The economy stinks for you, but it really stinks for providers of services that can easily be scaled back-like cell phone providers. On the one hand, they may fight harder to keep you paying for data plans, text messages, and other “value added” items, but they really, truly don’t want to lose you as a customer.

If you can’t re-negotiate a better deal, though, take a tip from PC Magazine columnist Sascha Segan and cut your phone bill by actually jumping ship (to a pay-as-you-go phone), then let them come crawling back with a package pitch.

Stuck in a contract with a huge cancellation fee? Check out contract-swapping sites like CellTradeUSA.com and CellSwapper.com, which make use of (legal!) trade clauses and might just help you escape your contract.