Ten Ways to Cut Your Cellular Phone Bill
Are you paying too much for cellular phone service? Review these 10 tips to see whether you can cut your cellular phone bill.
There are lots of ways to trim your budget. Often, eliminating your cellular phone is a reasonable consideration. However, you may be able to lower your bill to create savings and still keep the convenience of cellular phone service.
1. Dump that Analog Phone!
We've got news for you--that same old flip phone you've been using since George Bush was in office is costing you money! Sure, it still works great, but most carriers today are offering 10%-25% discounts on their digital service, compared to the rates you're paying. More importantly, Personal Communication Service (PCS) providers, which have nothing but digital phones, have dropped rates for cellular service as much as 50% in the last two years. Okay, digital phones may not be free, but you will save in the next six months of airtime charges the $50 - $250 you spend today for a new digital phone. Plus you'll get a lot more features and benefits from your digital phone.
2. Make Sure You're on the Right Rate Plan
Don't underestimate the power of competition--rates have dropped. PCS service providers introduced their service at prices significantly below that of their cellular competitors, and cellular competitors have adjusted their prices in response. Most importantly, your calling needs, and calling habits, have changed. That rate plan that met all of your needs two years ago is woefully inadequate compared to the offers being thrown out there today. You should do a rate plan analysis at least once every six months to make sure you've got the cellular plan that provides the most cost-effective service for you.
3. Know Why You're Making the Call, and Stick to the Agenda
"How are you doing? How was your weekend?" Chitchat may be acceptable in normal office telephone conversations, but when calling from a cellular phone, don't be afraid of sounding like a New Yorker--cut to the chase! (If you are a New Yorker, you don't have anything to worry about.) You called for a specific reason; ask your question, get your answer, and then get off the phone. Don't get sidetracked with office gossip--you can catch up on that later. Also, never, never say "okay" when the receptionist says, "do you mind holding?"
4. Eliminate Roaming and Long Distance Charges
Okay, you can't always stay at home, nor limit yourself to calling your next-door neighbor. Several carriers offer nationwide rate plans with no roaming charges or long-distance charges. Normally, long-distance charges from a cellular phone are just as high, or higher, as the cellular airtime, and roaming charges can be as high as four times or more your local charges. National calling plans offer extremely attractive airtime charges, even if you don't use a lot of long-distance or roaming minutes. If you travel or make a lot of long-distance calls, you can save a quite a bit of money using these plans.
5. Make Sure You're Not Paying Too Much for Long Distance
Long-distance carriers have been locked in a price war that's driving long-distance rates down, so the plan you signed up for a year ago may be costing you money. When MCI added 5-cent Sundays, AT&T quickly responded with 5-cent weekends. Sprint is now offering 2½-cent weekends, and Qwest is offering 5-cents per minute 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The monthly fees may vary, so read the fine print.
6. Know Who is Calling You
Some calls you want to take; some you don't. Caller ID lets you see who is calling so you can decide whether to answer the phone. Knowing who is on the other end has its benefits; you may want your boss to go to voicemail, but answer the call from your spouse, or vice versa. Caller ID is only available on digital phones through most carriers. Or, you can use a pager with your cellular phone, if you can't get Caller ID. Instead of giving out your cellular phone number, give everyone your pager number. That way, you can decide which calls to return, and when to return them. For example, if you're only five minutes from the office when someone pages you, you may decide to wait until you get there to return the call from a regular landline phone, rather than chew up more airtime on your cellular phone.
7. First Incoming Minute Free
Many carriers offer the first minute of an incoming call free of charge. Although the carriers assume you will make your cellular phone number more available because of this; if you use this feature to your advantage, you can save significantly on your cellular bill. Make sure you know the terms and conditions of "first incoming minute free"; sometimes the carrier will require you to make calls that last more than a minute to receive the benefit of this feature. Hey, we all can say a lot in a minute!
8. Check Your Voicemail From a Landline Phone.
Although most cellular carriers do not charge airtime when someone leaves a voicemail message for you, they do charge you when you retrieve messages from you cellular phone. Most digital phones provide you with voicemail notification--your phone receives a message notifying you that you have a voicemail message you haven't heard. Why? So you retrieve the message right away, usually from your cellular phone. You can reduce your cellular phone bill significantly by retrieving your messages from a landline phone.
9. Don't Get Trapped by Convenience.
The cellular industry knows if they can provide you with "anytime, anywhere" communications capabilities, you'll use it! Little Bobbie just scored a goal? Who wouldn't want to tell the world! Just understand that the phone call you make to tell everyone about Bobbie's achievement has a cost associated with it. Sometimes, those conversations are better reserved for the dinner table.
10. Turn Your Phone Off
Every cellular phone has a power button. You can turn the phone off, if you want. In fact, there are some places you should turn your phone off…the Board Meeting, the Broadway show, the restaurant, even the movie theater, to name a few. Those short "I'll have to call you back" conversations add up. If you're afraid of missing important phone calls, get voicemail on your cellular phone. It's just like an answering machine for your cellular phone (just make sure you have read Item 6). In the event that you just have to know if someone is calling you, you can use the phone like a pager (even putting some cellular phones in vibrate mode), so you know you got that call, even if you didn't actually answer it.
Want more information? If you are still not sure whether you want or need cellular phone service, read our related articles listed in the Library.
