Going on Vacation? Suspend Services While Away to Save

By Paola Singer/The Wall Street Journal - The Problem: Not wanting to pay for unused monthly services while you're on vacation.The Solution: Many cable, cell phone and Internet companies offer temporary service suspensions. You just call and ask for a provisional suspension. It's either free or involves only a small maintenance fee. DirecTV, for example, halts service and billing for periods of one week to nine months. Time Warner Cable lets subscribers take up to six months off, charging only the rental fee for the equipment, plus $1.99 to deactivate the service and vice-versa. T-Mobile suspends service for up to 30 days free. Suspension policies for landline phones vary by company and by state. AT&T, for instance, advises consumers to call the local customer-service number listed on their bills to inquire about suspensions.

The Caveat: During many phone-service suspensions, voice-mail features will cease and callers will hear a message saying the line isn't active at the moment.