How to save money on your family's wireless bill

Paying less is a battle, heres how to win.

Let's face it-you have money leaking out of your purse. You know it's true. It seems like so much money is frittered away on little nonsense like retail shopping excursions, candy at the checkout counter, parking fees, tips, Redbox games for the kids, rewarding yourself for exercising by stopping at Jamba Juice and coins lost in the washing machine.

Guess what? In reality, you are leaking money in a much bigger way. Instead of getting a second job to pay for all the leakage, you could instead save a bundle every month just by plugging up money drains in your monthly wireless bill.

Staying in touch is good. Paying way too much to stay in touch is sabotaging all your hard work at saving money by shopping with coupons and hunting for bargains. It's time to test out these money leakage stoppers with your family's wireless bill. You'd better get a bucket for all the savings.

1. Walk into your providers store and just say "lower my bill".

The easiest way is the best in this situation. Every few months I simply walk into the AT&T store and just say "My bill is too expensive" I usually walk out with a much lower bill. Why? Well the plans they sell at the time are low and gradually increase. After a few months the plan you are on goes up and new ones are cheaper, so they simply switch me to the cheaper one thats pretty much the same as my old one. The reason the plans increase is because once you are on a plan, people rarely change, but you can. When switching a plan, however, always ask, "Am I locked in?" In my experiance, it's usually not the case. Try this tactic with your cable bill as well!

2. Make 'em fight it out

How does your wireless plan stand up to the competition? Put your wireless provider in the ring at the ultimate mobile phone smackdown. The website MyRatePlan will compare the benefits and costs of 79 different family plans. There are sliders for you to select the minutes, data, texts and price you want, and see who comes out on top holding the folding chair.

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