When switching from my old Blackberry to a new Android, I ended up paying an extra $30 per month for my cell phone bill. I don’t really mind, because I love my Android. But hey, $30 is $30.
By following the tips listed below, you can easily save money on your Android bill starting today. These tips have helped me reduce my bill, and they can help reduce yours too – especially if you’re trying to limit data usage when traveling out of country:
5) Data compression apps
Data compression apps are a popular new way to reduce data usage on your mobile devices. Today, most data sent over mobile networks is not optimized for size. That means your phone is sucking up more bandwidth than it actually needs.
Data compression apps are an easy way to reduce your data usage without sacrificing any of your phone’s capabilities. Since data usage may be the most expensive part of your phone bill, data compression apps can save you a ton of money.
The most popular (and most effective) Android data compression app is called Onavo Extend. It promises to help users get up to five times more usage out of their Android data plan and save 80% when roaming.
4) Use free texting apps and free calling apps
More and more mobile users have started using ‘data only’ plans. Why? Because you can take care of all your texting and calling needs over the internet using one of hundreds of different texting and calling services. Skype, Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Twitter, TextMe, GroupMe, Viber, and BlackBerry Messenger (for Android) are just a few of the messaging services I can list off the top of my head. If you can find a data only plan and don’t mind giving up your phone number, then these plans are excellent. At the very least, you can reduce the amount of texting and calling included on your plan to the bare minimum and beef up the data to enjoy a lower overall phone bill.
3) Buy an off-contract phone
Off-contract phones cost hundreds of dollars. Why would they reduce your monthly bill? Well, off-contract phones and used phones allow users to sign up for prepaid phones while avoiding the high costs of monthly mobile bills. You can also pick and choose the exact cell phone plan you want instead of being locked into a plan that you don’t necessarily need. Check out this article to understand why off-contract phones can help you save $1000 or more over the course of a two year contract.
2) Call your service provider and ask for educational/corporate discounts
Cell service providers often have partnership agreements with schools, companies, and organizations to provide lower rates on all cell phone plans. However, since these plans aren’t loudly advertised, most people don’t take advantage of them outside of work. The truth is: you can enjoy discounted rates on your personal cell phone simply by signing up to a service provider’s website with a school/work email address
If your school gives you a ‘@blahblahblah.edu’ email address, then you may be able to enjoy savings of anywhere from 10% to 50%. It’s worth a shot. Same goes if you have a corporate email address from a large company. Service providers confirmed to have these discounts include AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
1) Buy an unlimited plan (or as close to it as possible)
Unlimited data plans are becoming a thing of the past. However, unlimited texting and calling plans are still easy to find. Most service providers offer unlimited calling and texting plans with a large amount of data (6GB or more) for between $80 and $100 per month. If your phone bill is regularly over $100 per month, then you should seriously look into the unlimited plans offered by your service provider.
