Three ways to help avoid data overage charges on your mobile devices

You have probably heard about anecdotal tales of people getting data overage bills for thousands of dollars.  These stories are not urban legends.  They have definitely happened.

If you don’t believe me check this out: A woman bought a netbook from Radio Shack and got the shock of her life by a bill for $5,000.  The AT&T 5 GB plan evidently charged around $480 per GB over the limit.

Part of me sympathizes with that woman, but another part says, you should be responsible for what you do and suffer the consequences if you mess up.  Hopefully, this article will help you avoid such problems.

Check Your Plan

The first thing is to check your data plan.  Are you a streaming monster that just can’t stay away from movies 24/7?  It would be a shame if you get that 200 MB plan to save money!

Get the data plan that best meets your needs.  One of my Broadband Expert cohorts found a pretty good data calculator that can estimate your usage.  I score 8.43 GB per month, so I really need a 10 GB plan.  However, if someone comes up with an 8 GB plan, there may be some tricks to live with those overages by picking the right plan.

Some vendors are playing follow the leader with AT&T and are adding data caps.  Along with the caps come the overage charges.

For instance, Verizon is changing to a tiered data plan.  For the moment, it is keeping the existing data plans in place.

If you have Verizon or are looking to change, it might be a good time to lock in a great data plan.  With a two-year plan, you should be able to save a bundle vs. overage charges if you don’t.

Check other vendors with unlimited or reasonable data plans and you may be able to lock in some data for your future use.  Some vendors just throttle you down when you reach the limit, so you will not get hit with extra charges  – just slow data.

Data Overage May Be Good

No, I am not out of my mind, at least clinically, but listen to me for a bit.  Occasional overages may be cost-savers.  If you have occasional data overages and have reasonable rates for the overage charges (stay away from those insanely expensive overage plans) you can save some money.

Compare the base costs for a year of both plans and you may find that you are spending more money for that higher plan than you pay for the lesser plan with overages.  If the yearly cost of your smaller plan plus the overage charges is less than the yearly cost of the next expensive plan, you are in the right spot.

After all, any way you can save money is good!  As always, pay attention to any changes that your wireless vendor may spring upon you.

Finally, getting bit by overage charges tends to change one’s usage, but this article is how to avoid those nasty overage charges.

Reduce Your Data Usage

Many web pages constantly update themselves, so your smartphone will be constantly refreshing the page every minute or so.  It may not seem like a lot, but it can add up if it goes 24/7 for a month.

Multi-tasking operating systems that allow you to run multiple web sessions at once can get you into even bigger trouble as all those webscreens are running.  Many web pages also have those annoying video advertisements that constantly run.

Add to that the Java and Flash programs and you can run up some data usage without really being aware of it.  Now that I told you about it, there is no excuse for you to complain.

Make sure you close down any apps that use the web.  A live map program running that showed you the way to San Jose is no longer needed once you arrive.

Many social apps constantly update, so shut them down when you are not using them.  This is sort of like turning off the lights when you leave the room – you just have a lot more switches to turn off!