PhoneTalk

Tis the season for holiday travel and no matter where you're plans may take you these tips will help you avoid unwanted cell phone bills.

1. Crossing Borders. If you're plans are taking you out of the country this holiday season and you want to take your cell phone with you. First, see what cell phone networks (GSM, CDMA) are supported at your destination. Next, find out if your cell phone will work there by checking with your carrier. If you have a CDMA (Sprint, Verizon) handset although your phone might work in another country you'll need to set up the appropriate plan with your carrier before you leave. If you have a GSM cell phone (AT&T, T-Mobile) and you have an unlocked phone you'll likely be able to get a SIM card at your destination. This will be helpful for placing calls at your destination, but that's not always the case for calling the states. At which point you should check with your carrier to see what you need to do to call home.

2. Avoid Getting Lost. Most cell phones these days have a GPS capability and the carriers offer services that will help get you where you're going. These navigation services can cost extra, but they are considered features and you can activate and deactivate them without changing the length of your contract. If you don't want to do that, there's always Google Maps that is free and can be downloaded to many cell phones. 

3. Evaluate Your Text Messaging Plan. During the holidays people tend to send more text messages whether it's to wish holiday greetings or a happy new year. While the sentiment is nice, the message your receive still gets counted on your messaging plan. If you have a limited text messaging plan maybe think about increasing it during the holiday season so you can enjoy the messages you receive. Text messages are also considered a feature and will not change the length of your contract.

4. Keep Track of the Weather. Many cell phones offer free weather apps, such as WeatherBug that can be downloaded directly to your cell phone and if you already have a data plan checking that app on your cell phone isn't costly. Why be delayed by weather when you can learn about conditions before you hit the road?

5. Save Your Memories. While many cell phones come with 2-megapixel or higher cameras these days, they don't all come with a ton of memory to store pictures or even music. The good news is that most camera phones do come with a microSD slot that can be used to add more memory via a MicroSD card to the cell phone in order to save all the pictures you shoot and music you want to hear. MicoSD cards are fairly inexpensive and if you get one with a SD card adapter you can use it with other SD-compatible electronic devices as well such as digital cameras and camcorders. Plus it makes it super simple to transfer photos to your computer (PC or Mac). 

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