Probably like most thirty-something moms, I find myself more and more interested in making those ‘little’ changes in the family finances which will have a not-so-tiny impact. The current economy probably has this generation of thirty-somethings more focused on creative money-saving techniques than our mothers’ and grandmothers’ generations, but the underlying reasons are not the direction I want to take this blog… at least not today. 
I’ve been impressed by the success I’ve seen from some of my extreme couponing peers, but as much as I WANT to be interested in the “sport” of couponing, I just can’t seem to get motivated. (I may be the ONLY female I know who doesn’t enjoy shopping.) So, I’ve been looking elsewhere. And I’m finding out that money-saving opportunities are literally lurking in every closet ~ and right in front of my face.
If you could see what’s “right in front of my face”, you’d see the usual desk clutter: my computer (obviously), papers, paper, some paper, pens, paper, a calculator, more paper, and my phone. Ah-HA!
A few days ago, I spent a little time and looked at my cell phone usage – and my husband’s, since we’re on a family plan – and I made some pretty amazing discoveries.
I’ve been paying too much for cell service for months (dang it!), but at least I’ve made the changes NOW, so I don’t continue throwing money down the drain. As it turns out, we DON’T need the “unlimited everything” plan. In fact, we don’t need the “one-step-down-from-everything” plan, either. We dropped down TWO tiers on our calling plan and one tier on the data plan. Apparently, we aren’t on the phone nearly as much as I thought we were! After a few adjustments to our plans, the savings was so much that we decided to ADD a phone to our plan – so the girls have one for those times when we wished they did – and even with the additional phone, we managed to bring our bill down $20+ per month.
My new & improved plan includes a few key features–
- Unlimited nights and weekends
- Unlimited mobile-to-mobile (which is a misleading term, because it’s actually only mobile-to-mobile within the same phone company, not ALL mobile phones)
- 10 Friends & Family Numbers (We’ve only assigned 7 so far, but assigning those 7 had a HUGE impact on the number of anytime minutes we actually burn.)
Do you know what else I learned while analyzing our cell phone usage? The person who claims the greatest chunk of my phone-time is my Momma. 
Saving $240 a year and adding some peace of mind with a third phone for the girls are certainly great outcomes of this little story. But what I’m most excited about is realizing – seeing it in black and white – that I’ve finally made it to “that place” with my mom.
Go grab your past few phone bills and get to work! There’s no telling how much you can save… or what you’ll discover!
