Almost without exception, you own a cellphone. If you have a family, you probably own a bunch of cellphones. Your 5th graders probably even have cellphones. Though cellphones make our lives more convenient than we ever thought possible, they also can come with a pretty hefty price tag.
But you, savvy shopper, have come to the right place! For you are not content with merely accepting the rate your cell phone provider has for you. Verily, you seek to find the best rate possible! If you are not sure where to start, this article is a great place!
- Analyze Your Usage
- Remove Insurance
- Pay Off an Installment Plan
- Ask Customer Service to Review Your Plan
- Tell Customer Service You Want to Cancel
- Shop Around
- Consider PrePaid
- Consider a Non-traditional Carrier
- Bundle Up
One of the easiest ways to lower your cellphone bill is to take a look as your usage to see if you really need what your plan offers. For example, unlimited everything may be nice, but if you rarely use any data, you may be able to move down to a less expensive plan that has a data package. Most plans are going to have unlimited minutes and text, so you do not need to worry about trying to save money there.
When you first got your phone, you may have opted to put insurance on it. If you are eligible for an upgrade but are still happy with your phone, there really is not a reason to have insurance protection. If something happens to your phone, you can simply upgrade to a new one! Insurance premiums can add up, sometimes being as expensive as $15 per line.
Most carriers offer new phones by way of installment plans. They take the full retail price of the phone and break it up for you over the course of several months. An easy way to lower your monthly bill is to simply pay off the balance of your phone.
If you do not like the idea of having a large installment plan, consider getting a less expensive phone or buying a phone 3rd party. Your installment payments will be lower the less expensive your phone is, and if you bought your own phone outright, you will not have any installments at all!
Most customer service reps for cellphone carriers are not commissioned salesmen (though they may be required to talk to you about separate service like home internet). They exist to help you resolve billing issues, and one of the things they can help with is to take a look at your plan and see if there is a better fit. If there is an option that you have not considered, they will know it!
Also, it is important to note to NOT do this in a retail store. Those representatives are sales-based, which means they have little incentive to actually lower your bill.
Telling customer service that you want to cancel your plan will usually trigger a retention response, which means you will likely get transferred to a representative that specializes in doing everything within their means to keep your business. They often have access to plans and prices that are not publically available, and depending on your account status, they may be able to offer those prices to you. It does not hurt to call and ask!
When was the last time you took a look at the pricing of competitors? Cellphone pricing changes all the time, and it is likely that a competitor with equitable service can offer you a better price. They may even have special introductory offers for new phones (oftentimes free!) if you need another reason to shop around.
Depending on your use, prepaid service may be the cost-saving option you have been looking for. Prepaid means that you prepay for any service you use before you can use it. More traditional cellphone plans are postpaid, which means you receive a bill for services you have already used.
Prepaid options have their own pros and cons. Not only is service frequently less expensive (even if it is with the same carrier you already have), you will also avoid a lot of taxes and fees that carriers frequently tack onto your bill.
Be prepared for the downsides, though. Customer service is generally worse with prepaid service, and if you forget to pay, your service can instantly drop. You will also be required to pay upfront for any phone you use. If you want to use one of the latest and greatest pieces of technology, you are going to have to pay a hefty price to get it.
There are some non-traditional carriers that offer excellent cost-saving options that may fit your needs. An example is Google Fi, which offers extremely low pricing (but limited data use). Again, you will find that customer service may be limited, as well as the kinds of phones you are able to use on the service.
Usually, several lines on the same plan are less expensive than lines on their own individual ones. Consider bundling up with friends or family in order to get the best per-line rate possible. Most major carriers make it easy for any end-user to make a payment through their own phone, so keeping the bill current is easy for everyone.
As you can imagine, this method also has drawbacks. Despite the fact that there are several people paying their own fair share, the account will still be under one person's name. If anyone in the group decides to stop contributing, that burden will ultimately fall on the account holder. If there is no installment for a phone on the line, canceling is simple, but if they disappear without paying off the phone, someone could get stuck with a bill of several hundred dollars they were not expecting.
There are plenty of ways to keep your cellphone bill low and save, regardless of what carrier you have. The most important thing is that you find a plan that not only fits your budget but also fits your specific needs.
