5 Money Saving Cell Phone Service Tips
Written by Mark Nickelson // 01/07/2011 // Personal Advice // 15 Comments
By Mark Nickelson
Cell phones are a necessity of modern life. Service, however, can be quite expensive. This is especially true if you require more than a basic talk-and-text service. Data plans, which allow users to access the internet and send multimedia messages, can more than double the cost of service each month. Add contracts into the mix, and the price tag can reach into the hundreds each month.
While people who regularly rely on their phones for both work and fun might not have a problem with the monthly charges, there are others who are looking for ways to cut costs and still get the service that they need.
Here are some money-saving ideas for these thrifty cell phone users:
- Use a family plan. You don’t have to be legally related to someone to take advantage of cell phone providers’ family plans. Family plans allow you to split the costs and minutes from one plan in between several people for a small additional price per month (between $5 and $25 for each added line). If you trust family members, friends or colleagues enough to not leave you with the bill, you can split the cost of a family plan equally. So rather than paying $80 a month by yourself, you can add too lines at $10 each and split the total $100 bill between 3 people (that’s only $33.33 per person).
- Ask yourself what you need your phone to do. Do you really need a high powered smart-phone when all you do is check your Facebook account and your email once per day? Do you need unlimited text messages each month or can you get by with 1,000 or 2,000? Make an honest assessment of your cell phone habits and needs and decide what your plan should include. Only slightly more than 10% of all cell phone users would really benefit from an “unlimited” plan. Most people who have these unlimited plans are wasting their money because they do not use enough minutes or messages.
- Go prepaid. Prepaid cell phone plans like the T-Mobile prepaid phone plans are becoming more and more popular. Pre-paid users do not have to sign a contract with a provider and can pay for their service from month to month. This allows them to tailor their monthly purchase to their needs and to adjust to a new plan each month if necessary. Major providers offer pre-paid service, but smaller providers, who rent space on major companies’ networks, generally offer cheaper prices. Another advantage of pre-paid: you can buy extra minutes or services if necessary. You can simply purchase extra minutes if you go over your allotted minutes before the end of the month (there is no need to worry about expensive overage fees).
- Forget about the extras. Cell phone companies offer add-ons like roadside assistance, information services (411 calls) and numerous applications. Each of these costs additional money and most, if not all, are unnecessary. Sure, GPS service might seem useful, but a $100 GPS unit can be installed in your car and be more convenient than continuously glancing down at your cell phone. There is no need to spend $5-$10 per month for this service when a one-time purchase can give you years of similar service for absolutely free.
- Advocate for a better contract. If you are at the end of your contract with one provider, it can be worthwhile to contact them and ask for a better deal next time around. You have the threat of moving to another provider on your side. Ask for the best deal possible. You can even cite current promotions aimed at new customers (which include new phones for free or for steeply discounted prices) and ask for a similar deal. Of course, this will not always work, but it is worth a try. Major providers have a “customer retention” office that can be contacted. If other sales representatives in retails stores or over the phone cannot give you what you want, a call to this department can be more productive.
Author Information
Mark Nickelson has been blogging for 4 years. He currently blogs about how companies can utilize qr code for their businesses and how to locate free online insurance.
