When trying to cut costs, no stone should be left unturned. Yet in doing so, we also should not be too hasty and pick a sub-par product or service provider. We need to do the research - so we did!

In reviewing our own credit card bills, I am finding myself getting annoyed with these monthly hits. I see them nearly every month and am left wondering "What is this one for?" These costs are adding up like HP ink cartridges - or worse!

So I turned to looking at a few items and asking myself a few questions so that I felt I was in control again.

                                                              1. Do I need all the domains I have?
                                                              2. Am I paying more for things than I should?
                                                              3. Are auto-renew settings dinging my card without a notification?

To me, there are two major players out there. The incumbent, Network Solutions, also affectionately known as NetSol , was the safe choice in the early days. Now there's GoDaddy and they offer up a plate of value and some friendlier busines practices, so I decided to share a comparison we performed this week.

  

As with any comparison, there's got to be some text that fills in items that just won't fit into the matrix. One item of extreme annoyance is that Network Solutions automatically renews 60 days ahead of time, whereas GoDaddy is only 30 days, which I believe to be a more reasonable business practice. Paying for something two months before you use it just seems plain wrong.

Also, domain management is far simpler with GoDaddy as well as shorter phone wait times. And always be on the lookout for those 'Specials'. GoDaddy offers free private registration when registering five or more domains, whereas Network Solutions offers private registration using a 'phone only' special, which seems a bit backwards on the self-service model. Phones, really?

As with every service, the big 'gotcha' on either of these is to review domains that you want to drop periodically, to ensure they are not set to 'auto renew', otherwise, you'll be chasing your own tail trying to get your money back. Good luck on that one as even if you do get your money back, you'll lose on the time and frustration end of things.

At the end of the day, as I have many domains I own and forward, I'll save a few hundred bucks a years, and get to hold on to my money another month.

For my money, it's GoDaddy!