This is the latest in our series of how to reduce your cell phone bill.

Do you call internationally (from the U.S.) on your cell phone?  If you are using your cell phone provider for international long distance, you probably have run up some pretty significant bills.  For example, calling France on AT&T is $1.49 per minute, while it is $3.49 a minute to India.  One way to cut these costs is to see if your carrier has a monthly feature that offers reduced rates.  AT&T has “World Connect” which, for $3.99/month, shaves quite a bit off these rates.   Similarly priced programs are available with Verizon and Sprint.  T-Mobile is $5/month.

To save even more, try a carrier bypass service.   We work with a company called Enjoy Prepaid that has made the process rather simple.    Basically, you purchase a calling card with some value on it (e.g., $20) and register it.   Since it is registered, you won’t need to dial a PIN.  There’s an access number you call, but that can be set up as a speed dial on your phone, meaning you only need to dial the phone number… just as if you were dialing directly.    Call a landline in France or India for just a couple pennies a minute.  (Calls to cell phones in foreign countries, whether with a calling card or directly with your carrier are usually at higher rates.)

If you want to try out Enjoy Prepaid or just check out the rates to where you call, click here.   Use coupon code FRW15-943201586 by July 4 for 10% off your order.

A few other things to keep in mind as you consider your international long distance options

1. Even if you make just one 3 minute international call a month, you’ll be better off with either of the two options above
2. Enjoy Prepaid (and similar prepaid programs) are generally cheaper than even the discounted carrier rates.  However, you should compare rates for the places you call the most.  Make sure you compare the cost to both landline and wireless calls in those countries.
3. The carrier wireless program fees are charged monthly, so if you don’t plan on making international calls for a while, remember to have the plan changed on your account or you’ll pay a monthly fee for no reason
4. Enjoy Prepaid offers a number of different card programs.  The lowest rates tend to round calls up by a couple minutes and may have a small weekly fee.    In general, if you make short phone calls or make international calls infrequently, you should opt for the card with the least rounding and no fees.  The longer your calls, and the more frequent, the more beneficial it will be to take the lower per minute rates.

Let MyRatePlan pay your activation fee!    For a limited time, MyRatePlan will rebate $36 for a qualifying single line plan or $72 for a qualifying family plan that is purchased via the site.  Since most carriers charge about $35 per line, this will offset the activation cost for up to two lines.   See rebate form for full terms, conditions and restrictions.

Use our rate plan or phone finder to find the best deal for your needs, and then save an additional $36 or $72 in this exclusive MyRatePlan offer.  Hurry, offer ends May 15.

If you’ve flown in the past year or two, you know that the airlines have made flying an a la carte ordeal, charging fees for almost everything.    Checking bags, pillows, blankets, snacks are all things that now cost money on different airlines.  One airline is even making passengers chip in to pay for the crew.   Okay, I made that up, but it is true that one airline is going to start charging a fee to buy a ticket.    Hmmm… charging me for the privilege of buying something from you.  Yeah, I think I’ll pass on that.

In any event, a new feature in the booking engine at Trip Advisor is attempting to add some clarity to all these fees.   If you use their fees estimator, which is a button that shows up on the results page after you enter the basics about your flight (route, dates).   If you click the button, a pop up asks you what services you will need and will then adjust the ticket price on each airline to give you a better understanding of where the best bottom line value is.

For those looking to find the lowest overall price for their next trip (and who isn’t), this tool might be worth a look.

By the way, if you ever need to track a flight, try the MyRatePlan Flight Tracker.

For those who qualify and who only need a cell phone for emergency situations, you may be able to get a cell  phone and monthly allowance of minutes for free.   A company called SafeLink Wireless is offering this in several states and it will soon expand to others.  (Check their website for availability in your location).

SafeLink (owned by the same people that market TracFone), is made possible by a government program (funded by the Universal Service Fees you see on most phone bills) that provides lower income households with discounts to make telecom service more affordable.

SafeLink’s website says the program provides a free cell phone and a number of free minutes each month, that varies by state.   We sampled a few Zip Codes, and usually found that they provide a little over an hour of free talk time each month.   It appears that if you stay within that allocation of minutes, there are no charges whatsoever.   For those wanting to talk more, TracFone airtime cards can be purchased and used.

UPDATE 10/27/09:  For those interested in this service, click the link for Safelink Wireless. That is the best place to see if you qualify and/or if this service is available where you live.

This is the first of a series.   There’s no shortage of advice out there telling us how to save money.  However, much of it is along the lines of “give up your latte” or “don’t go out to eat”.  Great, I’m already depressed enough about the economy and now they want me to drink nasty coffee.

We decided to come up with a different list.  Ways to save money without having to change your lifestyle.   These are better ways to spend your money or equivalent products that are cheaper.   The goal:    To have the things you have today, only to spend less to have them.

Rental Cars:    Use the ‘opaque pricing’ option on Priceline or Hotwire.

Yes, you can use these services for airfare and hotels and you can save plenty of money that way as well.   However, there is one big difference with cars that fits with our theme for this series.    When you book airfare or hotels through these sites, you give up some control.   For example, you may have to fly at an inconvenient time or change planes.  Or, a hotel might be in a different part of the city than you want.   You won’t know the specifics until after you make a non-refundable commitment.   However, those risks are minimal with rental cars.   Whether you get assigned to Budget or Avis, Hertz or some other major provider, you’ll be picking your car up in roughly the same place and the class of car you pick (e.g., compact) will get you essentially the same car from one provider to another.    So, unlike airfare or hotel, there really is no trade-off when using Priceline or Hotwire —-  just savings of 10-30% or more.