The best way to lower you cell phone bill, I found, was to actually analyze your monthly bill and determine if you are paying too much for service you aren't using. I did just that when my bill was over $100 and I decided to switch to a prepaid company that offered me more control - Net10 was who I settled on and it has worked out very well. Net10 phones (super affordable) and minutes are easily found at Target or Best Buy and a few other retailers and the activation process is a snap. Their "easy minutes" or pay as you go minutes cards are huge money savers - I'm saving more than $60 a month now. Net10 is on the TMobile network so the calling coverage is great and if you travel, international calling to 60 different countries is .15. Even the customer service is highly rated and its great after so many years of arguing on the phone. I really think you should get exactly what you pay for and Net10 finally lets me have a phone and not kill myself paying for it.

Nice tips for managing your cell bills in light of this challenging economy. I wanted to augment these suggestions by adding another strategy for reducing wireless phone bills. We shouldn't just monitor our wireless costs; we need to actively work to reduce them. For starters, check out the Houston-based company Validas, where I work in consumer advocacy. At Validas, we electronically audit and subsequently reduce the average cell bill by about 22 percent—equating to around $450 annually—through our website, http://www.fixmycellbill.com . From regular people to top corporations to huge entities like the State of California, an incredibly varied group of wireless customers uses Validas to slash their wireless bills. Check out Validas in the media, recently on Fox News at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1uTCO16_ao . Good luck to everyone reading at retaking control over your wireless expenses. Dylan Consumer Advocacy, FixMyCellBill.com