How To Lower Your Cell Phone Bill and Save Hundreds of Dollars Per Year

Learn about carrier discounts, how to get the best deal, and how to pick the best plan based on how many lines you have.

Before we talk about my hand-picked best cell phone plans of 2025, it is important to understand your cell phone bill is made of two things: the cost of the phone and the cost of the plan.

To help you get the best deal possible, we want to optimize both of these things. 

You have two general approaches:

1. The Big Wireless Bundle
2. The Phone Freedom Formula

Which approach is best for you?

It depends. 

Each approach has pros and cons. 

Holy shit, I can

1. The Big Wireless Bundle

With the Big Wireless Bundle, you are getting a discounted phone by doing a trade-in deal with one of the big carriers, typically at the expense of having to sign up for a more expensive cell phone plan.

The big carriers, AT&T, Boost Mobile, T-Mobile, and Verizon, all generally offer between $400 and $1,000 off a new phone when you trade-in your old one.

This means you can generally get a new iPhone, Samsung phone, or Google phone for completely free, or steeply discounted. 

BUT, to be eligible for the best trade-in deals, big carriers typically require you to be on their most expensive cell phone plans. Prices range from $65 to $90 per month for a single line.

When you think of the Big Wireless Bundle, think low-cost phone, expensive plan.

Pros: 

• No upfront device costs (besides sales tax)
• Ability to go to a physical store for help and support
• Cell phone plans are feature-packed
• Good multi-line discounts
• Opportunities to bundle home internet and streaming services for extra savings

Cons:

• Trade-in credits are applied over 24 or 36 months
• If you wanted to leave before the 24 or 36 month financing agreement is up, you’d forfeit any remaining promo credits and have to pay off the remaining balance on the phone. For example, if you did a $1,000 off iPhone 16 Pro Max deal and wanted to leave after one year, you’d owe $799 on the phone
• Eligible plans are often the most expensive plans the big carriers offer
• Typically more expensive over a 2 or 3 year period than with the Phone Freedom Formula

2. The Phone Freedom Formula

With the Phone Freedom Formula, you are purchasing an unlocked phone directly from the manufacturer (Apple, Samsung, Google, etc.) and giving yourself the freedom to choose any cell phone plan from any carrier.

The formula is:

Unlocked phone + affordable cell phone plan = massive monthly savings

An unlocked phone means it isn’t tied to any carrier or contract. You are free to use the phone on any cell phone plan or carrier you choose. 

Instead of $65 to $90 per month, you could spend $10 to $30 per month on a cell phone plan from a prepaid carrier. 

Popular prepaid carriers include US Mobile, Mint Mobile, and Visible.

When you think of the Phone Freedom Formula, think expensive phone, affordable plan.

Pros:

• Freedom to choose any cell phone plan you want
• Freedom to switch carriers at any time
• Cell phone plans are generally more affordable, which leads to monthly savings
• Phone works with international carriers if you travel abroad
• Get trade-in deals through manufacturers directly

Cons:

• Costs more upfront for the phone ($1,199 upfront for an iPhone 16 Pro Max, or $849 up front if you trade in an iPhone 13 Pro Max through Apple)
• Most prepaid carriers do not offer physical stores for customer support or help setting up your device
• Some prepaid plans may lack certain features or perks that the more expensive plans include

The Best Approach Is Based On How Many Lines You Have

The best approach for you, either the Big Wireless Bundle or the Phone Freedom Formula, is simply based on how many lines you have.

If you have 1-3 lines, the Phone Freedom Formula will generally be your best option. Yes, you will have to spend a bit more money up front on the phones. BUT, you will save yourself big-time over the course of one, two, and three years by having a significantly lower cell phone bill. (We’ll get into some real numbers in a second).

If you have 4+ lines, the Big Wireless Bundle will generally be your best option. When you have four lines, the big carriers typically give you a great multi-line discount. Combine the discount with the free phone trade-in deals, and you’re looking at an overall great value here.

Let me give you a real-world example so you can see how these two different formulas compare based on how many lines you have.

A Real World Example with Real Numbers

Let’s say you’ve got an iPhone 13 Pro Max and you’re looking to upgrade to the new iPhone 16 Pro Max. 

How do the different options stack up?

Here’s a full breakdown:

Cost Comparison For One Line

Let’s say you have a single line. 

With the Big Wireless Bundle, all the big carriers offer you $1,000 off the iPhone 16 Pro Max when you trade-in your iPhone 13 Pro Max.

BUT all the trade-in deals are over a period of 24 or 36 months. And only certain plans are eligible for the full $1,000 of credit. So you are kind of stuck on a more expensive plan for the next 2-3 years.

To help keep the comparison easy, let’s look at the full cost for the phone and plan for a period of 3 years: