7 Tips From A Former Employee That Can Help You Save BIG!

Some of you know that until recently I worked in retail for Verizon, but have since found gainful employment elsewhere. In my nearly six years of employment there I was asked almost daily how to make bills cheaper. Of course, I couldn’t share all of these tips back then (as some of them would have been frowned upon by my boss) but now that I’m free I’m sharing my wisdom with you. These tips are for Verizon, but many of them will apply to other carriers too.

  1. Review your plan – What do you really need?

This seems like a no-brainer, right?! This is where you take a look and see if you really need the top tier unlimited plan. Some people do, and that’s ok, but others don’t use much and can get away with the limited tier data plans. On current pricing the biggest plan is 8GB, and then goes to unlimited. If you’re always on Wi-Fi and generally don’t use more than that in a month, chances are you’re best off using a tiered data plan. (Fun Fact: you can set up your account to simply slow your data down if you go over your data limit and it doesn’t charge you an overage! It’s called Safety Mode.) If you do need unlimited there are different options, and most people can use the least expensive option called “Go Unlimited.” This option will slow down your speeds during times of congestion, but for most people it is still the best choice. This plan also doesn’t allow you to hotspot, so if that is something you require you can step your plan up to the “Beyond Unlimited” plan which gives you high speed connection for at least 22GB of usage, and 15GB of high-speed hotspot. There’s the “Above Unlimited” which is the top tier, and quite frankly, I don’t know of anyone who needs that. Their website has more information about these plans, too.

  1. Set up auto pay and paperless billing

On unlimited plans you save $5.00 per phone line for setting up autopay and paperless billing. All the setup can be done from the My Verizon app.

  1. See if you qualify for a work or military discount

If your employer has a business account with Verizon you can show proof of employment and qualify for their discount. This discount will only apply to non-unlimited plans. If you or somebody on your plan is serving or has served in the military, or is a first responder, you qualify for a discount and those apply to all plans, including unlimited. There are a couple of ways to get that discount on your account. You can bring a paystub, DD214, or work badge into a corporate store and they can take a picture of your document and add the discount. You can also go online and add it using a work email.

  1. Have at least four phones on your account

This is especially true is you’re on an unlimited plan. There’s a price break on the cost per line for every phone you add up to four. If you’re on a limited data plan then the more lines you have the more ways you can split the biggest portion of the bill, which is the pool of data. (Keep in mind the more people you have sharing that pool, the faster it’ll be used up.) If you don’t need four lines for your own family you can always team up with parents, kids, friends etc. and share a plan. Just be sure you know and trust the folks you share with to pay their portion of the bill.

  1. Get rid of the devices you don’t need

News Flash! Your sales rep at the store gets paid to sell you more lines, including tablets, watches, Hum, etc. But very few people need these things to be connected to the network. Cancel those lines. The only way to do so is to call in, where they’ll try to get you to stay connected, but stick to your guns. If you haven’t had said device connected for the entire contract, there may be an early termination fee. Add up what you’ll have to spend per month to fulfill the contract versus what that fee is and pick the cheaper of the two. Just remember to cancel when the contract is up if that’s the best option!

  1. Cancel insurance

This is one of the areas that I’m not completely sold on, but if you have phones that you can afford to replace at full retail or have coverage through your homeowners insurance, then get rid of it. Phone insurance costs $13 per phone, or $39 per account depending on your selection. If you have a $1000 phone and you’re clumsy, it might be a good idea to keep.

  1. Stop Financing Phones!

In my time working in cell phone retail I met with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people who wanted a cheaper bill. These were often the same people who paid to finance their phones at $50+ every month and everyone in the family had shiny new phones. Stop financing your phones! If you like the newest, latest and greatest, you’re best off going straight to the manufacturer and taking advantage of any trade in specials they have. If you don’t need the best of the best, purchase something less expensive at full retail or even something second hand is the way to go. There are reputable places to purchase devices online, and doing so will save you hundreds. If you do purchase a device from an individual, you can call in to customer service or take it into a store and make sure that the device is not lost or stolen and that it will work on your plan, based on the serial number.