In a previous article, we wrote about how you can reduce debt simply by saving money on your major household utilities. The basic idea is: Reduce the utility bills, so you can put more money towards paying off the debts faster. This article looks at simple ways you can reduce your telephone bills.

1. Turn off the long distance. Yes this may sound drastic, but you'll be amazed at how much money you save. Most phone companies charge you a set fee each month to have long distance service - even if you don't use it. You're also charged more in taxes and other misc fees when you have long distance phone service. Not having the service will also make you think twice instead of simply picking up the phone and calling long distance anytime you feel like it.

That doesn't mean you should go without long distance service though. When you turn this service off with your telephone company, you should replace it with a more financially controllable source.

My favorite long distance alternative is calling cards. Spend just $20 once on a calling card, and you'll have much better control over how much is spent for long distance calls. You don't pay anything extra if you don't make calls one month, and the service is there whenever you need it. Once you've depleated the time available, it's simple, quick and easy to refresh the card.

Another alternative to long distance telephone service is becomming quite popular: The Internet. Email and Instant Messages are used by almost everyone these days, and most Instant Message programs allow you to talk by voice now too. Some even allow you to have both voice and video, so you can actually see the person you're talking long distance to!

2. Turn off the bundled services. Many telephone companies today are trying to sell you on bundles. They claim that by adding 10 different services to your telephone, you'll actually save money. Well... You might be surprised.

In my own experience actually, it was not the case. I added up the services individually and found I was paying more with the bundle than I would have if I'd added them all separately. And to make things worse: I didn't need or want over half of them.

So consider your extra, or bundled, phone services closely. Do you actually need three way calling? Do you use it? What about call return or call waiting? Are they essential to your everyday life? Some people will say yes to these, but I suspect most of us don't really need every single extra we've currently got on our phone bill.

So remove anything and everything you absolutely can, and you may be surprised by how much you save. In fact, just by removing bundled services and long distance from my own home telephone services, I've saved almost $40 a month. That's $480 a year! Couldn't you think of better uses for that money too