Here's how to get more out of your cell phone
CODY SOSSAMON PUBLISHER

As I've confessed previously, when it comes to money, I'm what I call thrifty. Others call me tight. The bottom line is that I just don't like to waste money or spend it unnecessarily.

I'm the type who goes around turning lights off and thermostats up or down depending on the time of year.

I scrutinize bills looking for any charges that should not be there or that could have been avoided with a little thought or effort.

You can probably imagine, then, my reaction to receiving a $6,000 gas bill a month ago. After a few calls, the mistake was corrected and my bill was reduced to around $1,000, which is about normal at this time of year for a building the size of The Ledger.

Monday, I received last month's gas bill and again it was more than $6,000. After a few moments of fuming, I made some more calls and once again the error was corrected and my new bill was less than $1,000.

Seems there was a problem with the calibration of the meter reading device.

I've had issues with other bills here at The Ledger and, for the most part, they were resolved to my satisfaction.

Problems with my household bills, though, are not as easy to mediate. It's not that dealing with the 'customer service' personnel at the billing entity is any more difficult. Nope, they're all pretty much the same. Some nice, understanding and competent and some, well, not so nice, not so understanding and not so competent.

No, it's the dealing with those in my household who incur the questionable charges that's the hard part.

For a while, it was the text messaging charges. I refused to pay the extra $5 for unlimited texting on my wife's and my daughter's cell phones.

"You don't need to text. Just call."

My threats, pleas and reasoning fell on deaf ears and the text charges continued to mount. I finally admitted defeat and realized it would be much cheaper to give in and pay for the unlimited texting.

For years, I've been berating my wife for calling 'information' on her cell phone. "Don't you realize they charge $1.25 every time you do that? Can't you just put a phone book in the car?"

The answer was always the same. "Sometimes I need to call places where we don't have a phone book for and besides it would dangerous to look up a phone number while I'm driving. You wouldn't want me to be in an accident and get killed trying to save a dollar and quarter, would you?"

That's when I throw my hands up and walk off.

But lo and behold, I received an e-mail Monday from my wife's brother that explained how to eliminate those infuriating information charges.

His e-mail also included some other cell phone tips that could come in handy some day and save you some money or maybe even your life.

I've tried these first two and they work.

First: Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option dial: (800) FREE 411, or (800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell phone now. You do have to listen to a commercial.

Second: Have you locked your keys in the car? Does your car have remote keyless entry?

If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone.

Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away and if you can reach someone who has the other 'remote' for your car, you can unlock the doors or the trunk.

As I said, both of the above work. I tried this next one and it did not work on my cell phone.

Third: How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone. To check your mobile phone's serial number, key in the following digits on your phone: * # 0 6 #

A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. If your phone gets stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either.

I haven't tried the next two, but plan to.

Fourth: The emergency number worldwide for mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked.

Fifth: Hidden Battery Power - If your cell battery is very low, you can activate reserve power by pressing *3370#

Your cell will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell next time.

The e-mail suggested making a copy of these tips and keeping it in your car, which my wife and I have done. If you use any of the tips 3-5 and find they work, let me know and I'll pass it along in a future column.

Now get out there and save some money! Cody Sossamon (cody@gaffneyledger.com) is publisher of The Gaffney Ledger.