How To Save On Cell Phone Bill
 by: Steven Chang

Seems like everybody's got a personal cellphone. Heck, my young cousin who's only in elementary school has one! Cellphones are convenient and mobile, however, you can get hefty charges when you go beyond your minutes allowed. I have personally had cellphone bills that are over $200 in one month!

Know your monthly average usage

Cellphone plans come in different monthly airtime limits. Cellphone companies also categorize airtime such as "anytime minute", "free weekend & night", "free mobile to mobile", "free long distance." Just as an example, a cellphone plan may offer 500 anytime minutes for $40 a month. That means that for $40 you are allowed to be on a call for 500 minutes per month. Any minutes that you go over in that month you will accure very hefty charges such as $0.35 per minute! Compare $0.35/minute with $0.08/minute ($40 / 500 minutes = $0.08/minute) you definitely would want to make sure that your current plan of 500 minutes per month is enough for your usage.

To save on phone bill, it may be worth upgrading to a higher plan if you know that you will be requiring more airtime, because getting charged over-the-limit minutes is simply not worth it. Some cellphone plans also allow you to carry over unused minutes, so there is really no reason not to upgrade because you are simply getting a much better $/mintue charge for your calls.

Know when and where you make your calls

There are additional cellphone plan options that you are able to purchase that may help you save on phone bill. Most cellphone plans charge an additional $5/month for airtime options such as "free weekend & night", "free mobile to mobile", and "free long distance."

One way to save on phone bill tremendously is to get the free nights and weekends calling option and chose a lower anytime minute cellphone plan if you know that your calls are mostly made on nights and weekends. If you will be calling a lot of out-of-state calls, then please do yourself a favor and purchase the long distance call option so your calling rate is the same as local calls. If you purchase both free nights & weekends and long distance calling options, well guess what, your out-of-state calls will be free on nights & weekends! Didn't think you can save on phone bill, can you?

Know who you make your calls mostly

I personally like the free mobile to mobile calling option very much. If you want hook up all of your family members with a cellphone, make sure to enroll them under the same provider for mobile to mobile calling to be truely free. The catch is that free mobile to mobile calling only works within the same network provider. Getting a family plan for multiple cellphones is also another great way to save on phone bill. Going back to the example provided. A single cellphone plan will cost $40/month for 500 anytime minutes. A family plan may cost $50 for 700 anytime minutes, and each additional cellphone line will cost only $10 for which the 700 anytime minutes are shared among all the cellphone lines within the family plan. With each phone in the family plan also purchase the additional free mobile to mobile calling option, the entire family can talk on the cellphone anytime during the day, without worrying about running out of minutes. What other ways can you think of to save on phone bill?

About The Author

Steven Chang

I believe one day cellphones will replace land lines, but until then you want to be able to cut down your cell phone bill. Visit http://www.save-on-phone-bill.com for more tips.