If there’s one item you probably have with you most of the time, it’s your cell phone. With most people getting rid of their home phones relying exclusively on cell phones, it makes sense that this is an item that you depend on to stay contact and connected with the world. If the thought of leaving the house without your cell phone leaves you feeling anxious, the chances are your phone is one of your most-prized possessions. Owning a smartphone is non-negotiable for many people. However, there’s no doubt that cell phones can quickly become one of your biggest monthly outgoings. If you’ve noticed that the cost of having a cell phone seems to be rapidly rising, you may want to take steps to tackle this before it becomes unaffordable. Here are some of the ways you can reduce the cost of having a cell phone:
Understand Your Plan
Signing up for a cell phone contract can sometimes feel confusing. You may find yourself inundated with information, and this can make it hard to understand precisely what you need to pay each month. Before you commit to a cell phone contract, it’s always essential that you fully understand what is included in the plan, if there are extras that you will need to pay for, and how much you will be billed for each month.
Misunderstandings around your cell phone contract can be super expensive. Not knowing how much you’re going to be charged and which extras are included in your plan can cause you a nasty surprise when your bill is sent to you. To avoid this, it’s crucial to double-check if you’re not sure of anything. It may be boring, but taking the time to read the small print on the contract is also essential to help you spot any potentially expensive issues you need to be aware of.
Think About Your Usage
Thinking about how often you use your cell phone and what you use it for is essential when you’re choosing a mobile phone plan. However, it’s so easy to focus more on the model of phone that you want to get, and to think less about the cost of the monthly plan. Failing to think about your phone use can leave you stuck with a plan that costs you more than it should. Worse still, if you choose a plan that doesn’t provide you with enough minutes and data for your needs, you could find that you get an unexpectedly high bill that costs way more than your basic plan price each month.
Taking a bit of time to look at your current usage and what you use your phone for the most will help you to pick the most suitable plan for your needs. Simply look back over your usage in recent months to see how much data you typically use and how much time you spend making calls. Having this information to hand will make it easy for you to understand your exact requirements and avoid paying for a data or call allowance that you won’t use.
Protect Your Phone
No one wants to pay more than they need to when using their phone. So, understanding your plan and how many free calls and messages, and how much data you actually need is essential. This is an excellent way to keep your monthly costs lower. However, one crucial way to reduce the cost of owning a cell phone is to avoid excessive one-off costs.
The price of repairing a damaged cell phone, or replacing it entirely if it’s irreparable, can be huge. You could end up spending many hundreds of dollars to fix or replace a damaged phone, and that’s going to weight heavily on the cost of phone ownership. The best way to avoid these nasty surprises is to protect your phone from damage in the first place.
Choosing a high-quality phone case for your cell phone can provide it with the protection it needs to avoid being broken or accidentally damaged. Picking a phone case in a design you love is also a great way to personalize your phone as well as protect it.
Don’t Always Buy New
Getting a shiny new phone that’s packed with all the latest tech is exciting. However, it’s worth considering whether you really need all those features, and whether they’re actually worth paying for. Buying a new phone on the day or even month it’s released is often going to cause you to spend a lot more than you need to. Either waiting a little while for the buzz around the latest model to die down and for it to become more affordable, or waiting to buy it preloved, can save you lots of money.
Buying a phone as soon as it’s released may mean you can access the latest tech faster. But it’s crucial to evaluate what new features the phone really has and whether or not it really is worth increasing your monthly costs to get your hands on them.
Research Before You Renew
One final thing you can do to keep the cost of your cell phone manageable is to carry out plenty of research rather than simply letting your contract automatically renew. Make sure that you’re clear about when your existing plan comes to an end, and how much you are currently paying each month. Then take time to look around and compare different plans before yours runs out.
Check what’s included in your plan and whether it’s really offering you good value for money compared with what you get. Then, take a look at other network providers to see which deals they have available. Switching providers can often help you to make big savings and to benefit from new customer discounts.
Final Thoughts
Having a cell phone is essential to navigate modern life. However, that doesn’t mean paying more than you need to. You can shop around for the best deals and protect your existing phone to make big savings.
