6 Ways to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill
Lower Your Cell Phone Bill This Month!
1. Stop answering every call.
Especially if you have a land line nearby, let the call ring out and simply phone the person back from a free line. Let's say you pay 10 cents a minute for your cell plan, if you did this even just twice a week for two 5-minute calls, you'd save $52 this year. Now, imagine if you did it once a day, that's $365!
2. Start "flashing" your friends.
You can start saving money on your cell phone bills by getting in the habit of "flashing" your friends. Let's say you're picking up your friend from school - instead of a phone call or text message to tell them you're waiting outside, or are getting close, make arrangements ahead of time and tell them that you'll call them and let it ring a couple of times and then hang up. That's "flashing" and you just saved a minute or two of cell time.
3. Stop using directory assistance.
Either find a pay phone where you can use directory assistance for free or use its phone book, or simply look up the number online or at home. Directory assistance can cost as much as $2 and that can add up fast on your monthly cell phone bill.
4. Get a text plan.
At an average 10 cents per text, text messaging costs can add up fast. If you're a text addict, get a plan that gives you unlimited or bundled text messaging every month.
5. Lose the equipment protection.
If you're paying for equipment or phone protection, it's time to cut that $4 to $6 monthly expense off of your monthly cell phone bill. Think about it, even if you do lose or break your phone, by the time it happens it will have devalued significantly and you'll still be responsible for the $50-$100 deductible. Unless you have the latest $600 Blackberry, it's time to ditch the insurance.
6. Make your provider work for it.
If you're in a contract, but coming up for renewal, make your provider work for your ongoing business. Call them up and quote offers from their competitors and see if they can match it. Renegotiating a new contract is one of the best ways to save money on your cell phone bill. You'll be surprised how low they'll go to keep your business.
Published by J.B.
Jesse is a grad student and freelance writer based in Washington. View profile
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- If you have a land line nearby, let the call ring out and simply phone the person back.
- Find a pay phone where you can use a directory assistance for free.
- Lose the equipment protection.
5 Comments
Post a CommentA great way to lower your cell phone bills every months is to get a plan you can afford so your monthly bills are not shocking. I have switched to Tracfone where my service averages less than $7 a month when I buy a $20 airtime card, which provides me 60 minutes of airtime and three months of service. The best part of Tracfone is it gives me the safety and security of a wireless phone without the problems of a contract and monthly fees.
If you are in canada and still looking for a directory assistance service to use, I bet you try ask411. You dont have to call and talk to automated machine. Just txt your request to 275411 along with the city and province in canada or city and state in the USA and wait for the answer sent to you in a txt message. Its free until january 31st, and after the free period, charges will only go up to 50 cents per text! This is the cheapest service I've encountered! Try it now!
You are totally right about the cell phone insurance. I bought it for my husband, paid $5.99 monthly for 20 months, then his phone broke so we used the insurance to replace it for a $50 deductible. Then the model he broke was no longer available so they shipped a completely different phone that my husband hated. We were told there was nothing we could do because they were only required to provide a phone with comparable features. He ended up going to the local US Cellular store to replace the replacement phone for $59.99 just so he could have a phone similar to the phone he started with. That was a pretty expensive lesson. I've since canceled all our cell insurance plans. Will be changing cell providers too because of the poor customer service we experienced from US Cellular with this situation.
I called this service and requested my neighbor's phone number. GOOG-411 automation did not give me the option to request a residence. I instead dialed 800-411-SAVE and the operator found my listing quickly. 800-411-SAVE is a one stop source for residential, business and category listings. Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLvUGXL4oCY
If found a great free Directory Assistance service, 1-800-411-SAVE. You can call it from any phone and get free directory assistance. The best part.........you actually get to speak with a real person immediatly, instead of some silly machine. The other great thing I like about the service is that they also connect the call for free so I don't have to write the number down.