Cell phone bills are so expensive these days! For many of us, this is one of our biggest monthly bills. But you don’t need to pay quite as much as you think. There are things you can do to lower your cell phone bill. In this post I’m going to explain 3 easy ways to save money on your cell phone bill.
3 EASY WAYS TO SAVE MONEY ON YOUR CELL PHONE BILL
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Many of us pay our bills on autopilot without stopping to take a look at exactly why it costs so much. We assume that everyone else is paying that much too and “everything is just so expensive.” It doesn’t have to be that way!
You could probably be paying a lot less than you are. You just need to put a tiny bit of work into it and make some small changes. When you want to start cutting expenses and lowering your monthly costs your cell phone bill is a great place to start because that’s a pretty easy bill to lower.
Here are 3 easy ways to save money on your cell phone bill.
1. Just ask
This might seem too easy to be true, but most of the time you can negotiate a lower price for the same plan you currently have. I do this at least once a year.
Just call and ask to speak with the retention department. Those are the people with the power to give you a discount. Then tell them that you love their company but you just can’t afford to pay so much. Sometimes you do have to threaten to switch providers. It almost always works out that they can give you a discount.
You can read all the details of this strategy here.
While your at it, see if your provider offers a discount for your work. For example, when I was a teacher my cell phone company (AT&T at the time) offered a discount for educators. I just had to bring them proof of my employment in that field and I got a 15% discount on my plan. And this doesn’t just work for public fields. My husband’s company offered a 10% discount on for a different cell phone provider. Ask around and find out if someone in your family is missing out on a discount that could be saving you big time!
GET A FAMILY PLAN
Maybe this seems obvious, but I know a lot of people who aren’t doing this and they’re missing out on huge savings. Don’t let that be you!
Anyone in your house that has a cell phone should be on your family plan together – and other members of your family can join too if that makes sense for your particular situation.
The more family members that you have on a family plan, the less each one of you will have to pay.
So, you and your spouse should absolutely be on a family plan together. You’re just throwing money away by paying your bills separately. If you’ve been paying for two separate plans for a while, you might be able to cut your cell phone costs practically in half by combining them!
If you have older children in your home (that also have a cell phone) add them to your family plan too! Even if they’re paying their own bill, they can just start paying you instead and it will be a lower cost for them while also bringing your cost down.
Depending on your family situation, you may want to consider adding your parent(s) to your family plan too.
I have my mom on my family plan and she just pays me the cost of her part of the bill each month. It helps her by making her cell phone cost much less and it brings down how much we’re paying too. Because again, the more people on your plan, the less you pay.
That does not mean that you should just add anyone to your family plan. Don’t consider adding anyone that might not be reliable in paying their share or that may be irresponsible with usage and cause you to pay more. It’s not worth the stress or hassle.
One last thing about using a family plan…
Here is how to determine how much each person is responsible for paying. Don’t look at what is listed on the bill because the first line on the plan always has a higher charge. That doesn’t mean that first person should have to pay more because that’s just silly. Instead, take the total price of the bill and divide it by how many people are on the plan. That will be the price per person.
However, a few things can muddle that simple formula, like someone having an overage or someone having a finance charge for a piece of equipment (like a new phone). In those situations, you need to subtract that extra charge from the total bill, divide the amount by people on the plan, and then then add that extra charge on to the appropriate person.
Of course, none of that math matters if it’s just you and your spouse on the plan since the money is coming from the same pot.
USE YOUR PHONE FRUGALLY
Being a little frugal in the way you use your phone can save you big in the long run.
One way to be frugal with your phone is to use wifi whenever possible. This will save your data for when you really need to use it. It will also save you from going over on your data for the month.
Another smart frugal phone tip is to save your photos to a computer once in a while and delete them from your phone. Do this instead of paying an extra $10 a month to keep all those photos on your phone that could be saved to your computer for free.
Finally, be sure to take care of your phone so it lasts longer. My husband still has an iPhone 5s. And it is still going strong because he’s taken such good care of it.
And PLEASE put a case on your phone! I am shocked every time I see someone with a $700 phone and no case on it. It’s going to fall (or you are going to drop it) and if it doesn’t have a case you’re going to be really upset when it breaks. Otterboxes are always worth the cost. This is the one I have on my phone. I’ve dropped it so many times and I’m so thankful that it’s protected.
Bonus Tip:
If you try all of these ways to save money on your cell phone bill and you still feel like you’re paying too much, it might be time to switch providers. After doing some extensive research and comparison of providers, I really think that T-Mobile offers the best value for the cost. They are less expensive than the other big name cell phone services and their quality of service is just as good, sometimes even better.
Plus, they will pay off your phone if you switch, so that’s pretty awesome.
You can learn more about what they offer here.
While there are many super cheap phone services out there (like NetTALK Wireless that will give you a free phone and charge you hardly anything each month) those companies will not offer the same level of service. You have to decide for yourself how much you care about the level of service that you receive.
START LOWERING YOUR CELL PHONE BILL
With a few minutes of effort you can cut down your outrageous cell phone bill. Just call and ask your cell phone provider if you can pay a lower price. Combine plans with your close family members so you can all save big with a family plan. And be sure to take care of that expensive piece of equipment so it can last you longer. By implementing these easy ways to lower your cell phone bill, you can be seeing huge savings every month.
Psst… Want to save even more? Hop on my email list here. It’s my favorite place to give you money saving tips and insights that I just don’t share anywhere else. Plus you’ll get lots of free financial tools just for signing up.
Keep reading about how to save:
7 Frugal Habits that will save you Thousands
How to use Coupons without being Extreme
5 Lifestyle Changes that can save you $100 every month
Cell phone costs are crazy. We have T mobile for two adults and like them. I like the idea to try to ask for a better rate. It died t hurt to ask because there is always the chance they will say yes as opposed to not speaking up at all.
Enjoyed the article! Cell phone costs are so high!
Thanks for posting!
I recently switched from AT & T (almost 70 per month), to Republic Wireless where I am paying 25 per month. One thing that made it possible for me to get it that low, is that I don’t use a lot of data. I typically use my cell phone as a phone – phone calls and texts – and do emails, internet surfing, etc. on a tablet. I do have a separate work provided phone where I receive work emails, but I don’t pay for it, my employer does. For personal emails, I do not use my phone. There is something remarkably freeing about not having to stare at my phone every 5 minutes!
Good tips! I would also suggest asking work to subsidize part of your bill if you use your personal phone for work, for example, answering emails off-hours. I was able to get work to pick up $50 a month!