Plans
Selecting the right cell phone plan
Selecting the right cell phone plan can save you hundreds of dollars over the life of the cell phone that you purchase. The key is matching the plan that you choose to your specific usage patterns. For example, if you have a large family with several cell phone users it does not make sense to choose several individual plans. You would be better served selecting one of the many family or shared plans that are available. With family plans you are able to share a monthly quota of minutes amongst the users.
Alternatively, if you purchased one of the newer smart phones and wanted to have access to mobile email then it would make sense to select a cell phone plan with a decent component of free or fixed cost data usage to ensure that your web surfing or email reading habits don’t cost you an arm and a leg.
You also need to consider who is using and paying for the phone service. Children and teens sometimes don’t monitor their cell phone usage and can end up with large and unexpected cell phone bills. The selection of pre-paid cell phone plans can go some way to helping manage these costs. Be aware though that pre-paid cell phones typically have a higher per minute rate than normal cell phone plans.
Other items to consider when selecting a cell phone plan include:
- Whether you will be doing a lot of long distance calling
- Whether you require roaming
The best approach is to go through the process of selecting the phone with the features that you require, determine which carrier has the service features you want and then review their choice of plans to select the plan that suits your usage patterns.