A few years ago, I was working quite a bit on the road, and I was managing a few employees. This meant that I was talking a lot on my cell phone. It wasn't uncommon for me to have a $200-300 monthly cell phone bill. Now, I barely spend $30 a year on my cell phone bill. How did I do this? Read on to find out more.
Cell phone use can be addictive. It's easy to spend hours a week on these things, without really noticing it. It's only after the fact, when you get your monthly bill, that you realize how much you have used it. Some professions demand cell phones, and it's not always possible to stop using a cell phone completely. Also, cell phones are great to have around in an emergency or when you're not at home and you want someone to reach you.
In my previous work in finance, I needed to be reachable by clients and employees, as well as my bosses from 8AM to 10PM, especially when I was traveling. In comparison, since 2006, I've spent at the most $100/year on my cell phone bill. Right now, for 2009-2010, I spent $30 and see no reason why I should spend more on it.
The first way tot cut down on your monthly bill is to use text messaging. Yes, it's not easy to use at the beginning, but it costs pennies and it's very effective. Just ask your teenager. The next way is that I got rid of my smartphone and purchased a simple SonyEricsson Cybershot that took decent photos. Instead of sending the photos directly to my blog, I simply connect my phone to my computer and upload them. Takes a little bit longer, bu saves money in the long run since I am not charged for data services. While I do like checking my email and the news, I find that if I check my email a few times a day, it's often enough. I don't need to know immediately when someone sends me an email, even if it's the best way to reach me. Since I use Merlin Mann's Inbox Zero system, my inbox is always empty and people always comment on how prompt and immediate I am with my responses. There are also times when being unreachable is really nice. When I'm out for dinner with my wife, I don't want to be disturbed, so I don't have my cell phone. The same goes when I am out on the bike.
When I need to do some work, I just lug my 13.3-inch laptop with me. It gets the job done, and it isn't too heavy. It's also a lot easier to email and work on it than on a small smartphone screen. Another way of significantly cutting down on costs is by simply switching off your cell phone for some time. I find it liberating. In fact, as an experiment, I had turned off my cell phone for a few months earlier this year and the world didn't end.
Lastly, if you really want to save a whole lot on your cell phone bill, you need to switch to a Pay-As-You-Go plan. When you've spent a set amount of money, your phone stops working. It's a great indicator to tell you how quickly you will spend money talking on your phone. This is harder to do when you operate on a monthly phone plan.
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Comments (12)
other ways to cut your bill without really cutting any of the perks is to take advantage to every discount you can. If you aren't getting a corporate discount, see if there is one available, if there are any promos going, sign up for them.
In January i was able to add a corporate discount I wasn't using to take 25% off of my bill as well as take advantage of a promo if i resigned my contract for 2 years i would get $20 off every month for the next 2 years...
Add in, just asking if they can do things. I wanted to know if i could cut my cost on texting down, i was paying $5 a month on 2 phones for 300 texts (we don't text a lot) and the CSR said they he could do $1 for 500 texts with another promo that didn't expire...
I went from $95 a month for 2 phones to $32... adds up pretty fast.
As a note on the article itself, are 5 photos of random phones really necessary? Or at least add some interest to the photos, up close, different angles, not just sitting on a desktop, etc. Also, you may want to work with adjusting the white balance on your camera, in your computer, or both.
Some good advice in here. Sounds like the biggest savings, however, was just not talking on it so much.
I have a smart phone and a family plan with another phone on it, and I don't come anywhere close to $400/month (also, why does the title say $400/month and the article say $200-300/month?), so most of your cost, I would guess, was coming from your minutes.
Like I said, I like this advice, but I like it more in a "simplify your life" way than a "save yourself some money" way...
So basically the way to cut your phone bill is to stop using your phone so much and to carry 3 devices instead of the one. This works, but I think the reason we get smart phones is to avoid lugging around all the extras. $400/month is way too much for sure, but is it typical? My phone bill with unlimited data is closer to $70/month. True, that's a lot more than $30/a year, but I didn't have to buy an extra computer (and laptop bag) and camera to augment it.
Not sure how you can spend only $30 per year on cell service. Are you sure you don't mean $30 per month?
ayz - roaming adds up *extremely* fast.
I can't put my finger on exactly why, but this was not a very good posting. I am just going to put that out there.
@nboxwell
does the addition of photoshopped money help it for you?
In reading this post, it kind of felt like some really boring but pushy person was sitting across from me at a table listing off all the things they did with their phone and explaining why it works for their very particular situation, and I listened to it anyway for their benefit and not mine. The term "Well duh!" popped into my head a couple of times as well.
The pictures are something else.
@oneisco - still, $400 a month in roaming charges? time for a new wireless plan...
An option a lot of people do not seem to know about is the Peek. It is all the text messaging and email you would like to do for $15/month (or you can buy lifetime service with the device at Amazon). http://www.getpeek.com
Anyone have suggestions on a site that will analyze my bills and tell me which is the best plan? I'm paying for monthly service that I don't need, but AT&T keeps telling me that my plan is so good that if I leave it, I'll never get this kind of deal again. I do agree that it's cheap compared to similiarly featured plans I could sign up for, but I don't need all the freakin' minutes I've got and would prefer to downsize. Any help would be appreciated.
I'm in NY and I have metro PCs and I pay $47 a month for unlimited and 30 cents a text witch I don't do much.