I haven’t accepted many guest posts on Our Small Hours lately, but when Stephanie of HowMuchIsIt.Org presented this idea for an article I knew you guys would love it. If you ever feel like you are paying too much for your cell phone bill, check out the tips in this article. Then head over to How Much Is It and the low down on the cost of . . . well, everything!
My family saves on cell phone costs by purchasing our smart phones and phone plans from Straight Talk. We’ve been Straight Talk customers for years and can’t imagine ever going with a contract plan from a major provider. We get Verizon service and all of the popular Android and Apple smart phones are available to us. We even get free months of service via the Rewards program. If you’d like to save money on your cell phone bill join Straight Talk and enroll in Rewards using referral code (QHWS-BBD5) to earn 1,000 bonus points!
-Allison
Cell Phone Bills Shouldn’t Be $100+ Per Month (10 Ways to Save)
There’s a good chance you have a cell phone right now are paying fees north of $75. If not, that’s great – you’re probably already applying a lot of the tips I’m about to share.
If you go to any major cell phone carrier website and get a quote, you’re going to find out that it’s pretty hard to get your bill less than $100 after the taxes and fees are factored in. However, it is doable if you apply a few saving tricks.
- Check with your company for discounts
If you work with a company, check with your human resources department to see if you’re able to get a cell phone discount. For example, my husband is a teacher and is able to get us 15% off our total bill. Most major cell phone carriers have a discount database that you can search online.
- Consider the carriers that don’t advertise
If you don’t use a lot of data, consider switching to a phone carrier such as Google Fi or Republic Wireless. These carriers will use the same towers as AT&T and Verizon, but the bills will be a fraction of the cost. For instance, Republic Wireless charges $20 per month and that comes with 1GB of data. Google Fi, on the other hand, charges $20 as a base price plus $10 per GB you use. If you’re able to keep your data limits low, you can save a hefty amount.
- Gather some friends to join a “family” plan
How many people do you have on your plan right now? If you’re saying less than two, you may want to join with some other people to get a “family” discount. For example, if you were to join T-mobile with four lines, the total would be $35 per line; however, if it were just two lines, it would cost $60 per line – almost double!
- Bundle your services
Consider bundling packages with most major carriers to save on your cell phone, television, landline and even security system. For example, if you were to join AT&T and Directv, you could save $10 per month. The same can be said for other companies that offer cell phone and television services.
- Go prepaid
If you talk for less than 500 minutes per month, you may want to think about switching to a prepaid plan. Unlike the traditional cell phone plans where you’re billed each month, a prepaid plan will only charge you for the minutes you use. For example, at the time of this writing, TracFone is offering 1,200 minutes for $99.99. So if you were able to stay under 100 minutes per month, your cell phone bill would only be about $8.
- Use Google Voice
Let’s say you did plan on signing up for a prepaid cell phone plan that only allowed you to use 100 minutes per month. This doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to these many minutes, but instead, you could sign up for a free Google voice account as well. With Google Voice, you will get your own phone number and unlimited minutes for free. As long as you have a tablet and/or smartphone with WiFi access, you will be able to make and receive calls.
- Take advantage of free texting
The problem with most prepaid plans is that they limit you with text messages and minutes. Touching upon the last point, you don’t have to limit yourself to a certain amount of text messages. Consider downloading free text messaging apps, such as TextFree, to send and receive text messages.
- Snag a senior discount
If you’re older than 55, then you would qualify for T-mobile and Verizon’s 55+ plans. Even if you’re not with T-mobile or Verizon, call up your provider to see if they offer these discounts.
- Ask for a better deal
If you feel you’re paying more than you should, talk to your cell phone company and see what they can do for your bill. Sometimes, you may need to threaten to quit to get them to take action. Even if they say no, it doesn’t hurt to consider switching.
Author Bio:
Stephanie resides in Gilbert, Arizona, and is the co-creator of www.howmuchisit.org, a cost-helping database designed to help consumers pay a fair price.