Cell phones have become invaluable tools in modern day-to-day living for job hunting, meeting up with friends for a cheap drink, or a myriad other situations that would have required you in years past to be tied to a land line. Unfortunately, they can prove pretty pricey if you aren’t taking advantage of the many options that can help you lower you monthly bill. Here are some of our favorites.

Work for the government or a mega-corporation? Put that agency to work and take advantage of possible cell phone corporation discounts. Most large companies have discounted rate plans for employees who are issued Blackberries or other positions that require a constant 24 hour connectivity to the office. However, even if you’re not one of the plugged in peeps at your job, you can still piggy back off of your company’s negotiated rate.

Cell phone bills are the bane of my existence. I’ve probably changed my plan four times over the past year, in a near fruitless attempt to lower my bill. I hate trying to analyze which plans offer national coverage and how many “whenever” minutes come with each, at what time their “free minutes” start and all of those other little extras like text messaging and data.