As of recent times, the market has become flooded with cellular providers and a variety of plans to choose from. Because there are so many, you may get overwhelmed by the options that you can choose from, and it can be hard to save money on your cell phone bill. Continue reading to see the list of 10 ways you can easily lower your cell phone bill.

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Purchase No-Contract Phones

Generally, cell phone companies make their money off contracts. To get a better deal on a new phone, simply sign up for a two year contract on their network. Hidden in that long-term deal is a ridiculous cancellation charge if you want to switch carriers before your term ends.

Instead, if you buy a more used, unlocked phone, there will be no binding contract that prevents you from choosing any carrier you want. Go online or ask around for older phones that you can get your hands on at a discounted price.

Negotiate a Better Price

When looking for a new phone, don’t think that you must pay the full price that’s on the sticker. Talk to a salesperson to see if you can get any of the fees waived. If you’re a long-time, loyal customer, you might be able to score a loyalty discount on your purchase. Or, ask your current provider to match a better offer from their competitor.

Sign Up for Automated Payments

Although not a huge money-savings tactic, we still recommend signing up for paperless billing and automatic payments. Besides saving you time, you’ll often score around $5 off your monthly bill.

Use WiFi When It’s Available

If you have access to it, stay on a WiFi connection. Going over your data limit could cost you as much as $15, so we recommend against downloading or streaming videos, music or podcasts, unless you’re connected to WiFi.

Limit Background Data

Even if you aren’t using your 4G data while your phone is in your pocket, your apps may still be using them in the background. To prevent this and to help you save money on data costs, go into Cellular Data Usage and Background App Refresh in your phone settings. Toggle off the ones you don’t need to have running behind the scenes.

Don’t Pay for Insurance

Although it sounds counterintuitive and worrying for some, this could help you save quite a bit of money over time. Instead of paying a certain amount per month, put that money aside into a piggy bank to save up for a new phone when the time comes to get a replacement.

Get a Corporate Discount

If your work offers employee discounts, take full advantage of them. Your company might even reimburse your phone bill if you use it for work purposes. Or, you could deduct some of your phone costs from taxes if you use your phone for a home business.

Take Out the Stuff You Don’t Use

Take a look at your phone bill closely and make sure you know what you aren’t using. This may seem like common sense, but you would be surprised to see the things that people never use such as leftover minutes, unlimited data, emergency roadside assistance, 411, enhanced voicemail, etc. You may even want to downgrade your plan if you feel like you don’t use these features that often.

Some carriers offer prepaid plans that let you pay for only what you use. Check them out to see if they would reduce your costs.

Consider Family Share Plans

By switching to a family share plan, you could be saving anywhere from $15 to $25 a month. If you live with one or more family members, sharing your data allowance is not as big of an issue when you use WiFi as much as possible.

Switch Carriers

If you have gone through all our tips and your bill still isn’t going down, then it might be time for you to switch carriers. Do your research and shop around to see who’s right for you. Don’t be afraid to go for a smaller carrier because they tend to share the same cellular towers as the larger providers so you will most likely still have service wherever you go.

Bottom Line

Lowering your phone bill every month or year can help save you a lot of money in the long run because it is part of your bigger budget. With the saved money, you can put those funds towards other things and bigger purchases. You can pay off debts or simply just save money for the future. For more posts like this, check out our list of ways to save money online.