Every few months it seems that the cell phone service providers are trying to get you to change phones and extend the amount of time that you are locked in to their service contract. They try to entice you with sleek looking cell phones designed to catch your eye and try to make your old phone look boring. However, you can join the smart people and spice up the looks of your existing cell phone with some very creative cell phone accessories without the additional, recurring expense of upgrading your service contract.

Interchangeable Faceplates

Several new phones, like the Samsung T639, are now shipping with interchangeable faceplates inside the box at no extra charge. Interchangeable faceplates give users the ability to change the look of their mobile phone with a few simple snaps. Most cell phone makers, and the carriers they sell their phones to, will offer faceplates for their most popular models. However, the faceplates offered by the makers and carriers are often limited in color, style, and can also be on the rather pricey side. Luckily, third party makers of cell phone accessories have seen the opportunity in the market for a wider range of colors, styles, and of course lower prices. You can choose from a large selection of interchangeable faceplates for most popular cell phone models on the market, without the need to go directly to your carrier or mobile manufacturer. Available from numerous online vendors, mall vendors, and often even your local convenience store, interchangeable faceplates are now a fun and fast way to give your cell phone a whole new look.

Skins

A “Cell Phone Skin” is a customizable, removable, and replaceable vinyl decoration that is adhered onto your mobile phone. Several companies now devote themselves only to the creation of Skins for laptops, cell phones, digital cameras, and even your mp3 players. You will have the ability to pick, from a list of devices, your exact cell phone model and then select the Skin that appeals to you. The Skins are custom designed and cut to fit each device perfectly. Some Skins are in several pieces, depending on the design of the mobile phone they are customized for, and are very easy to apply to your phone. Simply clean the phone thoroughly, either with an alcohol wipe or a damp cloth, and apply the Skin. You can, also, remove the Skin easily. However, the adhesive might not work as well the second time around. Ranging from $6 up to $30 for a customized and personalized design, a Skin for your cell phone is a great affordable way to give a completely unique look to your mobile phone.

A Bit Of Sparkle

A rather popular option amongst younger cell phone users is to stick small crystals on to their phones. These sparkling adhesive accessories are available either as individual crystals to apply one at a time, or they are available in intricate designs. Most mobile phone carriers stock the sticker sheets in their retail stores; however, a larger and often cheaper selection is available via most third party mobile phone accessory sellers.

From a funky animal print, a picture of your niece, or to a design with your favorite Star Wars character you will find that your options are practically limitless when it comes to changing the look of your cell phone fast.

With the cell phone being used so much, finding a good cell phone plan is an important issue; stick to plans that provide just what you require within your preset budget. There is such an abundance of services available nationally that you need to research what types of plans are available; it is not uncommon for customers to be tied to a contract for longer than they require.

However, when you arrange a cell phone plan, you may need to choose from a by minute charging or by the second charging. Knowing the two options should help you decide whether your phone use is such that you would be better served with a monthly option that allowed for a certain number of free minutes.

Just to confuse you, more packages that are designed for your geographic location are available in addition to those based on families. Unfortunately, they all have good and bad points so look at the small print carefully.

For prepaid cellular phones, the functionality is often limited so the phone and service you choose may not be able to do everything a similar phone can do when paid for monthly. Plans like those designed for small businesses and families have specific advantages if you are in that type of category.

The family plans also give a call discount when you call other members of your family that are on the same cellular phone bill. There are also discounts for the airtime usage of family members using this particular scheme.

The national cell phone plan usually attracts large businesses and organizations with offices and operatives Nationwide. Roaming charges on this type of plan are usually included as part of the agreement and anyone that travels around the country will see the obvious benefits of this type of scheme.

For regional use, this type of plan may require you to pay long-distance charges but the airtime rates may be cheaper. Although most individuals prefer the prepaid option, this is not always the best cell phone plan option for travelers and business people.

Going for the most feature rich plan can cause some problems for your finances so you might want to consider toning down your usage options. While made for calling, phones can now be used for a lot more and cause you to unnecessarily rely on more functions at a higher price.

Are you really needing to browse the Internet over a small screen? Will you really need to reply to emails while driving? Ask yourself those questions before dedicating yourself to a long term plan with added features.

Use some common sense and make sure your relaxed and have the time to read all the terms and conditions of each added feature to your cell phone plan to make sure you are not going to be hurt financially by your calling plan.

One last thing to remember is it is not healthy being at everyone’s beck and call as it can cause stress and resentment, so don’t leave your cell phone switched on 24 hours a day.

As an Entrepreneur and a person that has a home business I know how important it is to have the right products and the best products at a available to me. I try to be consistent in where I buy my products, but hey, when a new website comes along and it really pulls at my interest I usually will switch over to the new-found site. High prices don’t always mean high quality at other sites online, and this is the type of thing you take notice at with these stores that aren’t classified as discount, but by looking at their prices you would think they were at a discount. Cheap prices also dont necassarily mean low quality! One of the main things I absolutely could not live with out is my PDA. It has my life stored on it, every friend, every business contact, every piece of information I ever need is on that thing!

Like I said above, cheap prices don’t necessarily mean cheap quality, especially if they are the same brand you would buy for double the original price than at the cheaper store. Hey, I’m all about saving money. If I can go to store A and buy a BlackBerry Curve 8320 Smartphone Titanium for $99 or go to store B and buy a BlackBerry Curve 8320 Smartphone Titanium for $400, which one do you really think I’m going to pick!!! Plus on a lot of these discount cell phone sites you can get major discounts by doing things you were already going to do anyway, like sign up for a new service plan or better yet they have huge rebates, like $100 off a phone. Its pretty incredible when you think about it!

And just because these cell stores are cheaper does not mean they wont have the same brands as everyone else does! The less expensive site also offers the same cellphones and acessories as the big whig stores such as:

Bluetooth – Blackberry, AT&T, LG Vu, Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, Sony, T-mobile, Kyocera

Camera Phones – Blackberry, Motorola, AT&T, Pantech, LG Voyager, Sony Ericson, Palm Centro

Broadband Cards – Verizon, Sony, Pantech, Kyocera , Sierra, Novatel

Prepaid – Starcom, Nokia, Sony, Samsung, LG

If I continue to go on, I will be here forever. Seriously these sites offer anything you will ever need. So what other categories do these sites offer? Well Ill just give you a little teaser and then you can go check it out yourself! You can look forward to things like flip phones, video, web enabled and wi-fi! I mean really, have you heard a part I have made yet that wouldn’t make you want to shop at these cheaper stores? I don’t really think there is a negative aspect to these stores, at all, whatsoever. Go check them out yourself. Pick a product or an item you bought from one of the big whig stores and compare it to the less pricier one. I’m sure you will see, exactly what I see!