Here's the story that will finally convince you to call your cell phone company, no matter how long you've been putting it off

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Just do it.

I put off calling my cell phone company to negotiate a better rate for about six months.

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It's tedious, and frustrating, and endless other, equally unappealing tasks kept getting in the way.

I was going to call them tonight. This weekend. During my walk to work.

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But I never did.

So when I finally popped into a Verizon store to upgrade my iPhone 4S (yes, I know, it's a dinosaur, etc.) before it took its last, shuddering breath and left me without a phone, Google maps, or a camera, the associate took one look at my account and winced. "You've been overpaying for years," she told me. "You should have been paying about half of this."

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Half. Half of my bill. That means I was overpaying by 100%. I was paying double what I needed to pay. For years.

I had been paying about $98 per month for ... I don't know. A while. More than two years, definitely, because I finished out my two-year contract. Apparently, Verizon no longer even offers the plan I was paying for, and the plan it does offer is unlimited talk and text and 3GB more data for about half the price.

Now, I am paying for a brand new iPhone, unlimited talk and text, and phone insurance through Verizon, without any kind of committed contract, for about $85 a month (exact amount to to be determined upon the arrival of my first bill). More than $10 less a month - saving over $100 a year - with brand new hardware, more storage, and more capability.

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My most recent cell phone bill. I thought everyone paid this much.

And if I had never gone in and asked, I would have kept right on overpaying. It wasn't even a matter of negotiating. No hardball. No "I'm leaving" posturing. No wheedling or research required.

I don't even really blame the company. Who was going to go through my bill with a fine-tooth comb to see if I was overpaying?

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This isn't a story about saving money on your phone in general. If I wanted to do that, I could buy a second-hand iPhone off eBay (a solution suggested by our tech team when I asked - just be diligent about reading the sellers' reviews!), or even better, buy a different, cheaper model of Android. I could have hooked it up to the obscenely cheap Republic Wireless, and subsisted largely off wifi.

But that's not what I was after. All I wanted was a new operating system that wouldn't shut off just when I needed it most, preferably staying at Verizon because it's the only network that gets coverage everywhere I ever go (except JFK terminal 8, for some reason).

This is a story about asking. About not psyching yourself out. If you have 10 minutes in next week, give your provider a call, or drop in to a storefront, and just ask: Is my phone plan the lowest I could be paying right now?

You might be surprised by what they say.

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