It would be helpful to have a breakdown of what is phone and what is TV. I would assume your best options for tv would be Dish Network or DirecTV unless you have other cable options, which is rare. Dish is generally a better value. Depends on what stations you require.

Not knowing how much long distance calling you do, I don't know if you need unlimited LD service. Also don't know how much it's costing you. I also assume you have dialup internet since you said you had the second line. You might be better off to go with DSL and a calling card, which would give you broadband and a phone line available while you're on the net. The DSL charge might well be offset by the 2 phone lines you're paying for. Going with the slower speed DSL would save you some money.

Around here the cable outfit has the phone/TV/internet packages for about $100/mo. The phone company has a package of phone/DSL/DirecTV too and I think it's about the same price. Do you have any alternative phone companies available? Sometimes that can be some savings, although not a lot.

There's also the option of something like CallWave to receive calls if you want to cut it to one line. There's a charge for it now, but could help save some money if it's needed.

MSN is lousy. They're almost as bad as AOL. You can definitly do better there.

FWIW, I don't have cable or dish anymore. Frankly I don't miss it. I use the internet a lot more. Also have a stack of movies and tapes to watch when I'm that bored. I guess my TV time is down a little. My landline phone bill is a little over $20/mo, ISP is $5/mo, cell phones run about $10/mo and that covers some of my LD calls and I'm still working off a phone card from about 7 or 8 years ago that started with 500 min and has a balance of over 200! (A small card expired on me before I could even use it.) I don't make a lot of LD calls, needless to say. For that matter I don't make a lot of calls, period. I'll probably spring for a DTV converter or two when they come out since some of the digital channels look interesting. So all in all, my phone and TV budgets don't break the bank and are a pretty good value.

One thing that would save a lot of people money is to know exactly how their telephone billing works. I like to catch up with my friends and family over the telephone for long talks, but I only make these long calls on the weekend or after six on a weekday as I can call any landline for free during these hours. During peak rate hours I'm mostly out at work so can't use the telephone, but when I do I only make important calls and keep them short. I talk on the telephone plenty, but I only paid £6.90 in call charges the past three months because I use off-peak rates as much as possible.

I also have a pay as you go mobile, but that is only used to make or receive important calls when I'm out. For example if I'm running late or must let someone know something instantly. I don't use it for long social calls, so no need for an expensive contract with lots of minutes.

I also think DSL is worth having as you don't need two telephone lines, and it's much faster. Being faster isn't just a time saver, it means you can use some of the new technologies like VOIP, which potentially can save a lot of money on long distance calls.

Cable/dish TV is popular, but it isn't always worth having. If you aren't watching more than a few programmes a week, either because you're too busy or can't find anything interesting to watch, it's probably not worth having. You have to consider the channels you have for free and how good they are. Buying a programmable VCR so that you can record live broadcasts to watch later means you can watch any programme you like when you have the time, so there are potentially lots of choices available. You can also borrow tapes from libraries for little or no charge.

I have TWC and I keep thinking about dumping them. I pay $55 a month for the basic and extended basic. That's all. I think that's outrageous, but if I want to watch any of the extended basic channels, like SCIFI, my favorite, I have to pay. That's the only bill I haven't knocked down. I pay $35 to keep a phone line at home with no long distance. And I pay as I go for wireless phone.

Instead of HBO and Showtime, how about Netflix. I have a really cheap $9 and it's just fine for me. I get about 5 movies a month with it, though I could probably get up to 10 if I watched the movies the night they arrive in my mailbox.

Are you using your computer enough to justify a separate phone line? You don't say if you have children. If so, that would explain it. ;)