Sky, Virgin & BT TV Massive £225 Sky discount

Step 1: Calculate the real cost

If you have a subscription, multiply your package's monthly cost by 12 to establish the annual cost. Unpleasantly, it's likely to be between £300 and £600. This isn't churlish anti-TV sentiment, but an elbow in the ribs to consider whether this huge sum represents good value. For some, it might.

The costs don't stop there

Many people, especially Virgin Media users, also get a phone package with their TV. It's often a penalty, not a bonus.

These can be monumentally expensive, and substantially more costly than the cheapest providers (see Cheapest Home Phones guide).

For example, a 10-minute daytime Virgin Media call to a mobile averages £2.08, using BT it's £1.26, and with cheap calls provider 18185 just 65p. So don't believe the 'digital TV free with a phone service' hype. Effectively, you're paying.

You can still cut the cost of calls though, use the Int CallChecker or UK CallChecker to find the cheapest providers that work on a Virgin line.

Step 2: Do a channel audit

The formal approach to examining your usage should be a sofa-side notebook, detailing the times and lengths of watched channels, yet that's nerdy. Scanning through the channels (with the family) should let you know which are important.

Remember, real past viewing habits are a better guide than guessing at future preferences. Most important is how often you really watch the premium sport and/or movie channels.

Step 3: Use the comparisons

TV providers' leaflets and brochures aim to corral you into a narrow range of categorised packages, designed to make you pick multiple (and therefore more expensive) options. Yet there's more flexibility on both price and package than they let on.

Before pushing for a better offer, arm yourself with the best deals and comparisons below, as these can often bite chunks out of the annual cost.

Treat the results only as a benchmark, as the comparison won't include the myriad of special offers pushed through letter boxes and stuffed in magazines (worth watching for).

Step 4: How to haggle

The obvious haggle start-point (you've little choice) is with the customer service operatives.

Ask about the cost of your package (or reduced package if the channel audit showed you're over-using) and see what deals are available.

Ensure they realise you've the opportunity to shift to a more competitive package elsewhere just use Freeview, yet give them hope with "can you offer me a deal? I'd much prefer to stick with you".

If they're not willing to play ball, the powerhouse maneouvre is threatening to leave. Remember 'disconnections' is often internally named 'customer retentions' as that's their business aim. They've much wider discretion to give better deals, as ultimately their job is to keep your custom.

Add your haggle success or read others

Don't be ruled by pride

Remember this is a haggling – not a leaving – exercise. One danger is you threaten to leave, it doesn't improve the offer, and you feel embarrassed into actually leaving. Don't do this. Buy time to reconsider by saying "right, I'll think about this and get back to you".