In this tight economy, families are looking for ways to cut their spending and to save money. One easy way to save on monthly costs and stretch your budget is by cutting your phone bill down to size.
The Telecommunications Research & Action Center (TRAC) has just published their guide to slimming down your phone bills, which can save you up to half on your phone service.
The Penny Pincher’s Guide to Slashing Cell Phone Bills:
- Switch to a prepaid plan. If you can drop your current cell-phone plan without paying a penalty, a prepaid cell phone will save you the monthly service fee, plus the charges for extra minutes. Prepaid phones can be found for as little as $15, and you aren’t locked into a contract.
- Cut the cord. Do you really need a landline and a cell phone? If you can drop your landline and switch to a prepaid cell phone, you can pocket the difference. Maybe it’s not for everyone, but if you can do it, you’ll only have one phone cost, not two. Or drop the cell service and just have a landline.
- Switch to a basic plan. Cut out the text messaging option, limit your long distance calls to nights and weekends, and set limits for your family’s phone usage.
- Simple phones are cheapest. Don’t buy the hot new phone with all of the extra features if you don’t need it. For most of use, a simple phone that only makes and receives phone calls is sufficient. Do we really need custom ringtones? Games? A camera?
- Cut out the telemarketers. Sign up with the Do Not Call list online, or call 1-888-382-1222 from your phone. Don’t let the phone spam eat up your minutes. Keep your cell number private, and don’t give it out to retailers or web forms.
Go to the TRAC website for additional consumer tips, including top tips to save on your long distance phone bills.
Image: Joe Shlabotnik at Flickr under Creative Commons License
Switching to a pre-paid plan is a great idea if you are pinching pennies. I switched and am now saving tons of money that I can use to pay my other bills. With a pre-paid phone I only pay for the minutes that I use and don’t waste any money on an excess amount of minutes. I also use it to text and make long distance calls. For families that are looking to cut costs — this is a great idea to look in to.
Two more:
– BUNDLE: Internet + TV + phone or landline + cell with the same company will save $.
– FAMILY PLANS for cell phones save money, especially if one spouse gets a company or student discount.
I started off simply – I went over my bills and decided that the fees were just too high. I started shopping around and comparing what I needed versus what I could pay – I ultimately went with Net10 prepaid because the savings appeared to be huge. I’m really happy to find that Net10 put more than $65 a month back in pocket and really cut down on my actual phone costs from $200+ to $79 – good bye IPhone. Best of all, without a contract I can switch minutes and phones whenever I need to without worrying. While I think Net10 is a great company for moderate users like me, big talkers and texters might want to upgrade to a higher plan with Net10, but the savings are still there.