They say that prices are supposed to drop when a technology becomes more widely used. According to Wikipedia, there are now over 271,000,000 cell phones in used in the United States, so why does it still cost upwards of $130+ just to get a half-way decent voice and data plan? Well, here are five proven ways to lower your monthly bill:

1. Employee/Student Discounts

If you work for a big company, or attend a big school, check with your provider to see if you’re eligible for a discount. For example, if you’re currently employed by Bank of America, Sprint offers a business employee discount of 23%. Work for General Electric? Get 20% off. Employee of American Express? 12% discount. There are thousands of different businesses and organizations participating. AT&T, Verizon, and others offer similar discount programs too, although they’re generally less lucrative.

2. Unused Add-Ons

Do you really need to pay $8.99/month for unlimited directory assistance? You can call 1-800-GOOG-411 for free! Why pay $9.99 a month for the navigation app, when you can download Google Maps for free? These types of add-ons and upgrades are huge money makers for the providers. Check your bill and see if you’re paying for any of these upsells… if you are, re-consider.

3. Credit Card Rewards For Spending On Wireless

As you know, there are a plethora of reward credit cards out there. Some give higher rebates for certain categories of spending. Did you know some of these credit cards give higher cashback for spending on wireless purchases – this includes your monthly bill! For example, the American Express Simply Cash card gives 5% cash back on this category. So just pay your cell phone bill with this charge card and that saves you 5%. The American Express Gold card also has above average rewards.

4. Paying Extra For Early Nights/Weekends

On most plans, free nights and weekends don’t start until 9 PM. However, many providers will start them at 6 or 7 PM if you pay an additional monthly fee. For many people, this is probably not worth the extra money, but for some it is. For example, I’m on the West Coast and frequently call back East (which is 3 hours ahead). For me, it makes sense to pay the $10 extra per month, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to call them for free until midnight their time!

5. Adding Mobile-To-Mobile

Some providers offer unlimited mobile-to-mobile for an additional monthly fee. Others offer it on their network only. Whatever the case, look over your bill and who you call the most. If a large chunk of your calls fall under this category, it may make sense to downgrade your anytime minutes and pay the $10 or so extra for this feature.  

So there you have it, five effective ways to save money on your monthly bill! Best of all, you can combine multiple strategies – i.e. getting your 5% discount by paying with your American Express card and taking advantage of your company discount. Use as many of these strategies as you can and you’ll be on your way to a much lower monthly payment!