Savings Expert: Cut Your Cell Phone Bill without Reducing Service

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Savings Expert: Cut Your Cell Phone Bill without Reducing Service

posted by Amy Suardi on May 7, 2010 | print article | e-mail to a friend

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Cut Your Cell Phone Bill without Reducing Service

Probably the most dramatic way to slash your cell phone costs is to switch to a pay-as-you-go plan and use your mobile phone only for emergencies. Since this is not an option for many people, why not check to see if you can get an employee or student discount on your current plan?

Companies like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Moblie offer discounts — as high as 25% off — to thousands of corporations, government agencies, and schools.

To cop the discount, all you need to do is to enter your employer-issued email address into the phone company’s website. If your email address matches up with the phone company’s list of qualified businesses, you’re in the money. (Hot tip: Many universities offer free email addresses to their students and alumni.)

Almost Too Good to Be True

We were chugging along paying full price for my husband’s Verizon cell phone service until I revisited a Money magazine article — “35 Minutes to Riches” — that I had clipped back in 2007. (Talk about procrastination!)

Buried among the 47 quick tips was a blurb on employee cell phone discounts that caught my eye. I went to verizonwireless/getdiscount and typed in my hubby’s work email address. Within seconds he received a congratulatory email with instructions on how to sign up for a 19% discount!

It’s Up to You to Claim the Discount

My husband has been working at this hospital for a year and a half, but we were unaware of the cell phone benefit. Informational flyers can get buried in the mountains of paperwork you receive when starting a new job. And because phone companies are not motivated to publicize these offers, it’s up to us to find out about the programs and claim the discount.

Just for fun, I typed hubbie’s email address into the AT&T and Sprint sites. Even though he doesn’t have service with these carriers, he would have gotten a 23% Sprint discount, a 13% Nextel discount, as well as an AT&T discount.

Since T-Mobile requires a T-mobile phone number to start investigating special offers, I wasn’t able to check that one out. But according to their site, if your company qualifies, you can request a corporate discount of up to 15%.