HAVE YOU STUDIED YOUR

phone bill lately? In case you haven't noticed, talk ain't cheap. In fact, it's getting more expensive with each passing month.

The Big Three phone carriers have had a busy summer planning hikes in fees and per-minute rates on their calling plans. Starting Nov. 1, MCI customers will pay 17% more ($6.95 a month) for its Anytime Advantage Plan. Sept. 1, AT&T increased the weekday rate for its One Rate Weekends plan by 28% to nine cents a minute. And in August, Sprint introduced its customers to a 3% universal-service-fund fee in addition to increasing other fees and taxes.

These are just the latest increases after hikes in other plans took effect over the past five months. "Lately, the major carriers have been increasing rates and fees on a bimonthly to monthly basis," says Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of SaveOnPhone.com, a consumer Web site that rates long-distance providers. "And unfortunately for their customers, there are no additional services."

The good news: There are legitimate ways to cut your costs besides calling friends and family when you know they won't be home, leaving them no choice but to return your call on their dime. Here are seven ways to save:

1. Come Up With a Plan
First and foremost, if you don't already have a long-distance calling plan, get one. Those who don't have one spend as much as 72% more using the basic rates offered by local carriers, according to Consumer Action's 2002-03 Long Distance Survey. The consumer research and advocacy group found that, based on 126 minutes of interstate calls, AT&T customers could save $21.93 to $25.20 per month, while MCI customers could save $13.80 to $18.91. Sprint customers would cut their bill by anywhere from $12.80 to $18.91.

In this case, ignorance is anything but bliss. "The major phone carriers have been segmenting the market into informed and uninformed consumers," says Marc-David Seidel, co-founder of ABTolls.com, a consumer long-distance comparison Web site, "and they've consistently been raising the rates for the uninformed consumers, relying on the fact that they won't notice."

To determine which calling plan is right for you, take a look at your old phone bills to get a sense of your calling habits. Study how much time you spend on both local and long-distance calls. Then find a calling plan that best suits your needs either with your carrier or from another provider.

2. Switch to a Low-Cost Provider
Believe it or not, there's phone service beyond the big three. "There are a number of low-price long-distance alternatives out there that don't have nearly the overhead expenses the big companies have," says Hardekopf.

Low-price providers, like Total Call International and Americom, buy time in bulk from the big carriers (in this case, Sprint and Qwest, respectively) and resell it using a generic name, at much lower rates. "It's like when supermarkets sell products carrying their own name it's the same product as the branded one, but it's much cheaper," Seidel explains. And generally speaking, the sound quality of these providers should be on par with the major carriers, says Hardekopf, since they use the same network.

So how much can you save? For those with the gift of gab, quite a bit. You can get a long-distance plan with Capsule Communications, for example, for 3.9 cents a minute, something you re not likely to find at a major carrier. A number of Web sites, including ABTolls.com and SaveOnPhone.com, have search engines that can help consumers find the cheapest services based on where they live and their monthly in-state and long-distance usage. We like these sites because they prescreen carriers based on the quality of their services, including customer-response times, before they include them in their listings.

But before switching to a company you've never heard of before, do some research. As with any phone carrier, there might be monthly fees in addition to the per-minute rates, and the low long-distance charges might be offset by higher in-state or international rates. There's also the risk that a small company could go belly up. But even if this happens, your long-distance service may not be interrupted, since other companies often step in and take over the customer base, says David Heim, deputy editor of Consumer Reports magazine.

3. Dial Around
Ever wondered whether those "dial around" services like 10-10-220 or 10-16-789 are really worth it? For some callers, the answer is a resounding "yes." These services allow users to make a long-distance call through their main carrier by dialing the service's (usually seven-digit) number beforehand. By using 10-10-220, for example, consumers pay 99 cents for calls up to 20 minutes and seven cents per minute after that. That's a pretty good deal, provided you know you won't get an answering machine and you'll talk for at least 20 minutes. To compare the various 10-10 phone rates, click here.

4. Unlimited Long-Distance Plans
People whose phones are practically attached to their ears can save big by going with an unlimited long-distance plan (which is offered by most major carriers). Such plans allow you to talk...and talk...and talk...all for a set monthly fee. And often the company will throw in extra services, such as call-waiting, three-way calling or even a high-speed Internet connection or a wireless plan.

With Verizon's Freedom plan, for example, you get unlimited local and long distance and extras like caller ID for a little over $50 (before taxes and fees). If you're spending more than $50 a month on long distance anyway, this might be a very competitive deal, says Consumer Reports' Heim, who uses this type of plan at home because his teenagers spend so much time on the phone that he wonders "how the phone doesn't melt."

5. When Away From Home, Use a Prepaid Card
Remember the phone card you got in your first long-distance bill, along with a letter encouraging you to use it anytime you're away from home? It's no bargain. When Consumer Action tested these services, they found that a 10-minute call from Chicago to Los Angeles cost $11.40 with an MCI card, and $10.15 with Sprint or AT&T. And calls from abroad? Forget about it.

Linda Sherry, a spokeswoman for Consumer Action, suggests that if you know you're going to use a card a lot, you can call the carrier and try to set up a calling plan for it, just like you would with your home line. "Sometimes, you can get a deal as good as 25 cents a minute," she says. That's much better than the $1-plus you'd pay otherwise.

Alternatively, look for a decent prepaid calling card (which you can often buy in a convenience store), Sherry suggests. Some of the qualities to look for are per-minute rates under five cents, no per-call connection or maintenance fees and pay-phone surcharges of 50 cents or less. Consumer Action's Prepaid Phone Card Industry Survey lists a number of reputable names to choose from.

Another alternative for travelers are prepaid long-distance providers like BigZoo and OneSuite, which sell prepaid long-distance time charged to a credit or debit card. Customers use the service by dialing a toll-free or local-access number and then using a personal identification number.

6. Slap It on Plastic
Some carriers will waive their monthly fees or cut per-minute rates if you pay your bill online. "They pass on the savings from not printing out paper bills, if you like," Seidel says. For example, MCI customers who sign up for the company's e-pay system get $1 credited on their bill each month. And the lesser-known carriers may offer significantly better deals that that: A search on ABTolls.com found that, for example, AireSpring's 3.5 cents per minute plan has no monthly fee for credit-card payers, but charges $2.99 for users who want a paper bill and make less than $15 worth of calls per month.

The drawback, of course, is that paying with plastic could simply increase the debt burden of those who don't pay off their bills each month. Those who fall into this category are better off finding other ways to cut costs.

7. Keep It Simple
It might sound obvious, but make sure you don't pay for things you don't need, says Sherry. For example, do you really need three-way calling? And is it really so hard to dig out the phone book rather than calling information?

Finally, "don't treat rates as a once-in-a-lifetime thing," says Heim. It generally costs $5 to switch your long-distance plan or provider, and often carriers will be willing to waive charges for you if you convince them you're worth keeping as a customer. After all, carriers are competing for you and you should be the one to walk out with the better deal.