Wireless companies have recently made changes to their data plans to save you money and entice new smartphone users.

Until recently, if you wanted a smart phone, you were forced to buy a data plan that typically cost around 30 dollars. It didn't matter if you barely used the internet on your phone or used it everyday to do things like stream movies, play music, surf the web, and get e-mails...everybody paid the same amount.

With the new tiered system, you have a choice and for most people, you can actually save some money.

AT&T offers a 200 MB plan for 15 bucks per month and a 2 GB plan for 25 a month.

Verizon offers a very similar setup

Both companies have an online calculator where you input what you plan for and based on what you input, it'll tell you how much data you would use in a month.

A couple of notes about these new tiered data plans... First, if you go over your allotted amount, you'll need to contact your wireless provider.

Both companies offer this solution with no penalty.

Second, there are options for parents who want to control how much their children use their phones.

These options are around 5 dollars per line, but could save you a bundle in the long run.

As with any tech, your best bet is to do your homework. Check out several phones and be sure to look at the online calculators to figure out which data plan suits you best.

Here's a few calculators that can help you out:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/splash_includes/datacalculator.html

http://www.att.com/standalone/data-calculator/index.html