I’m always amazed how many people think that the fact they are “only” spending $100 a month for cell phone service is a great deal. I’ll preface my comments by saying that if the cell phone is your home phone and/or you use your cell phone for business and emails quite often, then maybe you need a powerful do everything plan that costs something like that. On the other hand, I believe there are quite a few people who are paying far more for their cell phone service than they really would have to.
Cell phone companies are far from immune to the horrible downturn the economy has taken in the last few months, so there are clearly some special offers out there right now. Several of the major cell phone carriers are trying to offer special introductory rates to keep their subscribers on board in these tough times. Sprint is offering special plans for those who love to send text messages as well as those who typically receive incoming calls rather than calling out to others. T*Mobile is still offering the MyFaves plan that allows you to have unlimited minutes to 5 of your closest friends.
Are you paying for things that you could be getting cheaper? A prime example is text messaging services. Companies like Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, all offer plans that give you a certain amount of text messages for a reasonable amount monthly. The amazing thing to me is that there continue to be so many users who simply pay 20 or 25 cents for every text message sent and received.
I urge consumers to check their credit card bill and see if there is anything you could cut back on. Even if you are only paying $50 a month, if you could get a similar plan for $40 you could save yourself $120 in a year. Every little bit matters in today’s economy!
Aaron, good ideas about ways to save on wireless expenses, particularly in terms of figuring out the most economical plan given one’s usage. I wanted to write a follow-up post discussing a method that reduces the average consumer’s cell bill by 22 percent. Thousands of wireless subscribers are locating and eliminating unnecessary charges by having their cell bills analyzed through http://www.fixmycellbill.com by a company that I work for called Validas. When you upload your bill, you find out for free if you’re one of the eight in ten wireless customers paying more than you need to and, if so, by how much money your carrier is overcharging you. If you choose, Validas provides an additional highly detailed and personalized adjustment report that, for five bucks, is emailed to your wireless provider in industry specific format in order to implement Validas’s cash saving changes to your plan. If Validas can save you more than $5 on your bill (the average customer currently saves $482 annually through Validas), then this obviously provides a cost effective remedy for reducing cellular expenses.
Validas is becoming known as the preeminent advocate for the wireless consumer. Check out a feature about Validas on The Big Idea with CNBC’s Donny Deutsch at http://www.cnbc.com/id/22782456/. Validas has also been profiled in the New York Times and Business Week.
Happy holidays, and good luck to everyone on trimming down wireless expenses in this tough economy when every dollar put back in your pocket really counts.
Dylan