Lowering Your Cell Phone Bill

Cell phone bills are scary-complex, with lots of different components that are changing all the time. There are new downloads and new data plans and new pricing plans coming out constantly, so unless you're doing an analysis every month on your bill, you don't know where you're overpaying.

What should you to look for when they are reviewing your cell phone bills?

Look and see what your overage charges are—whether they are accurate and whether there is a better, more cost-effective plan you could add that would absorb those overages. Make sure you're getting the use of your rollover minutes.

Check to see if you're eligible for discounts and make sure you review your cell phone call details. Are 40 percent of your calls to one or two numbers? Your carrier may offer free calling to selected numbers or a feature that can be added that allows for free calling to selected numbers.

And watch out for charges that are incurred because of unrequested features added to your lines.

What should you do if you see cell phone charges that you don't understand or you think you haven't authorized?

If you don't understand something, question it. Call the carrier and make them explain it.

If you're not communicating well with a representative, hang up and call back. You may have to call three times to get somebody who is experienced enough to know what I'm talking about.

Or you could end all of this hassle and sign up for a prepaid cell phone plan with unlimited talk, text and data and be rid of all these headaches. Even better get free cell phone service by getting 5 other friends to sign up for unlimited service.