Me and my friends, usually. (Thinkstock)

Hi, my name is Alyssa, and I am a data hog.

It happened slowly, and then all at once. I’m not quite sure what pushed me over my limit. I just know that my phone is a source of endless entertainment and a necessary communication hub. I was never lucky enough to be grandfathered into an unlimited plan, and so before I could even hit Pause on my stream of the new Drake single, I was collecting $30 data overage surcharges on top of my $105 plan each month.

I’m not a Luddite, and yet I couldn’t tell what exactly was pushing me over. So I sought to understand my addiction. Below, I’ve detailed my journey, which, coincidentally, can serve as a comprehensive guide to breaking free from your data dependency and avoiding those pricey overages.

Confronting the truth

View photos Man reaching for smartphone More

SAME. (Thinkstock)

The first step is actually coming to terms with your usage. It’s easy to block out all the hours you’ve spent watching kittens on YouTube (or forcing your friends to watch them), and think your phone activities are under control. But until you face some cold, hard numbers, you’re basically in denial.

Most American data pushers provide monitoring tools. AT&T, for instance, has a section hidden away on its website called “Usage Reports” that will graph how much data in gigabytes, minutes, or texts you’ve gobbled up over a period of time of your choice. As you can see below, I’ve been kind of relapsing recently.

View photos Data Usage graph More

Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon all have similar tools. This is a helpful way to note your average usage and monthly habits and adjust your overall plan accordingly. But it’s not all that useful when it comes to actual real-time monitoring.

For that, the carriers offer a few different types of alerts that allow you to see the data you’re burning through while you’re using your phone. Each carrier has an app for this:

1. AT&T’s is called myAT&T and is available on Android, BlackBerry, iOS, and Windows.

2. Sprint’s is named Sprint Center and/or Sprint Zone and is available on Android and iOS.

3. T-Mobile’s is called T-Mobile My Account and is available on Android, BlackBerry, iOS, and Windows.

4. And, finally, Verizon’s is named My Verizon Mobile and is available on Android, BlackBerry, and iOS.

As you might expect, these apps aren’t always the most well-designed software. A lot of them are poorly rated and don’t allow you to create push notifications to alert you when you’re nearing your data limit. No surprise there, since they were, after all, designed by your data pushers.

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