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15 Comments on "5 Money Saving Cell Phone Service Tips"
I’m gonna have to go with #3. I work my butt off with two jobs and going to school full-time up here in college. When I found out how much I would be saving by switching over to prepaid… I FREAKED! I did the research and now use Net10 unlimited. Just $50 for all the calls and texts I need with zero hidden fees. It’s so convenient, I have one less thing to stress about every month. The service and coverage is great too.. so freaking happy I found out about prepaid
i agree with lizzy, no 3 is the one. and prepaid is the one for me too. i finally did the switch to tracfone prepaid’s family plan a little while ago and could not be happier. for the whole family, the 4 of us we pay less than $30 a month, have 40 minutes of airtime per month each and my husband gets 50 min. plenty for all of us. for the kids tracfone offers nice and inexpensive phones for only $10. the nationwide coverage is great, i allways know what my cellphone bill will be and what the charges are for. no more overages or hidden fees with tracfone prepaid. i did not have to pay any activation fees, and should i ever decide to cancel there are no cancellation fees either. for me and the rest of us the perfect plan. prepaid
me, as a student am also seriously into saving money.for me prepaid with straight talk unlimited seemed the best way to save huge. i am a frequent user, i call, i text and i like to access the web at times aswell. with straight talk prepaid i can do all that for a set amount. i pay $45 a month, no more, no less. i did not have to pay activation fees, and will not have to worry about cancellation fees either. in addition straight talk offers great flexibility. i can change to a lower plan if i feel the need on a monthly base aswell. straight talk prepaid rocks my little world
Absolutely the best way to economise on phone bills is to get a prepaid phone. You will probably save half of the money that you spend on a contract phone and without all the problems associated with having a contract.
Prepaid, prepaid, prepaid! It seriously is the best and easiest way to save money when it comes to cell phones, if you take the time to actually look at your bill. I take myself as an example – I started my cell phone bill cutting last year after the holidays. I cut ties with AT&T after a huge customer service fight regarding texting and roaming and I realized $95 a month was too much for this many issues. This Christmas, I took a $9 Tracfone in my purse to Atlanta and had not one problem with it in terms of coverage or usage. I uploaded an aircard while I was there and kept touch. Best of all, no bills to deal with come January.
If you are looking for the lowest out of pocket cost for a cell phone plan I would highly recommend Tracfone’s plans as they are for people who don’t talk allot on their phones.
- Tracfone’s cheapest phones start from $10 and their cheapest plan is $19.99/90 days/60 min.
- The ‘double minutes for the life of the phone plan costs $19.99 which you need to put on the phone for better value for money.
- The minutes and service days you don’t use roll over to the next plan you buy.
- you get the free 911 emergency locate assist feature on your Tracfone which every person should have.
- overseas and national calls are the same price as a local call.
- there are always bonus minutes you can get on the Tracfone web when buying various plans.
- Tracfone has exclusive contracts with the major networks to provide the combined power of their towers for maximum coverage and amazing reception.
So on the whole Tracfone is the best cheapest quality plan to be on.
great article, and super comment from lorel, totally agree. i also prepaid the best thing ever , and with tracfone prepaid it is just tops and unbeaten by others. the double minutes for life, cheap call rates, local, long distance or international are a hit.i had to pay no activation fees and will not face any cancellation fees either. the network coverage is great and reliable, not a dropped call in sight. with tracfone prepaid savings are guaranteed
I have to agree with Barbara. Straight talk was a great way for me to save money as well. I also got the $45 a month unlimited plan and it has put over $30 a month back in my pocket. Best thing was I did not have to sign a contract! Oh and I was able to get it at my local Walmart which made it easy to find and buy.
I really agree that Net 10 prepaid is a supercheap cellphone service. It is so easy to use and there can be no overcharging because you only pay for what you use. Because they don’t have you on a contract, they have to be nice to you. They are also now coming out with some cheap smartphones, which is wonderful.
Another huge prepaid phone user right here and my minute monster of choice has to be Straight Talk. Saw a lot of other quality services mentioned here, but I think ST has the combonation of network, price, and hardware that just makes it the best deal out there. Going to Walmart and getting it all in one place or on-line is also a huge place and saving $40 a month and paying $30 with an option to change – priceless.
Have to agree with the Tracfone fans.
I just got one for my elder, tech-averse sister and she loves the value.
I like the fact that I can keep in touch with her and she likes the fact that the.e are no bills and she purchases more minutes when she needs to, Perfect!
It’s truly amazing what cell phones can do today! Having said that, I really have no need for fancy features and really not a phone person but I do like the convenient of carrying around a cell..and of course in case of emergency. Besides, when was the last time you saw a pay phone! So for me, my basic TracFone which I play less than $10 a month works for me. I forgot how much I bought the actual phone for but it was less than $30. At that, I still never use all timecard minutes!
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