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Cut the Cost of Cell Phone Bills

Posted 10:00AM 02/21/12 Technology, Savings Experiment |
Savings Experiment: Cell Phone Bills
How much does your phone cost you each month?
less than $40.006483 (12.1%)
Between $40.00 and $60.009290 (17.3%)
Between $60.00 and $80.008332 (15.5%)
Between $80.00 and $100.007962 (14.8%)
Over $100.0021692 (40.4%)
Did you find our video on cell phone bills helpful?
Yes, it's a great idea1362 (20.8%)
Yes, useful and entertaining1298 (19.9%)
Not sure, didn't watch1985 (30.4%)
No1891 (28.9%)

Have you ever opened your cell phone bill and had the urge to, well, call for help? Between extra features, fees and overages, your monthly bill can skyrocket, but luckily, many of those charges are avoidable.

Saving on mobile costs is easy to do once you know what to be mindful of. First, ditch your insurance plan. That extra $5 to $8 per month adds up, and in the event something happens to your phone, you'll still have to pay a deductible for a replacement. Also, "replacement" doesn't necessarily mean you'll get a new device. You'll often get a refurbished (aka used) phone.

Another way to reduce the potential for overage charges is to refrain from using your cell phone when dialing toll-free numbers. Calling toll-free numbers uses up your monthly minutes, and can put you at risk for going over your limit. Unless you have an unlimited national plan or are calling that toll-free number during nights and weekends, use a land line instead.

The same goes for 411. The directory service will use up valuable minutes, and there's a fee of up to $1.99, depending on your carrier. So, when it comes to keeping your cell phone bill low, try to avoid certain numbers.

cell phone billsUnless you have unlimited plans, be mindful of the number of texts you send and how much you're surfing the Internet on your smartphone, too. Once you go over your text limit, you can be charged for both incoming and outgoing messages. Meanwhile, watching videos can eat up your data plan before you know it.

Ready to start saving on your cell bill? With a few slight modifications to your usage, you'll be well on your way.

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37 Comments

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jack.abc

I wrote a blog about cutting costs for high usage, high quality business needs. You can have unlimited talk and text with high data for less than $60/mo. I think most people can get by with low usage plans, but if you want to cut costs but keep quality and usage high like I need to, give it a read: http://jackassanalysis.com/cell-phones-lowering-costs-while-preserving-quality/

March 16 2013 at 5:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ban KKiller

Bank of America, a continuing criminal enterprise.

November 19 2012 at 8:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
james.everman

go to www.cellphonereferral.com for $49 per month unlimited 4g talk text data nationwide, no contract, use your phone, first month service FREE and FREE sim card. Free mobile hotspot depending on your phone. Break away from those ridiculous cell phone contracts. Stop paying expensive cell phone bills.

November 02 2012 at 12:47 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
msmelo75

There needs to be some sort of limitations set for cell phones. You pay and pay whether the phone works correctly or not.

October 26 2012 at 12:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Marquis Boyd

That was great…….. I have Solavei mobile service and i'm saving $100 a month. I'm getting unlimited voice, text and date on a 4G nationwide network for $49 with no contract and you can bring your own phone. If anyone looking to get this deal check out this website let me know how it works out……….http://www.ibourl.net/Solaveiopportunity

October 08 2012 at 5:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dmantics

What people don't realize is that since many people have unlimited plans that their bill is actually paid ahead of time. So whats the difference between a prepaid phone and a regular cell phone? You pay both ahead of time. I would go with a prepaid plan. Just make sure it's a prepaid operator who uses a network from one of the big 3 (AT&T, Verizon or Sprint). I analyzed cell phone plans here:

http://themoneywhisperer20.blogspot.com/2011/08/mobile-phones-whats-sexy-may-not-be.html

The information was from 2011 but the premise is the same. Make sure you check out all the carriers and if they use a big 3 network (verizon, at&t or sprint) then why would you pay more to use a big 3 network if you are already using it at a cheaper price.

Dan

May 06 2012 at 1:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
viatorcomm

We have two cell phones with Virgin Mobile for which we pay 7 dollars a month each for service. We bought the phones originally for $25 and $40 respectively. We seldom use all the minutes we get for that $7 monthly fee. I currently have a credit of about $125 for un-used minutes that carries over from month to month. We have the security of having a phone to use in an emergency, and we're not going into hock for the privilege of calling to say we're running a little late for our appointment because of the bridge traffic. What else is a cell phone for? Judging by the way some people drive around with the stupid thing glued to their ear, I suspect that a lot of people are wasting a lot of bucks on mindless chatter.

May 01 2012 at 12:16 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
Chris Hurney

This is why people seriously should be looking at companies like Lightyear Wireless. They destroy companies like ATT, Verizon, Tmobile, Cricket, etc on price for fully unlimited. $59.99 a month for full data, text, and phone. No BS , no games, no data caps, no throttling. PLUS they offer you a way to earn FREE WIRELESS very easily by just referring a few people. No contracts, no credit checks. Once a Lightyear customer you will always want to be a customer. They are a true wireless company that is publicly traded (lyns). They have tens of thousands of satisfied customers. Stop getting ripped off by big wireless. I am sick and tired of seeing all these commercials for fully unlimited from the big boys and then you read the fine print and you have all these add ons etc. Also who else is sick of paying 20-25% in taxes and fees each month with bogus "administrative fees" etc. With Lightyear Wireless you have no nonsense like that. Just great service and great coverage you can use all the data you want with your smartphone. And again easily earn FREE SERVICE. Do you think ATT or Tmobile will offer you that. Never pay a wireless bill again.
And on top of all this earn a ton of money helping others get free wireless as well.
http://www.earnfreemobile.com

April 30 2012 at 10:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
daliberty

power goes out, most people cannot recharge phone

April 30 2012 at 9:57 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
mbayawatu

In the first place I do not understand why anyone would have a contract plan. I had to give my up 1500 minutes, unlimited text and limited unlimited data was $89.00 per month and I actually thought that was a good deal. For $50 I got a LG smartphone and for $45 I get unlimited everything. Now I cant run around and brag about my Iphone, Blackberry, Razor or whateve the latest greatest is. But what I have is enough for me and besides my gf has a blackberry and her friend has an Iphone 4s, my cheap phone outdoes the blackberry and by a long way and can match the Iphone 4s in almost everything but the camera.

April 30 2012 at 9:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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