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How To Get Smart About Tracking Your Phone Data Usage

CHICAGO (CBS) -- With the holiday shopping season in full force, smart phones are no doubt on a lot of lists. But how much data do you need?

Many major carriers are limiting -- or restricting -- data.

If you go over, your service could be slowed down. Or worse, you could be charged.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker asks: Do you know how much data you're using?

Well, you might want to. Carriers usually have some kind of limit or restriction on the data service to your phone. Going over can cost you money.

Let's say you're paying $30 dollars for 2 gigabytes of data per month.

To put that in perspective, download one photo from one friend, and that's probably 2 to 4 megabytes.

Smart-phone user Mason Upton says his priority is having access to his email at all times.

Simple emails, with just words, only use negligible amounts of data -- a fraction of a megabyte – or, just a fraction of a cent. The same goes for simple websites.

But what about apps?

Angry Birds, one of the most popular apps, is right around the 20 megabytes.

That means it costs you just less than 30 cents to download.

Games can be data hogs, but they're not the biggest. Geek Squad agent Jacob Golick says sending and receiving video is the quickest way to use up all those "megs" and "gigs."

Youtube is a big killer. Just one 10-minute video could cost you about 15 cents to watch or send. And watching a movie on Netflix can burn up hundreds of megabytes an hour -- costing you several dollars for just one movie.

By the way, the data you use watching a Netflix movie varies wildly and can be up to a gig an hour. That's half your monthly allowance right there.

Here's how to avoid going over your limit. First, there are apps that help you watch how much data you're using, like "3g watchdog."

Your provider might also have an app to keep track of your data. You can also use a wireless internet -- or wi-fi -- connection whenever you can, like at home or a coffee shop.

If you really want to watch those Netflix movies, you can lower the quality of video you get so you don't use that much data.

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