Tip #5 – Negotiate Your Cell Phone Plan
Welcome to day five of our roughly 10-day journey, where we are looking at 10 money-saving tips to help save $10,000! If you missed the introductory post of 10 Money-Savings Tips to Help You Stash $10,000 you’ll definitely want to check it out so we’re all on the same page.
But to sum it up – here’s our mission:
- The Goal: Save $10,000
- By When: This time next year
- How: By implementing 10 money-saving tips
For the next couple weeks we’re going to look at one money-saving tip each Monday through Thursday.
On Thursdays we’re going to look at a tip, but also hear Personal Finance bloggers’ and hopefully some readers’ ideas and experiences on how they’ve saved money!
If you’d like to be included in the Thursday posts – please let me know your best money-saving tip here! We’d love to hear your stories of what you did and how much money you saved by implementing your tip! If you’re a blogger and have posted about your money-saving tip, please include a link to your post!
Here’s what we’ve been through so far:
Tip #5: Negotiate Your Cell Phone Plan
According to J.D. Power and Associates, the average cell phone bill is about $63 a month, but with the rise of smart phones and iphones, the cost is going up! In fact, the article points out that those who use their phones for email, texting and downloading spend on average $14 more per month than those who don’t!
Many times, folks who sign up for a plan rarely review what they’re paying for and anaylyze their usage. It’s important to take a look at how many minutes you are using and what exactly is included in your plan.
These things can add up pretty fast, so what’s the best way to negotiate your way to a lower cell phone bill? It can take shape in a few different forms, so let’s take a look.
Check into Corporate Discounts
You’re probably well aware that many large companies sign contracts with cell phone providers at discounted rates. What you may not know is that many of those discounts are available to employees even if the company isn’t shelling out the dough for your phone.
In fact, my company offers discounts with the four main carriers and once I found out I called our cell provider immediately and asked for the corporate discount. That was good for a 16% break!
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Check into Bundling Discounts
If you have your internet, tv or even a land-line with another company, give them a call. Many times, these companies are willing to offer some bundling discounts to get more of your business.
Give your current cable or internet provider a call and let them know you’re shopping around for cell providers and ask them what kind of discounts they can offer you to get you to switch your plan.
Call to Negotiate Your Own Discount
This is the hardest one on the list because it takes determination, courage and talking to customer service! But it can be done. Just like most companies, it’s cheaper for cell companies to retain a customer than it is to acquire one – this works in your favor.
The Dollar Stretcher has a great post about optimizing your cell phone plan. I’ll reiterate some of their points here.
1. Do your research on other plans out there.
If you’re with Sprint (like I am) then spend a few minutes and check out what AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile offer for similar minutes. If they are comparable or better yet, cheaper, then you’ll want to make a good note of what they’v e got.
The best way to do this is through a site called Bill Shrink. All you do is enter the amount you currently pay for cell service and click enter and this site will let you shop different plans to evaluate the least expensive out there. It’s a very cool site.
2. Give your cell phone company a call.
Be nice when you call. You’ll get nowhere with an attitude! Politely let them know that you are shopping your plan and you’d like to know what they can do for you as a current customer.
For this to work, you must be willing to drop your carrier. More than likely, they’ll run through their plans and tell you there ins’t much they can do.
3. Ask to be transfered to the Retention Department
Again, you want to be truthful in this. I do not advocate lying to get a discount. But, if you are willing to drop your carrier, the Retention Department is where the authority is. They are the ones who can reduce costs and make things happen.
When you do get transferred, you’ll want to politely let them know that you’re trying to cut some costs and one of the ways you wanted to do that was by lowering your cell phone bill.
They’ll tell you that you need to drop your minutes. Let them know that if there’s nothing they can do that you’d like to cancel your contract.
If you’re willing to cancel your contract, this should work. If it doesn’t, then give one of the competitors a call and ask them what kind of deal they can give you. You should be able to save some cash doing these things.
Estimated Savings: $10-$25 per month
What has been your experience with getting a discount from your cell phone carrier?
Check Out All The Tips From Our Series
Tip #1: Cut Back on Going Out to Eat
Tip #2: Evaluate Your Entertainment
Tip #5: Negotiate Your Cell Phone Plan
Tip #6: Get Rid of Your Land Line
Tip #7: Slash Your Grocery Bill by Cutting Out Junk Food!
