really should make sure you don't have a balance on your bills. Pay them up every month or you won't be saving any money redeeming the points. You don't need finance charges! They buy you nothing.
By Lois Ann in New York
Allvantage.com
Try allvantage.com They have unlimited internet and email for $5.95 per month and they have a lot of access numbers. I have been using them for over one year now and they are great, not to mention the money you save over other providers.
By Bob
Editor's Note: This appears to be PeoplePC now but the price is similar.
Toast.net
I have heard that toast.net is a good provider. I am thinking of changing to them when I get my new computer, I hope real soon. It's only $9.95 per month and the tech support is free and you can use Outlook Express for your email.
By Annette
Shop Around And Pay In Advance
Check with the various internet providers and see if they have a better price if you prepay for a year at a time instead of monthly. I mentioned this to my daughter, who is on AOL, and to her surprise, it saved her about $50.00 a year. Keep the dollars in your pocket not your ISP's pockets.
By Syd
Netzero.com
We use the dial-up service with netzero.net and are only paying $6.95 per month. I have been with them for several years though to get this price.
By Jess
Verizon ISP and Cell Phone
If you have a Verizon cell phone that is USB enabled, Verizon is a free ISP. You use regular minutes with free use after 9 and on weekends.
Beware! Some Internet Service Providers will save you money over others, but put spyware, adware, etc. on your computer. I had a lot of problems with People PC, tried a few others, but I'm very, very happy with TurboUSA.com. They charge $8.95 a month, and they speak the good ol' American language so you can understand them! They offer 24/7 support, but I've rarely had to call, but when I had a question, they were very nice, and guided me through step by step.
When I was on dial up I used phreego.com. It is a company of computer people tired of being used by the big guy.That had great service about 10.00 a month. I had netzero and If I did not stay on their site for a certain amount of time they would boot me off. People pc wasn't bad but too commercialized.
Hi--I had affordable dial up from 97 to Jan 2008. It was time to move up> I was able to stay with the same local service and go to high speed wireless for $10 more per month. My valued customership was finally worth something! Our here in rural MN, we don't get much choices except national Charter, or Embarq. So the little local ISPs need our business. I love being fast as my photos from my cameras take longer to send otherwise. An hr per photo is not fun and to be cut off means starting over with sending files. The one perk I have is a referral gets me a month free when the newbie gives my name or I contact the ISP with the name and they sign up. Also, monthly trivia drawings let you get discounts off too. You could get a year free just with referrals.
We had dial-up, both Toast and Prexar. The problem we had was it would take up to 55 minutes to download a full page photo and I bought 2 years of Panda Virus protections at about $60.00 each which we could not use more than 3 weeks each as the updates would not download. We would get cut off after being connected for a minute or two and it took more time than that for the updates to come in. We now have roadrunner for our TV, phone and computer at the cost of less than $80.00 total. We have minimum channels on our TV as we don't need more than 35 channels.
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