Compare phone cards and calling plans. If you’re going abroad, it might be cheaper to bill your calls to your home phone or arrange for people to call you. If you’re traveling in the US, a calling card will almost always cost less than the rates from your hotel room.

Set up a hotmail account and e-mail home. The account is free, and access is usually a lot cheaper than a phone call. A phone call from Viet Nam to the US, for example, can cost $7.00 per minute. (Yes, you read that right!) Internet access in one of the many cyber cafés in Hanoi is generally about $4.00 per hour: definitely a better rate. You’ll find similar bargains in other countries. Cyber cafés are springing up all over the world and many hotels offer free or cheap Internet access, as well.