Cell phone plans have become a mysterious contract of crazy numbers and odd legal lingo. You want the latest and greatest cell phone, but you want to keep those service fees from hitting the stratosphere. Here are five tips to help you with this feat.
1. Bundle up the family
When you go to buy little missy her first cell phone, consider putting that phone on your existing plan. There are a large number of carriers that now offer family plan pricing plans. These plans are usually a very cheap way to add on more lines of service without adding on the need for a second job to pay for that service.
2. Look at usage on a monthly basis
The best thing you can do with any cell phone plan is look at your usage. You may only use 100 minutes of talk time every month. Why are you paying for 1000 minutes of time? Determining how you, and your family, use your cell phone will give you more bargaining power when you sign that new cell phone contract.
3. Don’t buy the latest and greatest every year
Buying a new cell phone can be very expensive. New smartphones pack on as much technology as they can. This comes with a price though. There is yet an even bigger hidden cost to buying that sleek new iPhone.
The reason cell phone providers are willing to take a hit on selling you that new phone you want is that they will extend your contract life. This means you not only shell out more money for a new phone, but you get locked into your contract for longer periods.
Even worse is that when you upgrade every year, you might not even realize how much your cell phone plan has changed from year to year. Signing a new contract every year means you agree to pay higher service fees for the same service you had yesterday.
4. Don’t break that contract
New cell phones come out on an almost weekly basis. These phones may look awesome and get your gadget geekery running in full force. The problem is that the sweet phone your excited for is on a competitors wireless network.
Don’t go breaking that contract just for a phone. Contract breaking has become an outlandishly expensive ordeal. Almost all cell phone providers now have early termination fees well over $300. This fee is added on top of what you owe for your normal service charge. You could spend this money on new toys rather than filling CEO pockets.
5. Pay as you go is a good cheap alternative
There are cell phones that come with no contract. This might sound like you have to go with some no name service provide though. Did you know almost all major cell phone providers offer a pay as you go option.
This option is perfect for those people who use very few minutes, or use texting as their primary means of communication. Many pay as you go plans are under $50 per month. Don’t rule out these options as you evaluate your phoning needs.
Your cell phone plan doesn’t need to be a bank breaking expense. Evaluating what you will need the most from a cell phone plan is the key to keeping those monthly service fees at bay.
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