Have you ever looked at your phone bill and thought to yourself, "Wow, that was
cheap!" If you have good for you, but then there's the rest of us.
But don't despair: you can save money on your cell phone bill without making major changes. Simple changes can reduce your bill, resulting in significant savings over time.
1. Choose autopay as a payment option.
If you sign up for automatic payments, most wireless providers can deduct $5 to $10 from your bill. T-Mobile for example offers a $5 discount per line, so opting for autopay could save a family of four $20 on their monthly bill. You can't use a credit card for automatic payments with some carriers, including Verizon, and must either connect a checking account or debit card.
2. Make the switch to prepaid.
Switching to a prepaid carrier will help you save money on your monthly cell phone bill. Consider the following examples:
Cricket Wireless' 5GB plan costs $40 a month until autopay discounts. AT&T, which owns Cricket, offers the cheapest post pay contract, which is 3GB for $60 a month before autopay discounts.
Boost Mobile charges $100 a month for four lines of unrestricted bandwidth, but Sprint's parent company charges $160 per month (before discounts).
For $40 a month, Verizon customers can get 6GB of prepaid data or $55 per month for 2GB of postpaid data.
Google Fi offers a pay as you go option where you are only paying $10 per GB used while an unlimited plan costs $80+ depending on which plan you choose.
3. Your Current phone is fine, you don't need to upgrade
While your smartphone is designed to last for more than two years, the majority of people upgrade after just 24 months. This locks you into another 18 to 24 months of payments for the new phone, increasing your monthly bill by $20 to $40 per line. And if you keep your mobile for a year after you've paid it off, you'll save hundreds of dollars. But, if you just need to replace your cell, wait until it's time to do so. Then, for still more savings, try purchasing a used mobile phone.
4. Modify or cancel your mobile phone insurance policy.
Most mobile phone companies sell a number of different insurance policies. Extended warranties, insurance, and full-fledged 24/7 tech support for any Bluetooth-enabled gadget in your home, plus more are all options.
In the vast majority of cases, standard insurance is appropriate. It safeguards you in the event that your phone is missing, stolen, or broken. It's also the most cost-effective alternative offered by your wireless provider.
You can save a few bucks per month by switching from a premium protection plan to basic insurance coverage. You'll save $80 to $180 a year if you choose to skip out on having insurance at all, depending on the carrier and current protection package.
If you have a brand-new phone, dropping insurance can be dangerous, but for older phones, it may make sense. This is due to fact that deductibles for major cell phone carriers normally range from $100 to $300.
5. Take advantage of bargains
Students, government employees, current and retired military personnel, and some company employees may be eligible for a mobile phone service discount. The simplest way to find out is to contact your carrier or visit a shop. To keep your discount active, you may need to check your status — for example, with an email address or a pay stub.
6. Split the bill
This may seem counterintuitive, since adding one or more lines to your bill would raise your bill. However, sharing the cost with others will help you save money. This is how it works out:
The Unlimited Starter plan from AT&T costs $65 a month for one line (after autopay discounts, before taxes and fees). However, if you have four lines on the same contract, each line costs $35.
The cost of one line on Verizon's 8GB plan is $90, but if you share the plan with four lines, the cost decreases to $37.50 per line before taxes, fees, and equipment charges.
The Simply Unlimited Plan by Google Fi is $60 per person if only one person is on the account, however it drops to $30 per person if 3 or more people on the account.
7. Give your cell provider a call
Sometimes you can lower you bill just by calling them and asking if they have any promotions or discounts you can take advantage of. It might help to look around at other companies prices and let them know that you're considering switching and that company XYZ is offering the same coverage for this much lower per month. Additionally if you don't feel comfortable haggling a lower rate on your own there are services out there that will handle the haggling for you using Chat Bots. Companies like Billshark, Truebill, LowerMy Bills, Cushion and others will negotiate your bills for you, just be aware that they will usually want to take part of the savings and charge you upon successfully lowering your bills so I recommend doing the talking yourself if you can.