If you’re on the lookout for a cell phone plan that won’t make you broke, you have a lot of options today. That’s the good news. The bad news is there is no “best” plan that suits everyone. You need to research and determine which one fits your needs the most. Below are guidelines to narrow down your cell phone plan options to help you save money.

Examine your bill.

Collect the last three months of your phone bill to find your average data consumption as well as your call and text usage. Assess if your phone activity actually fits your plan. If you’re spending money on 8 GB of data per month, but only use an average of 4 GB, then you may want to lower your data limit.

Use data based on your plan.

If you don’t want to decrease your data plan per month, then don’t go beyond it. No one wants to pay overage fees or lose internet connection because of over-the-limit data usage. To ensure you don’t use data beyond your plan, install a data monitoring app on your phone. The nifty app will notify you if you’re going to use a mobile app that will consume a lot of data. It can also tell you if you’re about to go beyond your limit.

Alternatively, you can deliberately avoid certain actions that increase your data usage. You can edit app settings so programs that require a lot of data (ex. YouTube, Netflix) would only be available if you’re connected to Wi-Fi.

Look into ditching your unlimited plan.

If you have an unlimited plan and actually use over 100 GB a month, then the cost of that plan is worth your money.  However, if you use so much less (ex. 5 GB to 20 GB per month), then you can save a substantial amount of cash by scrapping your unlimited plan and changing it to a metered package. Also, some service providers charge an additional fee for mobile tethering on unlimited plans, but you can bundle the feature for free on metered plans.

Now, if you want to get a service from a major carrier, take a look at their prepaid plans. This type of plan won’t ask for your credit rating. Most importantly, prepaid plans don’t incur data overage fees.

Avoid “free” Netflix offers.

Or “free” HBO offers. Or “free” Hulu offers. And so on. Don’t get sucked in by these promotional services. If you start with the freebies, you’ll likely graduate with a registered account on these streaming sites and pay a plan way over your budget. Just get the phone service you actually need. Pay for your television plan separately.

With a huge selection of cell phone plans from a multitude of carriers, you now have more options to get a great plan that fits your tight budget. But more than the options, make sure to discipline yourself not to go overboard. That’s the only way you can actually save money on your cell phone plan.