A few ways to save some cash on your wireless service

• Make sure you choose the right amount of minutes. Try to give yourself an honest and accurate estimate of how much calling time you’ll need per month. Remember, you’re accruing minutes any time you place or receive a call. And it’s almost always better to choose a plan with too many minutes, rather than not enough. Wireless providers make a lot of their money charging consumers for exceeding their allotted minutes!

• If you're on the road a lot, there are several plans that offer free roaming and long distance. These national and regional plans may be slightly more expensive but are highly preferable to paying exorbitant per-minute charges.

• Wireless providers like to have you locked in for the long haul. If you’re comfortable with a contract, you may be eligible for a discounted rate or other incentives from your provider.

• Don't pay too much for your long distance calls! You're not stuck with the long distance rates that your wireless provider offers. Check out the rates for regular landline long distance companies (look in GetConnected's Long Distance section), as well as dial-around numbers. These rates will almost always be lower than the astronomical fees charged by wireless providers.

• Do you receive a lot of incoming calls? If so, you may want to look for a provider and plan that give you the first incoming minute for free. You can use the free airtime to handle quick calls or to decide whether to call back later from a landline phone.

• Check your voicemail from a landline--even if voice mail is included in your flat monthly fee, you may be charged to check your messages. So why not check them for free from your home or office?

• Consider the times of the day that you are most likely to use your phone. If you're calling mostly for convenience reasons during non-business hours, look into plans that offer free calls on nights and weekends.

• Thinking of moving out of town? Talk to your provider about switching your service to your new location. They can switch you over fairly easily if they offer service in your new area. If they don't, you may not be required to pay a cancellation fee, so it pays to ask!

• Caller ID and voice mail can be used to screen unwanted or low-priority calls. Caller ID and voicemail are standard with many digital wirelesses and PCS carriers. If they’re not included, it will cost you about $3 per month for each feature. This can save money in the long run, especially if you don’t want to waste minutes taking unimportant calls.

• Text messaging can save airtime as well. The service costs between $2 and $10 per month and works great for brief messages. There are no airtime charges because the text messages are created and sent via the carrier's Web site.

• For those of us with credit issues, prepaid wireless plans offer a viable alternative. These plans usually include inexpensive phones, and more importantly, no credit check. The drawbacks are an inconvenience--in order to use the phone, you must replenish your account when it runs out.