Run the numbers

According to the most recent studies, Americans are overpaying for their phone plans.

No surprise there. You might expect, however, that most people pay extra for calls not included in their cell plans.

While it's certainly true of some, surprisingly, a new study says the average wireless consumer uses around 760 minutes and sends over 400 text messages a month. The same study showed that the average monthly cell phone bill is about $50.

While it's commendable to pump extra money into the economy, as a consumer, it's usually a bad idea to overpay for anything.

With Straight Talk's All You Need plan, you're getting 1,000 nationwide anytime minutes, 1,000 texts and 30MB of data (about 350 web pages) for $30... which is 40% less than $50.

And if you're a frequent talker and mad texter, for another $15 you get Unlimited talk and text for 10% less than the $50 monthly average... only $45 every 30 days.

Really, in this day and age, there's no reason to overpay for your phone.

Just run the numbers and you'll see!