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How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill

Member
By jbduff
User-Submitted Article
(5 Ratings)
Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill
Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill

Tired of cringing everytime you open your cell phone bill every month? Below I provide some helpful hints into saving money on your cellphone bill.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions

Things You'll Need:

  • Your last three cell phone bills
  • Your carrier's customer service number
  • 20 minutes a month to look at your bill
  1. Step 1

    Get your last three month's worth of cell phone bills. Average up the total minutes you used - this will give you a good benchmark of how many minutes you use per month.

  2. Step 2

    Look at your plan and see how many minutes you have a month. You should always have about a 25% cushion in case you go over one month. For instance, if you use 750 minutes on average, you need about 950 minutes minimum. This will ensure you don't go over your minutes, saving you the hefty overage costs. If you have a plan that has free calls to other users on your network, make sure you don't count those minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Nix the 411 calls. Use free services like 1-800-FREE411 in order to cut down on costs. 411 calls typically cost about $1.99 or more, so cutting back on them can help your costs completely.

  4. Step 4

    Check your usage midmonth (every 15 days). Most companies will let you change your rate plans and backdate it if you call them before your cycle is over. If you know you're going to go over for the month, change your rate plan and get more minutes. Sure, it may extend your contract, but the most that could cost is $200 - overage could cost you WAY more.

Tips & Warnings
  • Overage costs could cost you way more than a cancellation charge (typically $175-200) so don't be afraid to change your contract.
  • Picture messages and ringtones cost a lot of money. Think twice before you decide you HAVE to have "Don't Stop Believin'" as your ringtone.
  • Never change your contract online. You may be hit with proration charges - its always best to change your contract with an agent on the phone since they will date your change correctly.

Comments  

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on 10/15/2008 if you really like to save, u can dial 1-800-411-SAVE for your directory assistance needs. The live agents are very helpful and friendly. They got everything you need! Fast, Free, and Accurate! Try it!

jmessina10 said

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on 5/5/2008 Great tips!

flyer961 said

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on 3/24/2008 for free 411 I would call 1-800 INFO-FAST cause they use live operators and don't have annoying ads

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