Thursday, November 29, 2007

7 Ways To Cut Cell Phone Costs

By Vanessa Cohen



Cellular phones are a spectacular invention. They offer women an extra sense of safety, as well as the knowledge that they can call up their buddies to talk about having dumped their boyfriend no more than 30 seconds ago.


But there is a negative side to cell phones: the billing. It seems that most of us are being milked out of every penny via our cell phones and it’s time you started learning how to cut cell phone costs so you can save a couple of bucks. You need to start paying attention to what you’re being charged.

With a little effort, you can save upwards of $300 a year just by learning how you can cut cell phone costs and making some simple changes to your cell phone’s options, your phone habits and your service provider.

Here, now, are some ways to cut cell phone costs every time you dial.

Cut cell phone costs tip #1
Get a deal on what you use most often

Do you text message all day long? Do you spend most of your time on the phone during the day? If so, there are plans available to suit your particular needs.

Figure out what you want out of your plan via your cell phone habits, and call up your company and make the changes ASAP.

Cut cell phone costs tip #2
Use the same carrier as buddies
If you have a select few with whom you speak on a regular basis (your best girl friend, your boyfriend, your parents), then why not switch to the same company? Most companies offer deals on in-network calls.

The deal? Free calls within your network. That way, when you call up the people you speak with the most, you won’t be charged anything.

Cut cell phone costs tip #3
Forward your calls
If you work at home or have a lax work environment, forward your calls to your home or office, that way, your phone won’t be charged for the calls and you won’t be wasting precious minutes.

Of course, if your phone rings all day long, forwarding calls to your workplace probably isn’t the smartest idea. What you can then do is forward your calls to your answering machine on your cell or at home.

Cut cell phone costs tip #4
Get free evening & weekends
Considering most women work all day long, the need to make phone calls from your cell phone isn’t that high. But getting free evening and weekend calls is a tricky deal.

For some companies, the evening begins at 8 and sometimes 9 p.m., but there are a select few that offer up evenings starting from 7 p.m. Do your research and make sure that you’re well aware of what time your evenings start if you do opt for this option.

Cut cell phone costs tip #5
Get rollover minutes

Referred to as rollover, this option allows you to add whatever minutes you didn’t use in the month before to the current month, increasing your minutes and giving you the freedom to talk to all your friends without extra cost worries.

Some months may be slow and others may have your cell phone ringing off the hook, so make sure you look over your bill to figure how many minutes you’re not using each month (if any at all) and decide if this is the best option for you.

Cut cell phone costs tip #6
Shut it off or lock it

If you don’t lock your phone’s keypad and leave it in your purse, your phone could inadvertently end up calling people and draining your minutes.

And it gets worse; if you’re traveling (or even where you live), your phone may begin to roam (you’ll know it because it’ll say “roaming” or the like on your phone) and you will be charged for it on a per-minute basis.

A few carrier companies have eliminated this practice and I strongly recommend that you find out about your current company’s practices and their roaming options.

Cut cell phone costs tip #7
Text on the Internet

With most companies, it costs about 10¢ to send a text message and 2¢ to receive one. So if you could send your texts via another method, it would likely save you a sweet amount of cash.

Most companies allow you to send a text via their website. So the next time George sends you a text about how hot he thinks you are, you can text him back without incurring a cost if you’re already in front of a computer.

Cut cell phone costs today

There’s no doubt that cell phones have become an integral part of our lives, but with a little research and time, you can make sure your phone doesn’t cost you a limb or two.

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