The first thing to do to try and lower your bill is to review it. Take the last three months of bills and compare some of the following items. The easiest way to do this is to use the who, what, where, and when analysis.

Who: Determine who you are calling. Is it a long distance call? Are they local? Is it someone you call frequently or occassionally? Once you determine who you are calling, and the frequency, you can answer the what, where, and when to narrow down your calling needs.

What: What kind of calls are you making or receiving? If they are local or long distance, make adjustments accordingly. Are they to Cell phones? If so, is it one you can use a mobile to mobile plan. Are they collect calls? Unfortunately you don't have a say over what long distance carrier the caller is using. If it is a friend or family memeber and collect calls are made frequently, I recommend a calling card to control your cost. You can get Domestic Calling Cards from 0.6¢ per Minute.

Where: If you are calling locally, you may need to review your long distance plan. If you are paying a monthly fee and not calling long distance, then you may be better off with a per minute plan. If you are calling mostly long distance, then an unlimited long distance plan may be your best option. You may also consider the mobile phone as a long distance "plan". You can check out some Cell Phones and Calling Plans online.

When: If you are calling primarily on nights and weekends, I would strongly recommend a Cell Phone. They generally have a large amount of night and weekend minutes. Your current home line carrier may have something that gives discounts on the nights and weekends also.

Always ask for the individual pricing of the services!

Another question that is frequently asked is do you provide senior citizens discounts. The general answer is no...BUT...There is LIFELINE...This is one of those services that is not heavily marketed among your larger telecommunication compnies. Call Your Provider to ask about lifeline. Many people confuse this with the "Help I've Fallen and Can't Get Up" Service. This is a a completely different service! This program provides discounts on basic monthly service at the primary residence for qualified telephone subscribers. Some of the qualifiers are:

Medicaid,

Food Stamps,

Supplemental Security Income (SSI),

Federal Public Housing Assistance (Section 8),

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP),

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF),

The National School Lunch Program's Free Lunch Program,

Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance,

Tribally-Administered Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TTANF),

Head Start (if income eligibility criteria are met), and

Tribal National School Lunch Program.

There are varying qualifications on income based on the state you live in. Further information is available at www.lifelinesupport.org
You may also call a toll free number - 1-888-641-8722 - to ask general questions about eligibility (this number does not have information regarding the application process).

Another Service that "The" phone company won't proactively tell you about is measured service. This service usually gives you a limited number of calls per month for about half the rate of the normal phone line. Depending on what state you are in, it could be based on per call or per minute, so check with your provider to see what the charges would be. Again this is a good alternative when the telephone line is being used just for DSL (NOT DIAL UP!), an monitored alarm system, or is connected in the home as an emergency line for a senior.

You need a telephone number and don't want to take the time to look through the phone book and don't have access to a computer, so what do you do, you call 411 (for a small fee ofcourse).

Now don't get me wrong, 411 is a great service, but why pay extra for it? An alternative is to call 800-373-3411. It is a Free alternative 411 service. Now with anything free there is a slight catch you are required to listen to a short advertisment before you receive your number. You can also look them up using www.whitepages.com

You can prevent those calls from your friendly telemarketer from calling you. There are two ways to register, you can go online to www.donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222. You can register both you home and cell phones.