Cut your cell phone costs
By Michelle Warren • Bankrate.com

Call me on the line, call me, call me anytime...

If you remember when Blondie hit the music charts with those lyrics, then you likely recall an era before cell phones, when people used payphones and those calls cost a dime. Since the wireless phone industry's arrival in Canada in 1985, however, the use of cell phones and other wireless devices has skyrocketed, leaving land lines in the dust.

Today, half of all Canadians are mobile customers, and if you're one of them, chances are you pay more than a dime per call. Maybe even a lot more. To help reduce your cell phone costs, we offer the following tips.

• For emergency only
• Suspend yourself
• Strength (and discounts) in numbers
• Buy used
• Long-distance calling cards
• There's no such thing as a free call
• Know thyself

For emergency only
If you're serious about only wanting a cell phone in case of emergency (I said that too and then racked up a long bill after discovering the joy of chatting while waiting for the streetcar), don't sign on with a service provider.

These calls are free; users don't even pay airtime charges. Instead, most carriers apply an unregulated 911 fee, ranging from 15 cents to 50 cents, to their customers' monthly bills.

According to the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, Canadians make about six million 911 calls each year from their mobile phones, about 50 percent of all emergency calls.

Suspend yourself
You can temporarily suspend your cell phone service and save a bundle on monthly bills if, for example, you go on extended vacation, work abroad temporarily or return home for the summer before heading back to school.

Suspending your service prevents anyone from making or receiving calls on your phone but reserves your number for when you're ready to reactivate. Bell Canada, for example, offers this service for a monthly fee of $7.50 (plus its 911 fee and taxes) plus an $11 charge to reactivate your phone. Do the math to see if it makes sense for you.

Suspending your service can also come in handy if you want to get out of your contract. Rather than cancelling your service and paying a hefty fee -- usually $20 or more for every month left on the contract - you can suspend your service and ride out the rest of the term for less than half the monthly cost. Read the terms of your contract to see if you can take advantage of this loophole.

Strength (and discounts) in numbers
Does your boss ever call you on your cell phone? Tell your employer you're cancelling your service and she may agree either to pay for your phone or arrange a corporate discount.

As part of a corporate plan, many companies also allow employees to get discounted rates on phones for spouses or children, which could save you as much as 20 percent on your monthly bills.

Buy used
Second-hand and refurbished phones offer you the opportunity to purchase a high-end phone for a discounted price.

Wireless providers often sell refurbished phones for much lower than the usual retail price. If you're worried about quality, don't be -- providers such as Rogers Wireless say refurbished phones have a return rate of less than one percent because they're inspected twice, once by the manufacturer and once by the service provider's repair centre.

Long-distance calling cards
Why does it cost more to make a long-distance call from a cell phone than a land line? Many people think it costs wireless providers more to provide long distance services than it does for traditional telcos. Not true. Carriers charge more because they can, and because it's a revenue booster.

While many carriers offer long distance minutes as part of a plan, you may be better off opting for a plan with more local minutes and using a discount calling card if you make a lot of long-distance calls on your cell phone. Airtime charges still apply, but your per-minute rates will be much lower.

There's no such thing as a free call
If you call a 1-800 number, chances are you'll be put on hold. But don't forget that as the minutes tick by, your blood pressure isn't the only thing rising: so is your cell phone bill.

A toll-free number waives long distance charges, but you still pay for airtime. So if you're in for a long wait, make toll-free calls from a land line.

Know thyself
Be realistic about your calling patterns. There's no sense in signing up for a deal that costs $29.99 a month with tonnes of off-peak minutes if you make the majority of your calls during peak hours.

Users who aren't savvy can be sucked in by such deals and then find themselves hit with huge monthly bills when they exceed the parameters of their plan. In such cases, it's better to sign a more expensive, and realistic, contract, so there won't be any surprises at the end of the month.

Not sure how or when you'll use a cell phone, or what services you need? Ask a service provider if you can test drive a phone for a week or two (you will have to pay for all calls and services) before signing a contract. Keep track of calling patterns (local calls, long distance, busy times of day, roaming requirements) and sign up for the plan that best suits your needs.

Invest in a cell phone and follow these cost-saving ideas to ensure you'll never need a dime (OK, a quarter or a payphone calling card) to make a call any time.

Michelle Warren is a writer in Toronto.