Using wireless mobile phones has become a way of life for many Americans. That has meant another regular expense added to the family budget.
The average mobile phone bill is $55 a month, according to research firm Yankee Group. And recent studies show consumers could be wasting a ton of money. One report, by market researcher TNS Telecoms, found about 78 percent of wireless minutes go unused.
If you’re trimming expenses, the wireless bill is a prime place to start. Here are ways to cut costs:
Reduce service. Compare how many minutes per month you actually use with the number of minutes in your plan. Are you paying for more minutes than you need?
Even if you have to pay extra on occasion for exceeding your allotted minutes, it could be cheaper than paying $10 more every month for a bigger pool of minutes.
Get it right. If you’re often charged for roaming outside your coverage area, upgrading to a nationwide coverage plan might be cheaper. And because service plans change frequently, regularly check to make sure you have the one that best fits your calling patterns.
If your calling patterns are uneven, you may consider a company that offers “rollover minutes” that don’t expire at the end of each month.
To help determine your ideal number of minutes, use a rule of thumb provided by the non-profit Telecommunications Research & Action Center: If you regularly use 200 minutes fewer than your monthly allotment, drop down a tier. If you consistently exceed your allotment by 100 minutes or more, consider going up a tier.
Skip the extras. Lighten up on the text messaging, the extra ring tones and cell-phone games, all of which cost extra–an average of $6 a month for people who use them, research shows.
Coordinate plans. If you regularly talk on the phone to the same friends and family members, try to get everybody on the same network. Using plentiful in-network minutes instead of valuable anytime minutes may allow you to drop down a tier of service and pay less.
Prepay. If you use relatively few minutes, say fewer than 100 per month, it may be cheaper to use a prepaid mobile phone plan, which allows you to buy minutes as you need them.
But beware that prepaid minutes expire in as few as 30 days. And then you’ll probably have to buy another phone.
Accessorize online. Shop for car chargers, hands-free sets, leather cases and extra batteries at online stores or auction sites, such as eBay. Prices are much lower than at wireless retail stores. Be aware that some of the accessories may not be from the original manufacturer and may be lower quality.
Get your company to pay for it. If you often use your personal wireless phone for business calls, make a case to your boss for getting a company cell phone. Or try to arrange some type of reimbursement plan for business calls made on your personal phone.
Shop around. Compare the value your wireless company gives you with its competitors and consider switching plans. You can now keep the same phone number when you switch. But although you could save upward of $20 a month for similar plans, don’t compare on price alone.
A service plan is virtually worthless if the new provider has spotty coverage in your area and you’re constantly dropping calls or getting no signal. Use the carrier’s free trial period to determine whether service works where you need it.
When shopping, pay more attention to the service plan than the gee-whiz factor of the phone. The plan is far more expensive in the long run. And consider the cost of terminating your existing plan.
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Edited by Lara Weber (lweber@tribune.com) and alBerto Trevino (atrevino@tribune.com)
