CINCINNATI -- These days we are all watching our budgets. But have you added up your phone, cellphone, TV, and Internet bills? Many people pay $300 a month or more to be plugged in to the world.

But you don't have to pay that much. Tara Riehle counts every penny at her small farm, even picking up cheap expired bread to help feed her cows. And when she's not watching the animals, she's watching her expenses.

That's why she decided she was paying too much for phone and Zoomtown Internet from Cincinnati Bell, plus her Time Warner Cable TV service. Riehle said, "It was like $159 a month for cable, Internet and two phone lines."

She called the phone company and was stunned to learn she was paying for almost everything, like caller ID and call waiting. "I was a la carte. That's why I was paying so much. I was being billed separately for each feature," Riehle said. As soon as she switched to a Cincinnati Bell "bundled" plan, combining local, long distance and Internet, her total bill dropped to well under $100.

Tim Langston of Batavia decided $40 a month was too much for a landline phone he barely used anymore. "I was very rarely making calls and I was paying telemarketers to call me," Langston said.

He called the phone company, and discovered an option few people know about, that is never advertised: A "low usage plan" for just $12 a month. Local calls now cost him 3 cents a minute, just like back in he 1970's, but that's fine by him, since he rarely uses his landline for local calls. He is on his cell the most, but wanted to keep a landline for 911 and incoming calls.

Thrilled at his success, he targeted his cable TV bill next. Langston said, "I called and said I noticed Dish Network has a great package with more channels, can you match this? And they agreed to do it."

Both consumers discovered that providers are now more willing to make a deal than ever. A Chicago consumer group, the Citizens Utility Board, recently said most families are overpaying their Phone, TV, and Internet bills by $500 a year. Why? The group says many people remain on high priced, 10 or 15 year old pricing "tiers." It says providers will not tell you about new discount "bundles" and packages unless you ask.

This is how some elderly people end up still renting a telephone 30 years after most people began buying phones. Call ask about cheaper plans. You may be surprised at what you are offered.