I have to admit, I’m a Downton Abbey Fan. Besides the dramatic storylines and interesting costumes, I love looking at the historical contraptions. The bells they use to call different servants, the old cars, ornate telephones. In a recent season one of the servants tried out a new-fangled contraption called a toaster. It’s such a simple item. It was amazing to think of it as a new-fangled anything. Turns out it was invented in Scotland in 1893.
And the new-fangled contraptions just keep coming. We now carry cell phones that can measure your heart rate, drive cars that I hear will someday drive themselves, and can access encyclopedias of information on the internet.
I love the progress. What I’m not a big fan of is the ongoing monthly costs of all the technology that can eat into an otherwise well managed wallet. One of the questions I get frequently from clients is, “How can I decrease my monthly expenses?”
I’ve asked myself the same question and recently our family cell phone bill became my main target. We did a lot of research and made some changes. We now pay a third of what we paid before and love our new service. I learned a lot in this process and want to give you a quick primer on how to approach your own cell phone bill if it’s eating up too much of your budget.
- Do your research. Ask friends and family. Learn what you can in articles or on the internet. PC Magazine or Consumer Reports are two places to start.
- Call your current provider and ask for discounts. Let them know you’re serious about moving. Call competitors and get the best deal you can.
- Consider alternate service providers. There are now companies called Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO’s) that buy minutes from larger carriers and resell them to customers for low prices. You can save a lot with these companies. Be sure to find out about their customer service and know that you may need to buy a new phone to use them. Many of these offer the freedom of no 2 year service contract. They also tend to charge you for what you use instead of a large package that may not fit you.
- Be ready to spend time going through this process but know that in the end you should end up either convinced to stay with your current service or happily trying a new service. Either way, you may be able to save a significant amount of money and get what you need for your cell phone service.
If you’ve had a good or bad experience cutting cell phone service costs, let me know your experience. The next bill in my cross-hairs is what we pay for television. Next month I hope to update you on our budget-saving moves there too.
Kristin Rodriguez