Mobile phone bills

~ Keep tabs on the number of calls you make per day. Avoid extended conversation and pointless chatting. When at home, use your landline. Refrain from sending continuous SMSes.

~ Prepaid services are the best option -- they help keep a tab on the expense incurred. They also curtail excessive calling due to the low balance available at most times. Prepaid users should try buying a prepaid card with Rs 3,200 for the entire year as almost all your money's worth is converted to talk time.

~ Make a note of which service provider your friends have chosen and opt for the same one to avail of group schemes offered by most operators.

~ Try and switch to CDMA phones. They are much cheaper for extended call durations and intra-network calls. Also, these phones offer cheaper messaging services and many value-added services for free.

~ Avoid messaging four-digit numbers to get score updates, horoscopes, etc. They are prohibitively expensive in GSM phones.

~ Instead of downloading ringtones and screensavers, try getting them from friends.

Now that you have this tips to begin with, use your imagination.

You could end up saving a tidy amount to splurge on what you really need.

Remember, if you are smart, you can have fun without getting broke!