If your cell phone bill makes you gasp, consider these ways to decrease costs.
Get the right plan. Shop for the plan that fits your needs best. If you don’t come close to your maximum minutes per month, do you really need a rollover package? Can you downsize to a smaller, and cheaper, plan?
Consider “in network plans” where you don’t pay for calls to friends and family. If your main crew uses Verizon, for example, it may be worthwhile to find a plan with that carrier.
Or, look at a prepaid plan that costs less and allows you to pay only for the minutes you use.
If you need to text a lot, a text-messaging plan may be more economical than paying for individual texts that you send and receive.
Cut out extra expenses. Use your landline to make calls from home. Drop any unneeded add-ons. Phone insurance can be useful, but it also could add up to be more expensive than the cost of the phone. Check your bill to make sure there are no unnecessary or unexplained charges.
Use your cell phone more. One way to decrease overall phone expenses is to disconnect your landline. With the right cell phone plan, you can end up saving money.
Contact your cell phone carrier and ask them to analyze your bill and make recommendations for a better plan. Or, try Billshrink.com, a free service that analyzes your phone bill and recommends the best phone plan.
YOUR 2 CENTS – Have you taken any steps to save money on your cell phone bill?
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From everything I’ve read (and my own experience) I think a prepaid plan is the way to go if you want to cut down on your cell phone bill and keep things simple. There are so many budget conscious plans available it made me dizzy trying to choose. Boost Mobile, T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile all have plans for about $50 and MetroPCS has an unlimited plan for as low as $40. I made my decision to get StraightTalk based on coverage. StraightTalk runs on the Verizon network which means StraightTalk offers the best nationwide coverage of any of them. It’s $5 more than MetroPCS, but MetroPCS doesn’t have Verizon’s clout when it comes to coverage. Consumer Reports ranks Verizon #1 for coverage.
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Good thoughts Jan! Thanks for providing your 2 cents!
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I needed to cut my costs drastically on my cell phone bills. Thats why i switched to Straight Talk. For ONLY $45 a month i get UNLIMITED calls and text and there is NO contract and NO hidden fees. Not to mention that it is part of the Verizon network so the service is great! Switching to Straight talk has saved me so much money!
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