There are more cell phone calling plans out there than you can shake a stick at! Unless youre a real cell phone expert, figuring out a process to compare cellular phone plans that suit your calling style and satisfy the essentials can be a time-consuming and daunting prospect. This is somewhat analogous to choosing a satellite TV package. For example, wouldnt it be great if you could choose only the TV channels that interest you, on a prix fixe basis?

For most of us, wed pay a lot less for satellite TV service if this were the case. However, given that there are so many cell phone plans to choose from, chances are that you can narrow the field considerably and find one that is closely tailored to your cell phone calling patterns. Lets take a look at how you can more quickly compare cellular phone plans and get what you need at the best possible price.

If you live in, or near, a metropolitan area, competition between providers is stiff. This is good for your wallet. Although you may have to compare cell phone plans in greater numbers, its also likely that there is that one plan thats optimized to your needs. If you live in a rural district, your choices are more limited, so that when you compare cellular phone plans, youll find fewer plans, encompassing a broader spectrum of client needs.

In either case, when comparing cell phone plans, consider every situation of your cell phone usage. Do you travel frequently? Do you use your cell phone for long distance calls, or do you mainly use your cell phone to keep in touch locally? Do you want to have a family plan, whereby all members of your family have the same shared calling privileges? How about the number of minutes? If you make the majority of your calls from your cell phone, be realistic on your estimate of the amount of time you spend on the phone. If you call your family overseas, or on the other side of the U.S., take this into account as well. Think about the time of day as well. If you do most of your calling at night, search out those favorable night and weekend rates.

When you compare cellular phone plans, you want to look for features that suit you, not the cell phone provider. As possible, limit the features youll be paying for to just the ones youll use.

One way to cut down the time you spend comparing cell phone plans is to specifically search for comparison tables between plans. For example, instead of typing compare cell phone plans, add charts tables at the end of your search string. This will turn up sites which offer comparisons between several or a dozen different plans.