Three Secrets to Saving Money on Your Cell Phone Bill

Have you ever looked at your cell phone bill and asked, "Does this have to cost so much?" In many cases, the answer is no. Cell phones have become such a staple of our lives that we seldom stop to think about how high that bill is getting.

If you take some time to evaluate your cell phone habits and take advantage of some money saving options, you can get your cell phone bill under control.

Analyze your calling habits and make sure you are on the right plan!

Often times we pay for more minutes than we really need. If you consistently stay under the allotted minutes for your calling plan, then consider switching to a plan with less minutes. Even if you are consistently over on your allotted minutes, you may actually just be on the wrong plan.

Look at the people that you talk to most. If it is generally a spouse or other immediate family member, then you should probably be on a family plan with that person. For the first year of our marriage, my husband and I kept the cell phone plans that we had before we got married- with different carriers. He had Sprint, and I had T-Mobile. When we realized that we were both going over our minutes every month, we realized that most of those minutes were to each other. We quickly switched to a plan with T-Mobile that allowed us free minutes between other t-mobile customers (i.e. each other).

You might also find that you make most of your calls to a small group of people, say your boss, your mom, your two best friends, your sister, and your babysitter. In this case, you have a few options. If you are not in a time contract with your current carrier, then you might want to change to T-Mobile's favorite five calling plan. This allows you to have as many free minutes as you'd like within those five people. You could also ask the people that you call most what carrier they are with. If 4 out of 5 of these people are with Verizon, and you are with Cingular, then perhaps switching to a Verizon plan that offers free mobile-to-mobile minutes within Verizon customers.

If you don't find any patterns within the people that you call, or if you are stuck with your carrier, then consider switching to a more expensive base plan that offers more anytime minutes. Even though the base calling plan is more expensive, overage charges are often so expensive that just a few minutes over your regular plan each month can make it worth switching to a higher plan.

Texting cuts back on call time.

If you do not have a text message plan of some sort, then add one right away. Many carriers offer unlimited text messages for relatively cheap. T-Mobile has several different text message "bundles." My husband and I pay about $4 for 500 text messages each month, and we rarely use more than that, so this plan fits us perfectly.

Take advantage of text messaging as often as possible. If you are just calling someone to ask them a question, such as "When do you think you will be home?" then consider texting them this instead. Texting has several advantages, the foremost of which is that it doesn't cost minutes. It also allows the person to respond even at times when they might not be able to talk on their cell phones, such as in a loud store or at work.

Don't worry if you don't know popular text message phrases. In all reality, most people over the age of 18 don't use cryptic shorthand anyways. Feel free to invent your own shorthand, if it seems understandable, or feel free to text in full words. Even if you text your 14-your-old daughter, she will likely respond in a way you can understand. Even, "K Mom, C U L8R," is pretty understandable. (Translation: Okay Mom! See you later!)

Don't call information; text Google instead!

Yes, that's right, you can text Google and they will respond. Considering the fact that information calls cost about $2 per call, this can be a considerable savings. Even if you don't have a text plan, 10 cents a text is a lot cheaper than a $2 information call.

You just text to the number "Google" (466453), and ask for your listing and give the zip code. For instance "pizza 93065" will give you a list of pizza places in Simi Valley, California. You can also text "Fridays 91364" to get this listing for TGIFriday's in Woodland Hills, California.

Incidentally, you can also text Google for sports information, airline information, questions, definitions, language translations, and currency conversion. For more information visit http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/sms/.