subject: Looking For An Affordable Broadband Package? It's Easy And Can Be Done In 3 Simple Steps [print this page] When you live at home with parents, especially when you're working, you don't tend to realise just how much time, effort and money goes into keeping a house.
Whilst you are likely to be paying some type of rent to your parents, everything else, from getting your clothes washed and ironed to watching Sky TV whenever you want, you take for granted.
And it isn't until you move out and get your own place that you realise just how much money you actually need to live a comfortable life whilst owning a home.
For example, aside from your rent or mortgage, you've got Council Tax, utility bills, water rates, television license, telephone line rental and home and contents insurance to think of - and that's without taking into consideration your weekly food shopping and general living expenses.
Then there are all of the costs related to so-called luxury items, such as broadband internet.
15 years ago, having internet access in your home was particularly uncommon. 10 years ago it was considered to be standard practice that if you had internet access, you'd be using a 56kbps modem.
Over the past 5 years, however, it's become normal to have fast and reliable broadband in your home and according to data provided by Internet World Stats, on 30 June 2010 there were nearly 2 billion people using the internet worldwide - that's just under a third of the entire global population.
The problem for many is that broadband can be somewhat expensive. We're not talking 40 or 50 pounds here for a standard package (unless you haven't changed your provider in 10 years, then you could still be paying a particularly old rate), but if you're having to watch every penny in your budget, paying 15 or 20 pounds out a month for broadband can be an outgoing you can't really afford.
Fortunately, there are ways to get some fantastically affordable broadband deals and the following 3 simple steps show just how it can be done.
1. Work out your usage level - the very first thing you need to do is to work out how much you actually use the internet, as this can have a substantial effect on how much money you pay out on a monthly basis.
For example, if you're someone who uses the internet on a daily basis, downloading movies and playing online games, you're generally going to be classed as a heavy user.
If you only use it to check your e-mails once every few days, though, you're going to be a basic user and will usually be able to opt for the most basic package.
2. Shop around - once you've worked out what type of user you are and how much bandwidth you'll need (generally speaking, the more you're online, the more bandwidth you need), shop around and compare different providers.
Use online comparison websites to compare a range of different providers at once and then contact some of the cheapest companies directly (via their website or telephone) to see if they have a deal more suited to you. The reason behind this is that the comparison website could be comparing deals for heavy users and whilst the price shown may be cheap, you might be able to get a cheaper deal still if you have a reduced usage level.
3. Use cash back websites - after finding the cheapest and most suitable provider possible, search around some of the larger cash back websites to see if they have any deals available for your provider.
It may come in the form of instant cash back or a further discount on your monthly bill or there may not be any promotions on at all, but the 10 minutes spent checking will be worth it if it saves you more money.
