Dial down phone costs

The average family spends $90 per month for home phones, cell phones, pagers, and phone cards, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We examined real phone bills and uncovered savings opportunities from $15 per month for basic phone users to $55 for phone-heavy families.

Start by going through your past few months' phone bills. Assess how many minutes you usually use on cell and landline phones. Then comparison shop among service providers. Don't buy more product than you need.

Forget the contract

Prepaid phones have long been touted as good options for the occasional caller. But a recent Consumer Reports study of cell service found that big talkers can score sizable savings, too.

An average two-cell-phone family that talks 700 minutes per month could save from $100 to $200 per year buying per-minute packs from Virgin Mobile compared with contract family plans from the big carriers. Even the most loquacious callers can save $240 per year on Virgin's $80 prepaid unlimited plan, compared with unlimited contract plans from the major carriers.

Boost Mobile, a prepaid division of Sprint, now offers unlimited calls, texting, and Web usage for $50, with no activation charges or roaming fees.

Manage your teenager's usage

AT&T's Smart Limits for Wireless service is a $5 monthly option that allows you to use the Web to control the numbers your child can call, text, or instant message, and the timing of those calls and messages. The service can't control overall minutes used, though.

Call long distance for less

Some long-distance service "resellers" time your calls in increments as small as 6 seconds. Traditional companies generally round up to the next full minute. So if you talk for 10 minutes and 4 seconds, a traditional company might bill you for 11 minutes; an alternative carrier for 10 minutes and 6 seconds. And alternative companies offer some of the lowest rates for long-distance and international calls.

For instance, ECG Long Distance charges 3.5 cents per minute for long-distance calls, with no minimum-call requirements. Some companies offer even lower rates—as little as 2.5 cents per minute—if you're willing to accept online billing.

Or if you don't mind punching in a few extra numbers, consider using a phone card for long-distance.