How To Save On Cell Phone Service

It seems like everywhere you look you see someone on their smartphone.  It’s turning into an epidemic.  People can’t go or do anything without their cell phone.  Cell phones and corresponding data plans that are a recent necessity for people aged 5-95 are, let’s face it, expensive!  I was recently researching new cell phone service because I was tired of paying $75 a month for our two phones on a family plan.  A lot of you are probably thinking that $75 a month for two phones sounds like a great deal, but it wasn’t good enough for me.  I knew that there had to be a cheaper alternative out there without compromising good service.  I searched through every major cell phone provider’s plans and created spreadsheets (I love spreadsheets).  I looked at their individual plans, their family plans, their pay-as-you go plans.  Nothing was cheap enough for me.  Then one afternoon I was talking to my parents about how expensive cell phones and wireless plans are and how I needed to find something cheaper when they suggested that I look outside the box.  They suggested that I look at companies that offer ONLY pay-as-you go plans.  I must admit, I was leery at first.  How good is the service?  How good are the phones?  Like many people, I immediately assumed that when you choose to go with a pay-as-you plan, then you will get stuck with an old fashioned, un-cool looking phone.  Hesitant as I was, I decided to do my own research on these types of plans.  I was shocked at what I found.  Not only were the plans exactly what I was looking for, but they had cool phones!  Below is the phone that we chose from www.net10.com.  At only $40 it has a ton of features we were looking for.

Net10 LG900 Prepaid Cell Phone

Before you make the switch, however, you need to do more research.  This research involves researching yourself.  How many minutes do you typically use in a month?  I would suggest getting an average of a few months since usage per month can vary.  Do you need a smartphone?  Or can you do with a phone that you can make calls on, text and occasionally go on the internet with?  Once you decide exactly what you need then it’s time to start looking at what you can get to fill your needs.  Pay-as-you go providers offer tons of options.  Prices range from approximately $15/month for 300 minutes to $50/month for unlimited talk/text/data.  Yes, you read that right; you can get unlimited/talk/text/data from a pay-as-you go provider for $50.  What’s better than that, you ask?  Well how about using all those unlimited minutes talking and surfing the web on a smartphone?  Yep, pay-as-you go providers offer smartphones, and pretty awesome ones too!  Another advantage of pay-as-you go plans is that they offer great service.  Many of them share towers with the big companies, so you get the exact same service for a fraction of the price.

In the end, my family was able to save about $45 a month ($540/year) by making the switch.  How much can you save?


Thanks for reading!