Have you been shocked by your cell phone bill lately? One in five people got an unexpectedly high bill in the past year, according to Consumer Report’s just released cell phone survey. Were you texting more than your plan allowed? If you recently upgraded to a Smartphone, you may have gone over your data usage allowance. How can you avoid cell phone bill shock?

Cell Phone Service Certainly Isn’t Cheap

Shop around for service providers. Next time you are about to renew your contract with your current cell phone service provider, try checking out the competition. According to Christine Park, KFSN Fresno, Sprint and Verizon tied as top cell phone service providers with a contract. That being said, Verizon is one of the most expensive, but in my opinion, provides the best area coverage. Sprint is more affordable, has lots of options, but reception can be kind of sketchy. Most of the people I know who have Sprint like the service as long as they live in a city. Rural areas don’t get such good reception. With Verizon, it’s all about the network, but you pay for it. AT&T comes in last in all areas of service, including customer service.

Consider a contract free service. Consumer Cellular came out on top as number one according to Christine Park. I checked them out and they offer a no-contract service for a fairly reasonable rate. They don’t offer many phones, even if you pay for the phone, but at least they seem to be available in my rural area. If you want a better selection of phones, T-mobile has expanded its selection of phones available to non-contract subscribers and even includes a couple of Smartphones. Their service reception isn’t the greatest in rural areas, but again, for a city dweller, it’s not a problem. Boost Mobile, Cricket, and MetroPCS also offer flat rate, no-contract plans, but are only available in some areas.

No-contract service plans aren’t for “power users.” No-contract plans are best suited for people who only make occasional calls and text but don’t surf the web or use their phone for email. Pay-as-you-go plans are also good for a first phone for your teen since many plans just stop if the minutes are used up. Be sure to check however, since some contract-free plans charge as much as 25 cents per minute for overages.

What’s the bottom line? Shop around. Compare services as well as call reception. Consider your communication needs. If you are a power user, just bite the bullet and get a good plan. In the long run you will save money. Keep in mind that no-contract plans generally charge more money for the phone itself. Compare how much you will save by getting the phone free or at a discount with a contact vs. what you will pay in service fees.