Slashing Your Information Bills

Do me a favor—this weekend, as you're getting your tax documents in order (those are your weekend plans, aren't they?), take a close look at how much money you're spending on information. We just did ours and, despite my best efforts to cut out unused services and fees, our monthly information bills are gasp producing.

Between the cell phones, cable services, home phone, and additional services like Netflix, satellite radio, hosting services, domain names, and logging in from hotels and airports, I'm averaging $500 a month to keep our family's information needs fueled. Whoever said the Internet age makes information free must have been smoking something.

Here are a few suggestions for cutting your information bills down to size that I'm evaluating. We'll tackle cell phone bills here and then move on to Internet, TV, and other providers in the next post.

For Cell Phones

Review Your Cell Phone Bill: Inevitably there are ways to save a few bucks. The easiest thing to do is check your minutes against usage. If you're not using your minutes, back off to a less expensive plan. If you're paying overcharges by going over your minutes, it's cheaper to upgrade to a more-minutes plan than pay the overage.

Compare: Look for cost savings from plans where you can talk to the frequently called people on your list for unlimited minutes. Look for weird charges like the charge for receiving a paper copy of the bill and eliminate them. Look at the competitors. Cell phone plans get cheaper, but the companies never call you to let you know; it's up to you to be proactive. Visit sites like LetsTalk.com to compare phone plans.

If you've got the time on your hands, some companies, like Virgin Mobile, offer free phone time in exchange for listening to ads.

Evaluate Text Messaging, Ringtones, Games, Video, and Photos: As our phones can do more and more, we pay more and more. Sharing multimedia information is great, and downloading fun and useful apps is great, but they can cost a pretty penny. Take a look at the charges and you might want to rein in. If you or someone in your family uses a lot of text messages, it pays to buy packages of SMS messaging in bulk. According to CNET, for $4 a month you can buy a pack of 400 text messages, while most carriers charge about $15 a month for unlimited messaging.

Cut to the Beep: Every cell phone company has a way of cutting through voice mail greetings and getting you right to the beep, saving you minutes. The common ones are:

• Cingular - 0
• Sprint - 1
• Verizon Wireless - 9
• Nextel - #
• T-Mobile - #

Ditch Your Contract: You should try to avoid two-year contracts, especially if you like state-of-the-art equipment, but if you have a contract you want to leave but can't because of the stiff penalties, visit Celltrade. They'll help transfer your contract responsibility to someone else.

Avoid Calling 800 Numbers and Information From Your Cell Phone. Some of these services can cost you as much as a dollar per call and they add up.

For a detailed look at how to read a cell phone bill and cut some costs, read CNET's column. UCAN offers a free downloadable mobile phone plan checker to make sure you're getting a righteous deal.

Next up: We'll tackle money-saving tips for your cable bill, home phone, and Internet access charges.