How to use less data and save money on your wireless plan

Does your lifestyle require an unlimited stream of data? At first glance, there’s probably nothing wrong with this assumption: After all, think about how much of your day is spent on data-dependent activities like streaming video and music, or searching the internet.

But all of this can be done while using far less, and sometimes even none, of the data from your cellular plan. Try these simple tips to save money on your wireless plan.

1) Tame the video beast Watching video on your smartphone is convenient, but it’s a data glutton. A full-length Netflix movie consumes about 1GB of data per hour in standard definition video, and up to 3GB per hour in high definition.

Try connecting to Wi-Fi instead. It’s widely available, and lets you stream without using any cellular data at all, often with a faster connection. While connected to Wi-Fi, you can also download videos, TV shows or movies to your phone or SD card to watch at your convenience, with no data required.

In addition, when you’re streaming video on a small screen, such as a cellphone, you really don’t need high resolution. Many apps give you the ability to change video quality settings, and therefore consume less data.

2) Manage social media and streaming music Videos have also become a standard part of the social media experience. Adjusting your settings to prevent videos from playing automatically will prevent them from eating up your data. The steps to change this setting can vary between applications. On most platforms, like Facebook, you’ll go to your Account Settings and either disable the “Autoplay” feature or change it so that videos will only play automatically when you’re connected to Wi-Fi.

Popular audio streaming apps offer ways to listen to your music without having to use a network connection, or even Wi-Fi. Spotify lets you download your albums and playlists right to your device. If you use Apple Music, you can add songs, albums and playlists to your library.

3) Try a smaller plan for bigger savings While an “unlimited” plan may seem like an easy answer to your data needs, they can be more enticing than practical. Read the fine print: Most actually limit your high-speed data to a certain number of gigabytes per month. Once you use up that allotment, you’ll still have unlimited access, but at much slower speeds. This makes it more difficult to load pages quickly, or to stream video, even though you’re paying a premium for “unlimited” access.

Instead, a carrier like Consumer Cellular offers a range of choices from a talk-only 250-minute plan to 3GB, 10GB, 15GB or unlimited data options each month. Plans are also flexible: You can switch up to the last day of a billing cycle with no extra fees, and you’re also automatically upgraded if you go over your data usage.

Follow these tips and you’ll enjoy streaming movies, listening to music and more while also keeping money in your pocket for things other than a data plan. You can have it all, without needing an unlimited budget to do it.

(BPT)