How To Save Up To 50% On Your Cell Phone Bill
February 4, 2007
Do you spend more than you’d like on your cell phone bill every month? I felt the same way; here are some tips I used to cut this monthly expense in half!
Get a Discount
I take advantage of a group discount through both my employer and my insurance company. These combined discounts add up to a savings of 12% a month.
Save On Equipment
Free Cell Phone
Cell phone providers are always offering discounts on new phones if you’ll sign a several year contract. Oftentimes, if you go with a lower end cell phone you can get the phone for free. Don’t buy the newest, fanciest phone and you could save $50 – $100. Assuming a two year contract, that averages out to $2 – $4 in savings a month. Another 3.5 – 7% monthly savings.
Smart Battery Usage
How many times have you been cut-off mid-conversation because your cell phone battery died on you? Check out these tips on how to make your cell phone battery last longer. If you can avoid paying $20 – 30 for a new battery over a two year time period you’ll save another 1 – 2% per month.
Replacement Cell Phone
When the audio on my cell phone went bad I got a quote from the Sprint PCS store for repairs. Because it was 4 years old, ancient in cell phone years, the replacement parts weren’t available. They offered me a new phone for only $30 if I signed up for the insurance plan on the new one.
I canceled the insurance plan after the first week and they didn’t charge me the $30 when I picked up the new phone at the Sprint PCS store so I got the new phone for free! When your phone goes bad, work with the company to get a new one and you could save $50 – $100 dollars! Factor those savings over a two year period and it averages out to another 3.5 – 7% monthly savings.
Manage Your Minutes
Leverage Customer Goodwill
I’d been a Sprint PCS customer for 6 years when Local Number Portability gave consumers the option to switch phone numbers between providers. Sprint wouldn’t lower my fees to convince me to stay with them; however, they did give me more minutes for the same price. In the past, overage charges cost us about $5 a month. Now I don’t have to worry about extra fees, which used to tack another 5-10% on our total bill.
Share Minutes
My wife and I use a shared plan across two phones, much cheaper for us than signing up for two lines of service. I figure we save about $10 a month by sharing minutes. Another 15% in savings!
Dropped Call Credit
If you use Sprint PCS, check out this tip on how you can get a dropped call credit. According to the site, the average credit is $11. I imagine if you try it every month they might get wise to you but it might be a good way to knock off a few bucks every once in a while.
All posts by Ben Edwards
I left my contract carrier over a year ago and went with Net10 prepaid and I’m finally able to cope with my cell phone bill. Without a contract, I have the flexibilty to change phones and plans based on use and price and not be locked in. The calling network is pretty dependable and while the selection of phones isn’t the best, it is better priced than any I’ve found. The best thing about Net10 though is the incredible savings – more than $70 a month for me and all I had to do was limit my talking. Net10 is a great option for the moderate talker who needs dependable service.