Stop overpaying! Simple hacks to slash your cellphone bill fast

6 14. If your cell phone bills feeling kind of bloated, you may be overpaying hundreds of dollars a year for a plan that you don't need. Boston 25 consumer advisor Clark Howard explains how you can shop around to cut the cost without sacrificing your service per month. What? 1 20 75 bucks because we have three people on that sell to $250 something. The big three Verizon, AT&T and T Mobile all offer different unlimited plans ranging from around $50 a month to over $100 a month for one line and they add multiple line discounts if you are paying for more lines on your plan. But if you're not careful, your monthly bill can get out of control. And how much do they charge you a month with the two lines that I have? I pay about 2 60 $260 a month. That's expensive. It is right. Add that up and it's over $3100 a year. J. Roberts uses Verizon. She tells us she's still paying for two phone upgrades, inflating her monthly bill. However, even if you subtract those monthly charges, she could reduce her bill by at least half. Would it surprise you to know that Verizon also sells monthly service for $25 a month? A line that you could do it for 50 a month instead of 1 90. Yeah, very much so. Verizon also owns visible. Both brands operate on the same network and Verizon is not alone here. T Mobile owns met mobile and Metro by T Mobile and AT&T owns cricket wireless. These budget friendly services can drastically reduce your phone bill but may not offer the same perks like free streaming services or phone upgrade deals. And they do come with some limitations. I had someone explain it to me like a fast pass on a roller coaster. Like we're going to the same ride, but one of us might get there a little bit faster. Dallas Cox works for clark dot com covering the latest wireless deals and how to save money. She says there's a wide range of services out there. But when it comes to budget friendly brands, you need to know if your speeds are being throttled after a certain amount or if they're being capped. That's why it's so important to understand how much data you actually use every month. I'm always connected to wifi. Most of us are at home at work and so you'd be surprised at how little data you actually use. Check your data usage over the past 12 months and calculate the average. This will give you a clearer idea of what kind of plan best suits your needs. You're with AT&T or T Mobile or Verizon and you love them very much and you're afraid to leave, like you still might not need that highest tier plan. And if you're interested in switching, you have to be a free agent. That means your current phone needs to be paid off and unlocked, leaving you with the real power, the power to choose. A lot of the discounters will give you a trial period for free, maybe about a week and you keep your current service till you're sure the new one is a-okay. No risk. I'm Clark Howard.