How to Dial Back High Cellphone Charges

Kiplinger's Personal Finance shows you how to avoid the most annoying fees and save thousands of dollars a year.

Of all the fees that cellphone companies can sting you with, high "overage" charges often smart the most. The hefty penalty for using more minutes in a month than allotted by your plan ranges from 5 to 45 cents per minute.

You can also monitor your cellphone usage by logging in to your account on your provider's Web site. Or you can download a free Web tool at WatchMyCell.com.

Text messages can cost up to 20 cents per message to send or receive, so you can save by buying in bulk. T-Mobile offers 400 text messages a month for $4.99; AT&T charges $5 for 200 messages.

Switching to a cheaper plan and canceling a one- or two-year contract triggers an early-termination fee that can run as high as $200. To avoid that pain, try to transfer your service contract to someone else. For a fee of $18 to $25, Web sites such as CellTradeUSA.com and CellSwapper.com help match buyers and sellers.

Avoid overage charges and cancellation fees altogether by purchasing prepaid service from companies such as T-Mobile, AT&T's GoPhone or Virgin Mobile. Customers can cancel their service with no penalty, and monthly rates are competitive.

For cellphone users, the most objectionable fees -- and often the most difficult to decipher -- aren't strictly fees at all but the federal, state and local taxes that can add a staggering 6 to 23 percent to your monthly bill, depending on where you live (the national average is 15 percent).

Carriers also pass along fees that look like taxes but aren't -- a notable example being the Universal Service Fund fee, which carriers are required to pay to promote affordable phone service. The charge varies among companies.