Tips For Controlling Cell Phone Costs
It’s hard to imagine life without a cell phone. Once a rarity, today it seems everyone has one. I’ve seen postal workers delivering mail while chatting away and school kids barely out of booster seats with them. Functional, portable and convenient, mobile phones-for better or worse-have made the world completely accessible to us…and vice versa.
In fact, mobile usage is increasing while usage of traditional landlines dwindles. In the U.S., almost 9 out of 10 adults use a cell phone with one in seven adults using cell phones exclusively. Cell phones are no longer a “for emergencies only” luxury, but a day-to-day necessity for most.
They also can be expensive. The phones themselves can range from basic models to multi-purpose smartphones and PDAs. Add to the cost of the phone the myriad of applications available like GPS, games, music and more-not to mention the cost of cell phone provider.
Whether it’s dealing with roaming charges, overages or replacing a phone that accidentally fell in the toilet, cell phones and cell phone plans can take quite a bite out of your budget. Here are a few tips for slashing cell phone costs and getting the biggest bang for your buck:
1. Compare Coverage – First do an assessment of which carrier provides the best coverage for your calling area. It’s no good to sign up with a plan provider only to be constantly dealing with poor reception, dropped calls and bad signal strength. Canvas your friends for their recommendations and see if they’re satisfied with their reception.
2. Assess your Phone habits – Are you on your phone 24/7 or mainly chatting with friends evenings and weekends? Do you spend 95% of your time speed dialing the same five numbers or is your calling scattershot across all your contacts? Do you prefer typing to talking? Do you want access to the Internet? Knowing which services are priorities for you is as important as picking the right provider.
3. Minutes – Make sure whichever plan you go with has enough minutes to keep you covered for the whole month. Going with a lesser plan will cost you rather than save you money in the long run if you consistently go over your allotted minutes. Sizing up to a plan with more minutes could ultimately be much more cost efficient than trying to save money with less minutes.
4. Pre-paid plans – Pay-as-you go plans like Tracfone can definitely help keep your budget in check. Pre-paid wireless is an excellent option for students, teenagers and those on a really tight budget. The benefits of going with a pre-paid cell phone are:
- There are no bills, no overages, late fees, etc. to worry about. You just pay in advance for the minutes you need and pay again when you need more minutes. For those for whom a cell phone is needed only for emergencies, paying only for the minutes needed rather than a recurring monthly charge would result in a huge savings.
- No contracts, no early termination or cancellation fees, you’re not locked in to a plan or provider. This means if the provider’s service or signal turns out to be insufficient or substandard, you can switch without incurring any additional costs.
- Pre-paid plans allow for more control when budgeting your expenses, because there are no overage fees or other surprises at the end of the month. You pay for the minutes you need-no more, no less.
- Pay-as-go means no credit checks–so if you have bad credit or no credit history, you can get cell phone service without the hassles of credit applications.
Cell phone costs are a necessary budget expense for many. But that doesn’t mean you can’t control those costs and find easy ways to save on your cell phone service. Making sure you have the right plan with good coverage and enough minutes to meet your needs is a good start to keeping cell phone costs in line. For some, pre-paid cell phones such as Tracfone allow them to be flexible and accessible while eliminating unplanned overage costs and fees of traditional cell phone providers.
Watch the video related to compare cell phone service
Help answer the question about compare cell phone service
Which phone do ya'll think would be best and why?Blackberry 8900
Blackberry Bold
HTC Tilt 2
they are compared side by side here:
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/compare-cell-phones/?LOSGId=&_requestid=62126
About Author
Savings.com was founded in 2004 and consists of a team of experienced programmers, product specialists and marketers who are building the site into the Internet’s premiere savings and discount destination. Working in partnership with many of the Web’s premiere publishers and retailers, Savings.com is dedicated to bringing people the best deals available online from the most recognizable companies and trusted brands.
Make sure to bookmark Savings.com as your source for Tracfone coupons and thousands of other deals and promo codes!
You’re an amazing artist both painting and music wise. keep it up ^ ^
That’s amazing! It always seem easier to draw on the computer then on paper. Really now, to color like that makes me curious, though everyone’s style of art is different.
i use photoshop
http://point.com
http://letstalk.com
http://www.wirefly.com
Coverage you might need to check the acualy compony sites sites.
http://www.letstalk.com
dude, you own! this looks identical to a photograph
wich program he is for doing this ? beside a tablet ofc
Hi Blue
The best place to get your answer from people that live in Tucson is here
http://www.howardforums.com/search.php?searchid=5883359&q=tucson%20coverage
After you decide on the provider, take advantage of the 'test periods" offered, that way you are seeing first hand how good or bad coverage is in your area and home
Cheers
it’s almost like a photo
great painting 
véiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, que difuu
iPod touch is probably your best bet right now. Dell is supposed to be coming out with a similar Android type device. Also you can get a smart phone that has WiFi and don't bother activating cellular service with it.
The difference between pre-paid and contract is that with pre-paid you don't sign up for anything and there is no account or bill that you have to pay every month. Contract is that you pay for a certain amount of minutes and services that you may or may not use every month and that bill comes every month.
As far as costs go, there isn't a big difference from what I've seen. To make sure you get the best rate, you really need to shop around and check out what people are selling…it all boils down to how many cents per minute you're going to be paying.
