Tips to Reduce Your Cell Phone Bills in Easy Steps

The fact that mobile phone bills are out-of-this-world expensive is no secret. J.D, Power estimates that the average monthly bill would set you back $157.1 It might just be the next priciest item in your entire budget after your monthly housing, food, and energy costs.

But are there real ways that you can have a lower bill for mobile phones? There are a million different cellular providers surrounding us, and there are too many plans to count. When you continue to look over all the ways to save money on your bill, it can be daunting. But guess what... Saving money is possible!

Try these tricks to get a lower cell phone bill if you're tired of spending a small fortune every month just to make calls.

Use Wi-Fi when you can

Whenever it's possible, try to stay on a Wi-Fi connection, particularly at home or work. And if you have no access to Wi-Fi while you're on the go, be smart about it! If you are on Wi-Fi, do not download or stream any videos, podcasts, or songs.

It can add up quickly to those fees for using so much data, and some mobile and internet providers charge you as much as $15 the moment you go over. By only using cellular data (4G/LTE) when you need it, make sure you remain within your monthly limit. When you're getting close to your cap, some carriers will give you a warning.

Take advantage of the employee discount

Whether your employer offers team members a general corporate discount is another thing to ascertain. Seeing if they compensate you for using your phone for work is also worth a shot (email, calls, etc.). And if you're using your phone for a home business or side hustle, when tax time rolls around, you may be able to write off some of your bills.

Buy No-contract phones

Companies with mobile phones know how to make money-lots and lots of money. One way that they do that is through agreements. You'll typically have to sign a two-year or even three-year deal to use their network in order to buy a phone from them. And then, if you want to switch carriers, they'll hit you with a ludicrous cancellation fee.

Don't make a phone payment plan

One of the best ways to get a lower cell phone bill is this:. Steer clear of rolling the expense into your wireless bill for a brand-new handset. You'd only make payments on a new phone (yes, it counts as debt) while your phone bill rises even more.

Let's say there's a new iPhone you want to purchase. We all know it's not cheap. Additionally, your cellular service provider offers it to you for a reasonable monthly fee of $30 for two years. That means that for two years, the whole phone bill will be $30 higher than it needs to be! Wouldn't you rather have to put an additional 30 bucks into your money goals?

And what happens if you lose or break the phone? You will need a new phone. But the outstanding amount left over from the old phone will still have to be paid off.

Related: How to Choose The Best Phone Plan?

Limit Background Data Usage

Even if, when you're out and about, you don't use the internet, your apps might still use it in the background.

Go into your settings and look at each app's Cellular Data Use and Background App Refresh, and turn off the ones you just don't use. Having this quick flip means that when you are minding your own business, you will know they are not running in the background and draining your data (and your battery).

Electronic payments or paperless billing

With very little effort, here's one way to lower your cell phone bill:. This is actually not going to save you an immense amount of money. But if you could save $5 a month just to go paperless or get your bill removed from your account automatically, why wouldn't you?

Ask for a cheaper price

Do not just say you have to pay the sticker price when you're on the market for a new handset. Go to the store and speak to a salesperson to see if the activation or update fee can be waived. Be sure to bring that up to see whether you can score a loyalty deal if you've been a customer for a long time.

Switch Phone Carriers

So, you've tried all the others. Finally, we saved the best: it's time to change your service provider! For the price that suits your budget, shop around and see who can give you what you need. At one of the smaller, lesser-known carriers, you'll probably discover a better price. Most of them have some link to the "big guys" and somehow use their cell towers for your phone signal. So you're still going to get pretty decent coverage, chances are, but at a fraction of the cost.

What your budget wants is a Lower Cell Phone Bill

The numbers are all about your budget. If you have a lower cell phone bill and it becomes a smaller part of your budget, every month you can have more cash on hand to achieve your goals, whether it's throwing more at your mortgage or planning for your future.