How to lower your cell phone bill in 2025

You don’t have to read the news to agree that life has gotten more expensive recently. Between rising grocery costs, 10% increase in household energy bills, and that ever-present inflation rate that increases the price of everything – you’re likely feeling the pinch and re-evaluating your monthly budget to see what cuts you can make. While rent, food, electricity and insurance/gas are more or less set budgets, your monthly phone bill doesn’t have to be. We’ve helped thousands of Americans save up to $120 monthly with our free phone service, but that’s just one way to lower your cell phone bill. Here are eight other tips that can put your hard-earned money back in your wallet:

Switch to an MVNO/prepaid carrier

If you’re not already on a prepaid phone plan, it’s the first step you should take toward lowering your cell phone bill, as prepaid phone plans on average are much cheaper – up to 50% cheaper, in fact. And while you may lose out on perks like complementary subscriptions or prioritized data during peak times, you can still enjoy fully unlimited service on the same network for half the price.

Some cheap prepaid phone plans include:

TextNow. Phone service starts at $0/month, with options to add on unlimited data when needed at affordable rates.

Mint Mobile. Their new customer promotion allows for a $15/month price on their unlimited data plans when you prepay for the first 3 months. Beware, though, that their non-promotional pricing can end up being more expensive.

Tello. Tello’s plans are simple, affordable, and extremely customizable to your particular data needs.

Skip the phone payments and bring your own phone

A lot of carriers will try to get new customers with sneaky “free phone” promotions that are just another way to lock you into a long-term (1-3 year) commitment that ultimately ends up costing more in the long run. If you pay attention, all those promotions require a minimum monthly phone plan commitment, which tends to start at $50-$60/month. If you use a phone bill calculator, you can easily determine just how much you’d be saving by buying a phone outright (especially if you can find a deal, which is always available) and choosing a lower monthly plan. You’d be surprised to find that most of the time, the cheaper result (over the same length of the “contract” for the free phone) is bringing your own phone to a cheaper phone plan, saving you hundreds in the process.

Skip the phone upgrade altogether

One step further than finding a good phone deal is just skipping the phone upgrade. For the most part, even hardware fixes like a battery replacement or a screen replacement cost significantly less than a new phone and can keep your phone going for another year or two – time enough to plan and save up for one rather than impulsively buy now.

Audit your data usage

Along with switching to a cheaper phone plan, you can further reduce your monthly phone bill by opting for a lower data limit plan (usually the cheaper option). But to determine if that will work, you should first confirm how much data you’re actually using on a monthly basis to see if that unlimited data plan is worth it. With Wi-Fi access at home (and maybe at work too), it’s more than likely that you’re using somewhere between 5GB and 20GB a month. In that case, finding a cheaper phone plan with an appropriate data limit could work for you. If you confirm you’re using more than that but want to start reducing your data usage to switch to a cheaper plan, here are some ways to do that:

Set apps and updates to download over Wi-Fi only. This is a sneaky setting that can use up data quickly – make sure you set any app updates over Wi-Fi only (you can do this through the settings of your phone’s app store). Additionally, if you have apps like Netflix or Spotify on your phone, you can set any downloads (like if you want to download an episode or playlist) to Wi-Fi only as well.

Reduce streaming and download content ahead of time. This can help you reduce your data usage on streaming apps by only listening to or watching the content you downloaded on Wi-Fi ahead of time (on “offline mode”) rather than using data to stream in real-time.

Change your streaming quality on data mode. If you must stream in real-time, though, try changing the quality of the video or track/audio file to “low” when streaming over mobile data. Streaming a 4K video, for example, can use up to 16GB/hour, whereas streaming in 720 (HD) uses up to 2.5GB/hour – a 540% reduction in data usage (even more if you stream in SD).

Turn off background data. Social media apps especially love to refresh their background data all.the.time. Kill that in settings to save on precious data.

Check employer discounts or reimbursements

It may be buried in some never-actually-read employee guide or handbook, but it’s worth checking whether your employer or union offers a phone service discount through select carriers, or if they’re willing to cover part of the bill if you need to use your phone for work.

Check if you qualify for other discounts

It’s also worthwhile to look into any other discounts you may qualify for, such as a student, military, senior, or first-responder discount. You can go even further by looking into government discounts, such as Lifeline, where if you qualify, you can take almost $10 off your monthly phone plan. That’s $120 yearly you just got back.

Use international eSIMs when traveling

If you’re planning on travel, whether it’s mandatory (a family member’s wedding) or leisurely, don’t tack on your carrier’s expensive roaming charges. You can install an international eSIM instead and spend a fraction of the cost to stay online and connected when abroad.

Switch to a free texting and/or calling app

If you’re looking to cut your phone bill altogether, we’re happy to report there are plenty of alternatives that will keep you connected to friends, family, work, school, and more, without costing anything. You can sign up for a free calling or free texting app to stay connected over Wi-Fi (some will even provide you with your own phone number), and do everything else over Wi-Fi as well, so you can save on that monthly bill, and put that money where it’s better spent.