BOSTON -- We negotiate when we buy a house or car, and hopefully, you did it to get a lower credit card rate.

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But did you know you can negotiate your cell phone and cable costs, too?

David Bookbinder has standard cable, two phone lines and the Internet. He pays Comcast $111.80 a month. He believes he's currently saving $40 to $50 over Comcast's regular rates.

All Bookbinder did was call to question his rates.

"I said, is there anything you can do?" Bookbinder explained. "I'm thinking about, you know, maybe going to DirecTV or you know, something like that."

The key? Use advertised offers that you get in the mail from competitors.

"You call your current cable company and tell them, gee, I've been getting these offers from RCN or Verizon or whatever, and I'm thinking of moving," said Edgar Dworsky, a consumer advocate who runs www.consumerworld.org.

"All of the sudden, oh well, we can make you an offer."

Cell phone companies don't want to lose you either.

To lock in a better rate with a cable or cell phone provider:

Threaten to move to their competition.

Threaten to cancel at the end of your contract.

With cable, mention you're exploring satellite or FIOS service.

Ask if there are any loyalty rewards.

You could end up with a better package or even a period of free service.

And if you don't get anywhere with customer service, call back and try a different representative. If that still doesn't work, ask for what companies call "the retention department."

Sometimes you can get through to the retention department using automated service.

"The operator says, do you want to cancel your service?" Dworsky said. "Press that option on the telephone."

Make the call even if you think competition is limited in your area.

"Maybe the current company knows that they are going to be having competition soon," Dworsky explained. "So they're going to want to lock you up for a year at a pretty good price. It's worth asking."

With a savings of about $600 a year, Bookbinder agrees.

"It never hurts to ask," he said.