How to save money on your cell phone bill

Save money on your cell phone bill with these tips.

Your cell phone bill is one of your regular monthly bills and like any bill you want to spend as little as possible on it.

You can save money on your cell phone bill in a number of ways.

Look over your statements - Whether you access your cell phone bills and records online or get them in the mail, pull out the latest one and review it. Look for overage charges, extras you don't use, and the amount of text messages and minutes you use on average.

Overages can cost a lot - Cell phone overage fees are like interest on credit cards; with proper planning and use you can pretty much eliminate these costly fees and rates. Overages generally happen when you go over the set number of minutes per month your plan allows or you exceed text messaging or web access plan limits.

You can get rid of these overage costs by looking to see where you go over the most. If you text message all the time, consider upgrading to an unlimited texting plan. You'll never go over again and you'll pay less per text message if you use it a lot. The same with your used minutes. Overage rates for minutes over the monthly limit are often multiple times more expensive then the per minute rate built into the limit.

You can reduce or eliminate going over your minutes by doing one of two things. If your plan has unlimited nights and weekends; make most of your calls during this time period. If you must make a lot of calls during the day consider expanding your monthly plan to allow more minutes under the plan. You'll pay a little more, but still far less then the per minute rate when you go over the monthly limit.

But what if overage charges aren't the problem?

Perhaps you don't go over your plan limits much and still want to save money on your cell phone bill. You can do so by reducing your plan rates in a number of ways.
Extras - Do you buy ring tones, wallpapers, and games for your cell phone? If you buy them through a text service or subscription service, chances are you are being charged a high monthly fee just for using the service. A third party is generally to blame, find out how to cancel these overpriced services.

Even extras from your cell phone provider are a waste of money if you tire of them quickly, get a new phone, or rarely use them. Reduce or eliminate the number of ring tones, wallpapers, and games you download.

Internet - Maybe your phone comes with internet access which you probably pay for monthly. If you rarely use it, ditch it. There is no point paying for internet access that you don't use. If you don't have a plan for internet access on your cell phone, don't use the phone to access it as data rates will cost you a good chunk of change each month.

Monthly minutes - Unless you go over most months, you might be able to reduce your monthly minutes plan. This will reduce your monthly bill. If you have 1,000 monthly minutes and you only use on average about 300 of them you could save a few bucks by reducing your plan to a 500 minute plan. Just be careful once you reduce your monthly minutes so that you don't go over later down the line. You can make up for the reduction in 'anytime' minutes by using your phone more during unlimited calling times. Ask your cell phone company for details.

The same is true with text messaging plans. If you only use a few text messages a month, either get a smaller text message plan or pay per text depending on how few you send. Unless you send and get a lot of messages per month, paying more for unlimited texting is a waste of your money.

So whether you are a power user using thousands of texts and minutes a month or someone who is paying for services you rarely use, you can save money on your cell phone bill by considering all of the above information. You could potentially save a hundred dollars or more a year on your cell phone bill by making sure you are paying for what you need or use and tailoring your plan to fit your cell phone needs.