So, our company Nextel bill came in the mail yesterday... It has slowly crept up to just over $400 a month. Heartburn city, let me tell you.

So, I figured I'd give Nextel a call to see what we could do to lower my costs. We have an extra phone on the account we're not using, so I knew I could put that phone in "seasonal standby" for a few months, which drops the cost, but I wasn't sure what other options might be available.

I was connected to a wonderful customer service representative named Elizabeth. She reviewed our services, compared options, and came back with fantastic news.

She was able to reduce our monthly bill by over $100 per month, and at the same time, give us unlimited data, unlimited texting, 500 more minutes per month, AND unlimited Blackberry data service. Oh, and unlimited direct connect (the reason we use Nextel).

The lesson here I suppose to to review these monthly bills and check in once in a while with the vendor. They have a way of slowly going up.