VIRGINIA BEACH – It can cost a lot to reach out and touch someone.

These days, everyone has a phone -- or two – whether it’s the traditional land-line or a cell phone or both.

Michelle Doy, an advertising account manager, works from home and is always looking to cut phone costs.

"I have calls that I make across the country and they're minimum 30 to 60 minutes every time I make a call," she says. "We had unlimited minutes, but that's, you know, $200, $300, $400 a month, so that was ridiculous so we were looking at ways to cut the costs," notes Michelle.

The Doy household can save money by using Internet-based long distance phone service, notes Gregory Karp, author of Living Rich By Spending Smart.

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"You want to pay attention to both your land-line home phone and your cell-phone.. you can save a lot of money just by knowing what's out there and what plans.. you want to right-size these plans for what you actually use."

Karp’s book lays out many ways to keep thousands of dollars in your pocket.

He says the new technology – the Magic Jack – can save big money.

Here are the requirements. You will have to have broadband internet service, Microsoft Windows Vista or XP, or Apple / Mac. Then you just pay 20 dollars a year.

Doy admits she was skeptical at first.

"I thought for sure there was going to be a catch, but there hasn't been," she says.

The typical family spends about $600 a year on a home phone line and long distance calls.  Switching to Magic Jack will save you $560 the first year.

If you don’t have broadband Internet access, Karp says there are a half-dozen Websites to help you find lower home long distance rates.

Karp's next big savings idea depends on how you use your cell phone.

Karp says the average cell phone user pays about $720 a year for 1,000 minutes a month.

"I use my phone a lot, but I don't use it for a lot of minutes. So if you use 300 minutes or less, you really want to check-out prepaid plans," Karp suggests.

Switching to a prepaid cell and buying two $100 air-time cards would put your annual bill at $200, saving you $520.

Most cell phone service providers offer pre-paid merchandise and calling plans.

Verizon, for example, offers refill cards with all the costs are built-in.

So, for home and cell phone service, you can potentially save nearly $1,100.

So far, we’ve saved more than $4,400 with smart grocery shopping, looking at insurance deductions and now telecommunications services.

On Thursday, tips for rounding out 10 simple ways to save $5,000 -- with some smaller ways to stash your cash.