Five ways to save money on tech services

In these tough economic times, we're all becoming increasingly conscious of our spending habits, aren't' we? It might be too early to talk about New Year's resolutions, but it doesn't hurt to think about any money-saving options that can helps us save a few dollars in the coming year. Here are a few things you can do to cut down tech costs in the coming year:

Unplug your gaming console: If you want to save money, your best bet is to completely unplug your Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii. A report by the Natural Resources Defense Council found that the PS3 consumes more power than any other gaming console when it's left on. They estimate you'll at least save $145 per year simply by unplugging the gaming console or using the auto-shutdown mode, as opposed to leaving it on all the time. Both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 have auto-shutdown features, so find out how enable them. The Wii seems to be the most energy-efficient console, but it wouldn't hurt to shut it down when you're not using it too.

Get rid of your cable: You may think this is really hard to do, but those who've actually ditched their cable say they don't miss it at all. Video streaming services like Joost, Hulu, Veoh, and YouTube already offer hundreds of TV episodes, movies, and documentaries online. If you have a Netflix account and an Xbox 360 or TiVo, you can watch complete seasons of "The Office," "Heroes," or just head straight to the network's site to find your favorite show streaming with fewer commercials. If you don't think you can ditch your cable company just yet, at least save money by downgrading your account or getting rid of any extra cable boxes you're paying for. Time-shifting devices like Slingbox and HAVA are great ways to extend your cable programming to other rooms in your house.

Start using coupons: I was about to order an item online last week, until I came upon one of those coupon code boxes. A quick search online lead me to sites like Coupon Mountain, Naughty Codes, Fat Wallet, Deal News, and Yahoo! Deals which offer visitors discount coupon codes and other goodies. If you want to save a few extra dollars this holiday season, check with them first.

Get rid of the land line: As PC Magazine points out, getting rid of your landline can be hard to do because you need it for emergencies. I get really bad reception at home on my AT&T cell phone line, so I definitely don't want to get rid of my VoIP line just yet, but I'm always open to new ways of saving money on my phone bill. Plans like T-Mobile @ Home (unlimited nationwide calling for $9.99 per month) and AT&T's Primary Residential line ($11/mo) may work for you if you need a basic secondary home phone.

Check your phone bill: According to the FCC, ""cramming" is a practice of placing unauthorized, misleading, or deceptive charges on your telephone bill. Crammers rely on confusing telephone bills in an attempt to trick consumers into paying for services they did not authorize or receive, or that cost more than the consumer was led to believe". If you've ever downloaded a ringtone, a song, or any other media to your phone, you've probably been enrolled in monthly subscriptions that are adding extra dollars to your phone bill. This is why you need to check your phone bill every month, paying special attention to the mobile media section for extra charges. Believe it or not, this is a huge problem that phone companies are not really dealing with. Thousands of consumers complain about cramming every month, unfortunately, nothing is being done about it. That's why you need to fight back and check your bills. If you think you have been a victim of cramming, file a complaint with the FCC. You can read about some horror stories here, here, and here. AT&T is settling a lawsuit for cramming right now, so if you've had bogus charges from this company check this site to see if you qualify for a refund.

PC Magazine has a few other suggestions, so check out Sasha Segan's article's here.

Anyone out there cutting back on services this year? Tell us which ones and why.