Anyone paying the bills in their household knows that talk is anything but cheap. Cell phones and land lines can cost a pretty penny. Add your bills for Internet service and cable TV, and your telecom costs can quickly go through the roof.

Kiplinger.com has collected eight tips to help you save some green:

Bundle Up
Bunch your services and save. For about $100 a month, you can get cable or satellite TV, local and long-distance telephone service, plus high-speed Internet service. This is often cheaper than it would cost for each service separately.  And in addition to paying just one bill, you have just one company to call if you have a technical or billing issue, Kiplinger says.

Rethink Your Phone Company
Save on your long-distance bill and chat via computer with free software from Skype.com. If you can get your friends and family to download the software and use the service, you won’t pay a dime for those calls. You can call non-users’ landlines, too, for about $3 a month, which is cheaper than the $15 to $25 fee for a typical landline.  Vonage is also another option. This service comes with perks such as voice-mail, caller ID and call waiting and costs $25 per month for free unlimited local and long-distance calls, Kiplinger says.

Switch to a Prepaid Cell Phone
The average wireless-phone user spends about $60 a month, including taxes and fees. If you talk for 200 or fewer minutes per month, you may save by switching to a prepaid plan charging 25 cents a minute or less.  Prepaid plans generally charge 10 cents to 60 cents a minute, and compatible phones cost as little as $20. Kiplinger recommends comparing plans at http://www.myrateplan.com.

Cut the Cord
If you have a good cell-phone plan that you use almost exclusively, get rid of the dead weight on your finances and drop your land line. You could reclaim $20 to $50 or more each month, Kiplinger says.

Re-evaluate Your Cable Use
Ask yourself: Do you really need all those cable channels? Take a look at what you’re paying for and what your family is actually using, then drop the channels you don’t watch that often or don’t really need. A good way to start saving is to get rid of the premium channels.  You may even find you don’t watch TV enough to justify the cost of your cable service. Kiplinger recommends you consider dropping cable entirely and watching your favorite shows online or on DVD.

Give up the Phone Extras
If you have Caller ID, Call Waiting or Voice Mail, or even Internet on your cell phone, do you really need it?  By dropping one or all of the extras, Kiplinger says you could shave $5 to $50 off your bill each month.

Get a Calling Card
A calling card is a great way to keep phone costs under control. They may also save you money over the long-distance plan offered by your phone company, Kiplinger says. For example, you can buy a Verizon phone card with 700 prepaid minutes for $20, which is 2.9 cent per minute.

Negotiate a Lower Rate
With so much competition among phone, cable and Internet providers, you can probably haggle your way to a better deal on your service.  While many of the best offers are for new customers, it shouldn’t stop you from asking for the same deal, or at least one better than what you’re getting. You could always threaten to take your business elsewhere, Kiplinger says.