Most individuals and families are seeking ways to save. Certainly the monthly expense related to cell phone usage, whether for calling or text messaging, is a likely target for such efforts. With monthly charges between $40 and $80 for individuals and $140-$230  per month for families, it’s easy to see that squeezing some savings out of this could be a worthwhile endeavor.

Certainly curbing usage would be one option and finding online services that allow you to text for free are another. However, the key to really assuring that you spend no more than necessary on cell phone expenses is to know your usage and select the service and the plan that matches that usage. Taking the time to monitor your current usage and then comparing that to the available services is critical.

Limited Use
There are some people who use a cell phone on a very limited basis. Elderly people are one example. Some of these individuals no longer work and are a bit less active, therefore their calling is more limited. Other people may primarily want an emergency only phone, that is available only in exceptional circumstances. Some cellular providers offer more limited plans for seniors,  Verizon Wireless for instance. Jitterbug, is another senior friendly service that offers plans for people with lower call volume.  Of course another option for those with limited use are prepaid plans.

Prepaid Plans
Prepaid cell phone plans vary. Some are purely a pay-as-you-go option. These work well to keep you on budget. The per call price is high compared to a contract plan, but if you have limited usage it can still be the best option.  For instance if you make only 50 minutes of calls each month, a $49.99 plan with 500 minutes is still more expensive than calling at a 20 cent/minute rate on a prepaid plan which would result in a $10 charge for the month. This is of course, assuming that you don’t choose a prepaid phone with a per day charge just for access to the phone.

The other type of prepaid plan offers a set number of minutes for a predetermined price, just like the plans offered by traditional carriers such as Sprint and AT&T. Some of these plans are very competitive with traditional plans, especially if you are looking at an unlimited plan.  For example, Tracfone offers their StraightTalk unlimited calling and messaging for $45/month.

Unlimited Plans
Unlimited plans are very costly, unless of course you are a very heavy user of cellular services anyway. Shoppers however need to be very sure that they really need the unlimited quantity since in most cases they are committing to the high monthly fee for two years. There are, as mentioned above, some unlimited prepaid plans that don’t require the committment, but they aren’t the norm.

Text Only
For some users, text messaging may be the only feature they access except in very rare circumstances. Unfortunately most plans require that users pay for the voice calling minutes that are bundled into the plan anyway. However, in some instances, users are not required to purchase voice minutes they won’t use. Text only plans are available for the hearing impaired by most cellular providers. For the rest of us, there are a smattering of choices. For instance, Sprint offers a data only plan with several cell phone models. Virgin Mobile, a prepaid provider, offers their Texter’s Delight plan for unlimited texting at $19.99/month, while QWEST offers text messaging as their only service, starting as low as $9.99/month.