How to Pick Your Cell Phone Plan

Before you blindly stumble into the world of cell phone ownership, you need a plan.  That’s right, literally, you need a plan.  Cell phones come with plans; most are pre-set by the wireless provider you choose, and you are given the opportunity to pick the one that most suits your needs. 

At this point, many would-be success stories end.  For reasons we do not understand, many consumers pick plans that are less than their actual service needs.  Could it be the prices associated with the plan?  Most likely.

The end result is a customer that can’t afford the overage charges that come along with the over-use of the cell phone.  It is not unusual to find customers who have cell phones bills into the hundreds of dollars exclaim that they have no idea how their bill got so high!

The best rules of thumb to use when selecting your cell phone plan are as follows:

Determine your calling pattern. That is, take the time to assess your call times, the length of the calls, and where you are calling.  The plan you choose for your cell phone should accommodate this information, if it doesn’t, you will receive one of those surprise bills.

Next, select a package that exceeds your expected minute usage; I can tell you from experience, that you will use more minutes than you anticipate.  Almost every customer does, and it is simply because once you have access to a phone 24/7, you will use it more.

And lastly, choose a cell phone that fits you.  Very few customers actually use all the features that are offered via the wireless providers.  Most don’t use the internet access option; some use the text messaging features, and an even smaller percentage of the population uses the camera phones.  So, carefully evaluate what you will actually use versus what is tempting to get, just in case.

The cell phone plan you choose should be a comfortable fit for your personality and your lifestyle.  It it’s not, you might want to spend some more time at the wireless providers retail store.  You’re going to need to be friends with them, when that gargantuan bill comes in the mail!