If you consider taking out a second mortgage on your home every month when the cellphone bill arrives, you might want to check out BillShrink. This web-based service lets you compare cellphone plans in the most useful ways possible. It shows you which plans can save you money and which companies provided the most reliable coverage in your neighborhood.

The toolbar at the top of the page lets you describe how much you're currently paying for service and then you can drag a few sliders around to show the number of lines, anytime minutes, text messages, and data minutes you need. BillShrink will then try to find a plan that matches your criteria for less than you're currently paying. If there's one that meets your needs and has a strong signal in your area, it will show up at the top of the list. If there's one with a weak signal in your area, it will move down the list a bit.

You can click on any plan to see additional details or to see comparable plans from other wireless carriers. And you can sign up for service, at which point BillShrink redirects you to the carrier's web site. The only problem we see with this service is that it doesn't account for local fees and taxes. So if you normally pay $95 per month for your phone service, you might accidentally input that value and see a whole bunch of bargains before realizing that your actual plan is closer to $75 while the rest is fees that would apply no matter which carrier you use. Not that we made this mistake the first time we checked out BillShrink. Nope. No siree.

[via MakeUseOf]