Tip #8: Use Coupons, For Everything!
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I am with sprint as well. A few years back they screwed something up major for me. I then learned all about how to talk to them and what their system is. Once I finally talked to the right department, they fixed the problem and then some. We pondered moving cell phone companies a year ago, so I called Sprint and asked some questions about doing that- and they reduced my bill.
I always say that the person who first answers your phone call has the least power. Retention departments (or account services at sprint) is fantastic at understanding your needs and matching a plan to it. I also advocate honesty- I hate lying!
.-= Ted @broketofree´s last blog ..The shame of debt =-.
In our drive to save money, we still have to consider quality! You have to be a bit careful with bundling packages. Sometimes companies that are strong with cellphones are weak with landlines, cable TV or internet. Bundle prices can mask this.
Also, by taking a bundle, you limit negotiating options with each component of the bundle, since in theory, in order to get the best price on any one of the services, you’d have to be prepared to walk. But leaving the bundle with one service might cause lost price advantages with the others.
Companies don’t offer bundles for nothing–they know the packages will help to keep us in line!
.-= Kevin@OutOfYourRut´s last blog ..How Much Money Can You Save by NOT Eating Out? =-.
Or you could go nuclear and go without a cell phone altogether. I canceled mine around 4 years ago… ahh, peace and quiet!
.-= Matt SF´s last blog ..Investor Psychology: Missing Out on Profits is More Frightening than Losing Money =-.
I actually had to upgrade my cell phone plan to save money. I was going over my minutes because I have no home phone. I actually saved money by increasing my plan.
Go Figure!
I just switched to AT&T from a small regional company. We will be saving approximately $40 per month and the service area is better.
Nice job Ted! It does work!!
And yes, honesty is definitely best policy.
Kevin, that’s a good point that you bring up. Bundling isn’t always best, and a lot of times having separate services creates more leverage to try to wheel and deal a better discount on a switch to their services. Definitely do a comparison to see what’s the best route!
Matt, I honestly don’t know how you go without a cell phone, but hey – the idea does sound pretty good! Nice job with making it work!!
Lakita – ha, ha, yeah the cell companies rake you over the coals for overage minutes. That’s why a regular review of minutes used and plan is good – keep you up to speed on what fits you the best!
Donna! Great job saving some cash! $40 per month is a GREAT savings!!
Good post!
My wife and I dropped our landlines many, many years ago. But our cell phone plan is kinda crazy. We have a family plan which includes my parents, my wife’s parents and my wife’s grandma… add ours and we got six lines at 800 minutes at around $120 a month. It’s high for me, but that averages to about $20 a phone and provides the gramps time to talk with the grandkids and I see it as a gift to them.
Any ideas of a better way to maximize family time + savings + mobility?
We did get a Skype account and paid $3/month for unlimited monthly calls in the U.S./Canada but decided cell phone is enough for now.
Negotiate your cell phone plan sounds like a lot of work. I used to pay for an unlimited plan b/c I don’ want to have to think about keeping tabs on my phone usage and thought I was getting a pretty good deal paying $40/month for unlmited. But after getting laid off from my job and having to re-evaluate all my expenses, I was actually paying too much since I rarely go over 150 min. per month and was basically just paying for convenience and peace of mind. I switched to Net10, bought a basic phone for $30 and am only paying about $15/month. It’s a great deal b/c when you think about it, with 300 free min. and 60 days of service upon activation, my phone is free and get this, the minutes roll over!
Meredith, great point – it does sound like a lot of work and it often is, but as in your case, there was some huge potential savings there! Doing a little homework up front will pay dividends down the road. Thanks for checkin’ in!
I know this is not profound, but here’s the best tip: get rid of your contract cell phone! quite a few prepaid providers are offering phenomenal deals so to keep paying the outrageous postpaid prices just does not make sense. NET10 is one of the most affordable prepaids out there, particularly if you’re alight to moderate user. For just $15 a month you get about 150 minutes. Awesome deal!! specially if you’re not into all the fancy, unnecessary apps and options. At 10 cents a minute and 5 cents a text, NET10 is the best way to go. check out their website or look for them at WalMart!
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