TruBill Savings Tips
Ten suggestions to help you save money on your cell phone and rate plan. For lots more advice, visit the
MyRatePlan Cell Phone Buying Guide.
- Buy from an independent retailer; not the carrier. You can save up to $200 on the price of a phone.
- If a rebate is involved, make sure you know the terms before you buy so you don't throw out something you need to redeem (e.g., bar code on the exterior of the box the phone comes in).
- Always buy slightly more minutes than you'll need, as overage is very expensive. In some cases just an hour of extra talking over and beyond your included minutes can double your bill.
- Choose a family plan for 2-5 members of a family; save 25% or more over buying the lines individually
- Choose pay-as-you-go for emergency use or if you won't sign a contract
- Get a bundle if you use data services such as text messaging.
- If you want to keep your number, sign up for the new service before canceling the old.
- All national carriers offer a minimum two-week trial period --- take advantage of it to make sure the service works where you need it.
- Taxes are unavoidable, but most are percentage based. Therefore, if you get the right rate plan, you will have minimized the taxes.
- Most plan benefits, other than free nights & weekends, have a trade-off. See the list below.
| Feature |
Trade-off |
| Free incoming calls |
Fewer anytime minutes included in rate plan (vs. other plans without this feature) |
| Free mobile-to-mobile |
Benefit limited to calling other subscribers of your carrier |
| Calling Circles |
Feature may only be available on higher priced plan, or plan may have fewer anytime minutes (vs. other plans without this feature) |
| Fair & Flexible Overage |
Block of minutes are added, so if you just exceed your anytime minutes overage can be costly. |
| Rollover |
Minutes expire after a certain period of time or if you make certain rate plan changes. |
| 7PM Nights & Weekends (as paid option) |
Only beneficial if you would otherwise exceed your plan.s anytime minutes. Otherwise, you are paying for nothing. |
| Free Long Distance |
Long distance minutes count as anytime minutes. If you exceed your anytime minutes because of these calls (and you could have made them from home), these "free" minutes can actually cost 40 cents each or more. |
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Remember to calculate your TruBill to make sure the plan you are considering is the best one for your calling patterns.
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