With cell phone service improving all the time, and a home phone service package at about $35 a month “out the door”, many people are saving money on phone service by getting rid of the home phone and just having a cell phone.
That’s a good plan for those focused on frugal living.
As long as you get good coverage with your cell phone while you’re at home, you could do the same and save about $26 a month.
That’s over $300 a year.
The trick to saving money with a cell phone is you have to avoid becoming a cell phone junkie.
Remember, the phone works for you, and you should decide when it is necessary to use it.
Excessive use of the cell phone can lead to overtime charges or the need for a more expensive monthly plan.
A good frugal living tip is to see if you can get along without that phone stuck in your ear.
We did long before cell phones were available, so we most likely can do it again.
When I needed a cell phone on a regular basis, I had a monthly service contract and held onto it for about 6 years.
Now, I don’t use a mobile phone very much, so I tossed the monthly contract and decided to get a prepaid cell phone plan that gives me cheap cell phone service.
My bill went from $36 a month to about $8.40 a month, and I don’t have any less coverage than I did before.
Better yet, I have no monthly bill, and I save money – over $330 a year.
This is one of the better frugal living tips I have implemented – it is a real money saver.
It’s also an example of making good use of marketplace alternatives.
My prepaid service is with T-mobile. You can get signed up at Sam’s Club. If you get 1,000 minutes, the minutes don’t expire for a year.
Near the end of the year, just remember to refill your account to 1,000 minutes or more and all the minutes are good for another year.
I purchased the cheapest phone they offered, and it works, but it is a little difficult to hear unless you cram it into your ear real good.
I think the flip phone for $20 more is probably a better value because you can capture the ear piece over your ear for better results.
With a T-mobile prepaid plan, it doesn’t matter if you are calling during the day, night, roaming or not, you pay the same rate for each minute you use.
For $100 you get 1,000 minutes. You can buy fewer minutes, but they cost a bit more per minute when purchased in smaller quantities.
If you are a cell phone junkie with a “blue tooth” thingy hanging on your ear, or you have to be on the phone regularly, then a monthly plan makes more sense.
Monthly plans often have nights and weekends with lots of minutes allowed, at no additional cost, and that amounts to nearly unlimited calling.
How about that!
Verizon probably has the best offering for true cell phone junkies.
The last I saw was a monthly fee of $99 for unlimited cell phone service. For cell phone junkies, this is the ticket.
Strap on your “blue tooth” thingy and get to gabbing.
But remember, the idea behind all the frugal living tips is to save money, so unless you need to be on the phone for business reasons, you are just making money for the cell phone company.
The point is to get cheap cell phone service and stay reasonably consistent with the overall objective of saving money.