by Philip Lop

Created on: October 03, 2010   Last Updated: May 08, 2012

Whilst the iPhone is probably one of the most popular gadgets ever to have been invented, it’s certainly not the cheapest. The cost of all those calls, texts and downloads soon mounts up, and when that monthly bill arrives, it can be quite a shock. There are, however, a number of ways that iPhone users can reduce the cost of those bills.

Revise your AT & T calling plan 

Once you have a contract through AT & T you are able to upgrade or downgrade your monthly plan at any time. A family calling plan might work out better value if there are several iPhone users in the household. Individual plans offer fixed bundles of call minutes for a monthly fee. Your monthly minutes can carry over from one month to the next, so it’s worth considering downgrading your plan if you are finding that you carry over lots of call time. 

Monitor and revise your data plan

You may not be aware how much data you are using. To find out, go to the settings menu in your iPhone and select General and then Usage. At the bottom of the page you will see Cellular Network Data. This tells you how much data you have sent and received. You need to add the two together to calculate your total data usage. You may find that you are paying for far more than you need but conversely, your monthly allowance may not be enough. It might be more economical to upgrade your plan, as if your usage goes over the monthly allowance, you are charged a one-off fee, even if you only exceed the usage by a tiny amount. Set a reminder in your tasks to check and reset this monthly so that you are always aware of how much you are using.

Use Voice Over IP (VOIP) so save on call charges

Voice Over IP is a way of sending voice calls as data over the Internet network and has become a hugely popular way to save money. What’s more, calls made using VOIP do not count towards your monthly call allowance. You’ll need to download a VOIP app (Skype and Globalinx are two well known alternatives) and there is normally a monthly subscription fee. Overall, however, this can work out far cheaper, particularly if you make international calls. Once you’re set up an account, you can normally use VOIP from your PC as well as your mobile.

Consider a pre pay plan

Pre pay is a useful alternative for bill payment as it restricts users to a fixed amount. If you can only afford a fixed amount per month, pre payment tariffs will ensure that you don’t exceed the amount. Once you have

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