6 Clever Ways to Immediately Lower Your Cell Phone Bill

With costs rising all around, it is natural (and smart) to take a look at your budget and find things that you can cut down or out. All of your usual expenses can be put on the block for evaluation. And your cell phone bill is no exception. With society relying more and more on their cell phones and data, it seems that coverage keeps getting more and more expensive. You can thank supply and demand for that. Most of us are in no position to cut out our cell phones completely. While you may feel locked into having a cell phone, there may be some considerations to combat the rising costs. Here are 6 ways to potentially lower your cell phone bills and create more room in that budget:

Avoid Financing

Opt not to finance your phone and consider buying an older model phone. Build a small savings line into your budget to plan ahead for a phone purchase. Don’t worry about having the latest model of phone. It’s a small sacrifice for having more financial security. The thirty dollars a month or more on your bills towards your phone may not feel like a big number, but over the course of a year it adds up. At thirty dollars it comes out to $360- year after year, after year. Over the course of 20 years, with compounded interest at a modest rate, you could be missing out on almost $18,000 on cell phone purchases alone. I don’t know about you but I can think of a lot better things to do with that money than upgrading to the latest phone year after year.

Data Plan

Buy a smaller data plan and hook into the wifi at home and any safe, familiar networks you can while out and about. Smaller data plans are cheaper and you usually don’t need as much data as you purchase. Stream content at home on your wifi. Preload podcasts at home before going out. Go to your settings and set your apps to not refresh automatically. This can be a huge drain on your data. Be a careful consumer of data and watch your need for data (and your bill) shrink.

Shop Around

Shop around for service. Talk to people in your area about what service they have and how reliable the coverage is. Check coverage maps on service provider websites. Keep an eye out for deals that will reduce your bill and still offer the service you need.

Avoid Contracts

Look into non-contract or prepaid providers such as Consumer Cellular or Republic wireless. There are a ton of companies out there and some use the same networks as the big names in wireless (Verizon, t-mobile, etc.). This can be a great option to simplify your life and save some money.

Find Discounts

Look into company discounts. You may be surprised at how many companies can already qualify for discounts through your provider. The savings can be pretty steep at the 20% mark give or take. Providers may have different qualification verification, but some are as simple as providing a work email to recoup some of your hard earned cash.

Family Plan

Take advantage of family plans. Even if you are single you may be able to find a good friend or family member that would like to share a plan to reap the benefits of family rates as well. This could result in even more savings.

Remember, like anything, the small amounts add up and count. The savings are especially impactful when it comes to expenses that recur regularly. When you start getting your expenses down on your regular bills, you will start buying yourself more financial freedom. And who couldn’t use a little more of that!