Call Kurtis: Can New Website Save You Money on Your Cell Phone Bill?

An online company claims it can save you money on your cell bill for free.  It's called SaveLoveGive.  The company says Americans have cell phone plans they never fully use.  One Roseville family says the new service worked for them.

After buying her kids an iPad, Nola Nemeth-Odens says the family's Verizon bill including a couple cell phones skyrocketed to $455 a month.

"Our jaws hit the floor.  We didn't quite understand how we went from a standard bill to almost a $500 bill," said Nemeth-Odens.

So she downgraded her family's Verizon plan to a more affordable $196 a month.  But then she learned of SaveLoveGive.com, which analyzes cell bills for free to see how you can save money.

"So we now know what you have, what you use, and we tell you  here are the four plans that could be better for you," said the company's co-founder, Todd Dunphy.

Dunphy used to work for a major carrier, and says he started the company after seeing "wireless waste" first-hand.

"It's not fair for people to buy 10 gigs and use 2," said Dunphy.

And once they find that savings, the website gives you the choice of donating your savings to charity.

Nemeth-Odens had to give the site her Verizon username and password to her online account which she had no problem doing.  But is that a good idea?

"Our overall recommendation is that you protect your password," said Joanne McNabb, Director of Privacy Education and Policy for the California Attorney General's Office.

McNabb says many of us use the same password for multiple accounts these days, which poses a risk if you turn that password over to a third party.

"If you use that same password many places. you may be exposing financial information, medical information, information you really do want to keep confidential," said McNabb.

But SaveLoveGive says security is a top priority, and they don't sell or share your information.

"We don't take the data and give it to anyone," said Dunphy.

So what's in it for them? Right now, they say they aren't making any money with SaveLoveGive, but they do with their established company, Validas which offers similar services to companies and government agencies.

SaveLoveGive found Nemeth-Odens' family was still paying too much for data and got her bill knocked down another $40 a month, which is a big drop from that first month.

"From $455 to $150 is a pretty good thing," said Nemeth-Odens.

SaveLoveGive says it does store your passwords and your usage information.  They say all sensitive data it collects is encrypted.

Why do they need this?  They want it as they later roll out a premium paid service that will constantly keep an eye on your bill and can tell you if there are cheaper options. Another premium service they plan on rolling out involves comparing your carrier to its competitors.

SaveLoveGive can only analyze bills for Verizon, AT&T and Sprint right now.