How to save money on your family's wireless bill
Paying less is a battle, heres how to win.
3. Threaten to storm out dramatically
It's not what you say; its how you say it. Call up your wireless provider when you have unlimited minutes because you'll probably be on hold a long time. Ask them for ways to save money on your bill, but make sure you ask forcefully. That means phrasing it like, "I can't afford this plan anymore. I'm going to have to switch to a different company if I can't lower my bill." Customer service agents get evaluated on "saving" customers; so putting it this way motivates the person on the other end to help you.
4. Make your boss work for you for a change
All the major carriers have big discounts for certain organizations, businesses and colleges. If you, your spouse or your kids have an email address at one of these preferred places, you will cut you bill without making any changes at all. Find out for yourself at the Sprint, Verizon or AT&T corporate discount pages.
5. Drop your data plan-seriously
This may be the hardest piece of advice because you have to get the family on board. However, try it for a month before you commit. Offload your surfing to your home ISP, and try getting by using 1GB of data on your phone instead of the unlimited plan. Depending on your carrier, you could save $55 or so every month. Present it to them this way-$660 per year in savings will buy your family a lot of rewards for good behavior.
6. Think the unthinkable
Yes, it has to be said: prepaid. The old stigmas about prepaid carriers don't apply anymore. In fact, prepaid carriers like Virgin and Boost have all the same phones as the big boys now. Worried about coverage? Check out a side by side comparison at sites like TopTenReviews. The designer clothes you'll be able to buy will help ease the pain of switching.
There are lots of other suggestions that you have probably already thought of by now, like ditching the $4/month horoscope texts or the insurance. Once you start looking at your monthly bill as a leaky hole that needs to be plugged, you will start seeing ways to save money on your cable or electric bill as well. Whatever you do, don't cut out rewarding yourself for doing good things. That is the best return on investment of all the money you spend each month.