My recommendation is for you and your husband to get a contract so that if you ever need it, you won't have to worry about running out of minutes at an inopportune time. For the kids, I would recommend pre-paid. This is because, its been my expereince (I'm a teacher and I hear lots of stories) that most kids use their phones a lot either calling or text-messaging. This can run up an extremely high cell phone bill that you'll be stuck with. The worst story I ever heard was one of my students running up an $800 bill in one month from overage charges.
Also, before you do anything, check with your current cell phone provider and find out if you're under contract and if so what the early termination fee is (usually $150). This might make you're decision easier for now. As for pre-paid companies, I have heard that Boost and Virgin are pretty good companies.
awesome stuff man,….ama practice hard to get to yo level!
I've looked at the Vu, and to a certain extent I like it, but I've heard very mixed reactions to the touch screen on the Vu. If you want to watch TV on your phone, by all means, get the Vu, but if the Shine has all the features you want, and is cheaper, I'd go with that one. Even though the Shine is a little heavier, I've felt it and it feels like a more solid phone and the screen is gorgeous.
I'd suggest going into a store and playing with the Vu, you don't want to get wrapped into a contract with an expensive phone that you might end up hating.
HOLY CRAP! Comparing this to the original picture, they’re identical!
my tmobile 1500 cost me 35 pounds…about 70 a month…
Hi there:
The cell phone companies change, new ones appear every month, and they buy out each other constantly, so it is difficult to make an accurate list !
However, you do not say where in the world you are, so here is a brief list:
CELL PHONE CARRIERS
3 River WIreless
ACS WIreless
ALLTEL
Alltel #2
ANDHRA Pradesh AirTel
AT&T
AT&T Free2Go
AT$T Pocketnet PCS
BEELINE
Bell Atlatic
Bell Mobility Canada ( Different Provinces, Different Owners )
Bell Mobility Canada #2 ( If you move, you CANNOT move the phone!!)
Bell Mobility Canada #3 ( you end up paying 3 years AND buy a new phone )
Bell SOUTH ( Blackberry )
Bell South , #2, #3
Bell SOuth Mobility
Blue SKy Frog
Bluegrass Cellular
Boost
Bouygues Telecom, #2, #3
BPL Mobile
Carolina West Wireless
Cellular One
Cellular One East Coast
Cellular One South West
Cellular One West
Cellular One PCS
Cellular ONE #1, #2, #3, #4, #5
Cellular SOuth
Century Tel
Chennai RPG Cellular
Chaennai SkyTel / Airtel
Chennai Bell
Cingular, #2, #3, #4
Clearnet
Comcast
Comviq
Corr Wireless Communications
Delhi Aritel
Delhi Hutch
Dobson Cellular Systems
Dobson-Alex Wireless
DT T-Mobile
Dutchtone / ORANGE-NL
Edge Wireless
EMT
Escotel
FIDO
Genion
Goa BPLMobil
Golden Telecom
Green's Communications
GTE WIreless, #2, #3
Gujarat Celforce
Houston Cellular
Idea Cellular
Inland Cellular Telephone
Itineris
Kerala Escotel
Kolkata Airtel
Kyivstar
LMT
Maharashtra BPL Mobile
Maharashtra IDEAL Cellular
Manitoba Telecom Systems
MCI Phone
Megafon
Meteor , #2
Metro PCS, #2
MicroCell
Midwest WIreless
MiWorld
MobileComm
MobileONE
MobileFone
Mobility Bermuda
Mobility Tanzania
Mobtel Srbija
Motient
Movistar
MTS
Mumbai BPL Mobile
MUMBAI ORANGE
NBTel
Netcom
Nextel, #2
Nextel BR
NPI Wireless
Ntelos
O2, ( M-mail, Online, Prepaid )
Omnipoint, #2
One Connect
Online BEEP
Optus Mobile
Orange (Fr Telecom, Mumbai, NL/ Dutchtone )
OSKAR
P&T Luxembourg
Pacific Bell
PCS ONE
Pioneer / Enid Cellular
PLUS GSM
Pondicherry BPL Moboile
POWERTEL
Price Communications
Primco
Promtel
Public Service Cellular
Qwest
Rogers AT&T Wireless
ROGERS Wireless ( CDN )
Safaricom
Satelindo GSM
SFR France , #2, #3
Simple Freedom
SMART Telecom
SMF/ Schuylkill Mobile Fone
SouthernLinC
Southwestern Bell
SPRINT PCS
Suncom
Sunrise Mobile, #2
SureWest Communications
SwissCOm
T-Mobile ( #2, Austria, Germany, UK)
TalkLine
Tamil Nadu BPL Mobile
Tele2
Telefonica Movistar
Telenot
Telenor
Telia Denmark
TELUS
TIM
TRITON
UMC
Unicel
Uraltel
US Cellular, #2
US West
Uttar Pradesh Escotel
Verison, #2, #3
Vessotel
Virgin Mobile, #2
Vodafone (Germany, Italy, Japan, #2, #3, Spain, UK)
VoiceStream . T-Mobile
West Central Wireless
Western WIreless
Wyndtell
Yenisev Telecom
Note that in the big cities, there are hundreds of smaller carriers that only provide service in one small area. I can't list them all.
Hopefully you can choose the ones locally, and compare pricing.
good luck
robin