The idea seemed smart at first – lose the land line for a cellular phone.

For years, I used my mobile phone for all my telephone needs, insisting it was a simple budgeting trick that would save me a few bucks. After all, nearly everyone else I knew was doing this. And then my bill started to climb higher and higher, well above what I would have paid for a monthly land line.

Recently, I began actually reading my cell phone bill and researching ways I could trim those costs. I realized that monthly statements are occasionally wrong when you read them line-by-line, that cell-phone companies often will negotiate charges on the bill, that I was paying for more coverage and add-ons than I needed and that I could make small changes in my usage to bring that bill even lower.

Some creative ways to help you trim your phone bill:

1. The three-month rule: Compare the minutes and texts you use with those you buy for three months. This will give you a good idea of whether you need to increase or decrease your allotted minutes and texts.

2. Keep it in the family: Signing up family plans is always a better deal than going it alone, but if you don’t have a close friend or family member to split the bill with, consider a mobile-to-mobile plan that makes calls between the same provider free. Chose a carrier that most of your family and most-talkative friends use.

3. Sign up for OverMyMinutes.com, which is a free service that sends you an e-mail when you come close to going over your minutes or texts. This is a nice, lazy way of keeping within your means.

4. Avoid toll-free calls: These are not free from your cell phone and you will inevitably be put on hold, which drains your minutes. I found this out the hard way when I moved across the country and had to deal with employment and utility calls. Save all toll-free calling for when you have access to a land line.

5. Don’t call information: Dialing 4-1-1 means extra charges. Instead, try 1-800-Free-411.

6. Trim the fat: Ditch the insurance, road-side assistance, ring-tone downloads, games and video streaming. Web access is one thing, but all the other extras services and applications add up quickly. Separate those wants from needs.

7. Consider the prepaid option: If you are not one of those people who use their phones all the time, prepaid phone plans make a lot of sense. Research different services online – some can cost less than $10 per month.

8. Smart ways to get rid of the phone: When you decide to get a new phone, sell your old one. You might not think it’s worth anything, but somebody else will, so remove your personal data and list it for sale. If you don’t get any takers, donate it to the woman’s shelter in your area – many shelters take old cell phones that aren’t good for anything except dialing 9-1-1.