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It’s a tough economy and you have already given up on shopping, eating out, movies and junk gadgets.
Still not saving enough money? Take a second look at your cellphone. The average cellphone user ends up spending at least $50 a month on his bill, which means there’s plenty of room in there for some scrimping. While there may be some crazy texters and manic talkers around, it is likely most of us use less than what we paid for.
Here are five ways to slash your cellphone bills and save more of that scarce moolah:
Unlimited isn’t always good
For cellphone companies average revenue per user is a key metric and getting customers to sign up for larger monthly contracts helps drive it up. While Sprint, Verizon or AT&T’s unlimited voice and texting package for $99 may seem great, it is likely you will use just about half of what you paid for. How much are you really texting? What about voice calls? Do you yap that much? Sure, if you run over your usage it can be expensive but a lot of us don’t.
As a first step analyze your cellphone usage. Try Billshrink, a new website that claims to offer suggest the most optimal plan. Instead of the $40 plan go for the $20 if that’s all you really need. Less is more.
Go prepaid
Service providers like long term contracts because it locks you in as a customer for two years. While contracts may seem to offer the best phones, it can get pretty expensive. $200 for a phone and $60 a month on contract adds up to $1640 over two years.
Check out prepaid phones that you can buy for just about $15 and use with a card. If you are not a power user this could really help cut your bills down. Some service providers even offer rollover minutes on their prepaid plans with the condition that you top up a minimum every month. Prepaid plans work well for cell phones users that talk 200 minutes or less a month, says the Telecommunications Research & Action Center, a non-profit organization. And if you have more than once cell phone in the family, try substituting one pre-paid cell phone for at least one post-paid cell phone, they suggest.
Cut out the bells and whistles
Do you really need that data plan? Take another look at your phone too. Its nice to have the latest phones but you can get cheaper phones if you are willing to give up on having the current talk of the town. Cut out downloads of ringtones, games and other online services that your service provider may be doing a hard sell on. Cut! Cut! Cut! Tough times call for tough measures.
Don’t cut the cord just yet
Just about 16 percent of Americans have only cellphones and no landlines. That means for the rest 84 percent, it is time to take another look at the black box sitting at your house or work.
When at home use your landline phone instead of burning up minutes on your cellphone. Instead of calling friends and family during your commute, head home and use your land line. Long distance calling? Don’t touch that cellphone!
Buy online
Websites of most service providers offer an extensive range of phones that many times come free with a one-year contract. Some of those phones could cost about $50 in-store with a contract or even more. If you really want your latest phones try sites such as Wirefly or Amazon.com for some good deals. In-store isn’t always the best.
Photo: (Milica Sekulick/Flickr)
