Save some Dough

This weekend the San Jose Mercury News ran a great article in the Business section regarding cutting the cost of cell phone bills. I am pretty sure that across the board we would all like to cut back on those cell charges. With all the bells and whistles on smart phones today it is hard to resist the allure of having all the applications and programs available in one place on your hip pocket.
For my money, I can not imagine not having my email in my hand 24/7, and then being able to use the Internet to do on the spot Santa Cruz Property MLS searches while showing houses for sale. This system makes my business much smoother, additionally much of my client communication when they are buying or selling their homes is now done via texting.

The article provides useful web sites that provide cell bill analysis, although it warns that you will have to provide your cell number, and wireless account number.

1-BillShrink a free service that is easy to use will compare your cell bill plan against those offered by the big four carriers.
2-Validas For a small fee ($5.00 in most cases) will get you a detailed comparison of your charges ranked against six other wireless companies. This site was launched by two former Verizon Executives, nice to know where all the money I have paid them over the years went. In the example they recommend a plan that would save $480.00 annually.

There is also the do it yourself comparison shopping. I have found that calling my always friendly Verizon customer service representative, and going through my bill with them every 3 months or so usually results in a small savings or a switch to a plan that is more compatible to my usage.