Aug. 22--If you have a personal cell phone, you owe it to yourself to try a new online software tool that could show you how to save money with a cheaper wireless plan.

It's free. It's not financed by wireless companies, so it won't steer you to clients' products like so many online sites that aren't clearly labeled as advertising. And it doesn't collect your information, so there should be no danger of a privacy breach.

If you already have the best plan for your dollar, it will tell you so.

We simply couldn't find a downside to this tool.

Click onto it at CUBcellphonesaver.com/.

You'll find it on the site of the Citizens Utility Board of Illinois, one of the most active consumer advocate groups.

You don't have to live in Illinois; you can use the software wherever you live.

Cellphone Saver analyzes your wireless bill at a rate of 1 second per line. By reading the call records on your bill, it tells you if you can save money by changing carriers. (But beware of exit fees if you do switch.)

It also tells you if you can save money with your current carrier by dropping an unnecessary service or changing to a cheaper plan. Sticking with your carrier avoids exit fees.

Cellphone Saver is set up to analyze residential bills with five or fewer cell lines. It won't analyze company bills and you can't use it unless you already have a plan to compare. It can't help you choose a cell phone.

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You'll need access to online billing at one of the Big Five carriers: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular or Verizon.

Some consumers want to stick with paper bills. They can sign up for online billing and switch back to paper as soon as they finish using Cellphone Saver.

During initial testing, CUB says Cellphone Saver showed consumers how to save an average of $260 per year. That's more than our limited testing found, but perhaps our testers were savvier shoppers.

The analysis showed CUB spokesman Jim Chilsen that he and his wife already were on the best plan for them, "to my relief," he said. "But it also nabbed a duplicate 'roadside assistance' charge for which my wife and I had been shelling out $70 a year."

Cassandra Frieson was an early tester and she thought the software was "really cool." It advised her to consider dropping the $7 per month insurance plan on her 18-year-old daughter's cell.

A typical such policy carries a $50 deductible. If Frieson filed a claim after two years, she'd have to pay the deductible plus $168 in premiums and she might get a replacement cell that's refurbished and not be as good as the original.

"That made sense to me," said Frieson, a technology specialist in Chicago for IBM. She dropped the insurance.

Our testing found that there is a learning curve to use the software, although it's not too steep.

One of my colleagues, Mark, a researcher, found that he could save $5 per month, but he would have to switch to a plan with 200 minutes a month instead of the 450 minutes he has now. "The $5 savings is not worth it to me," he said.

While the analysis is free to you, CUB must pay the software developer and asks that each consumer help with a donation.

"We can't offer the services we do without help from consumers," Chilsen says.

A couple of ex-Verizon phone company employees developed the software for a small start-up company in suburban Houston that they named Validas Inc.

Validas offers more detailed services on its website (myvalidas.com) for a charge.

CEO Tom Pepe says Validas makes its money from clients, both business and consumers, and receives no compensation from carriers.

Among other things, the service calculates unused minutes and text messaging.

Pepe calls his software "Turbo Tax on wheels" for wireless customers.

CUB's Cellphone Saver is still a work in progress, and CUB asks anyone who needs help to e-mail questions to the "comments" section on Cellphone Saver.

The top five wireless companies sell more than 200 plans, which can change daily. There's no central resource for consumers to find out about all these plans. So it's a veritable jungle out there for the nation's 263 million cell users when they shop for a wireless plan.

CUB's Cellphone Saver should be a real service for consumers, and we want to hear from you how it works. Send your comments to my e-mail address below.

msorkin@post-dispatch.com -- 314-340-8347

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