How Can I Make Cheap Calls on a Smartphone?

Calling minutes are losing their value so fast that Verizon, for instance, is just throwing unlimited minutes into its new plans - which take effect at the end of the month - and differentiating plans based on monthly data allotments.

Huge chunk of minutes

You may not need a huge chunk of minutes, but at times you do have to talk, whether it's calling the parents or having a serious discussion. Prospective employers do interview by phone, however probably not by SMS. [Talk Is Cheap, but On occasion It's Worth More Than Text]

Perhaps some months you scarcely make actual phone calls. Nevertheless occasionally you will want to talk longer - say, if you are away from your significant other or your children, or if you have to make a bunch of business calls. Your best option is to skimp on calling minutes and take advantage of your data plan using an Internet calling service, at times called Voice over IP, or VoIP.

The two obvious choices are Google Voice

The two obvious choices are Google Voice and Skype. Google Voice can't be beat for price: It's free in the U.S. and Canada, with cheap rates to most other countries. Calling a cellphone is just two cents per minute to India or China, 10 cents to Germany and 15 cents to Brazil, for example

Skype is more expensive if you are calling a "real" phone. It's $3 per month for the U.S. and Canada, and has, for instance, per-minute rates to cellphones of 10.6 cents to India and 29.1 cents to Germany.

But Skype calls are free to anyone in the world if they are as well using the Skype app - whether on a smartphone or on a computer - and that includes video calls. Given how many people already use Skype, it's a good app to have.

If you want to get your phone subsidized, Sprint's $80-per-month two-year contract plan is probably best. It provides 450 calling minutes, with unlimited texting and data. 

To actually save, get a no-contract plan from Virgin or T-Mobile. You'll pay more for the phone, nevertheless save big-time over a year or two. [Buying Virgin Mobile iPhone Like Signing 8-Month Contract]

Virgin charges $35 per month for 450 minutes, unlimited texting and 2.5 GB of data. To go all-in for Internet calling, try T-Mobile's $30 per month plan. It has a meager 100 minutes of calling however unlimited data and text.