Tips for minimizing out-of-network data usage?

Every year, we take a family vacation for two weeks to rural Maine. We don't have wi-fi access, and although we can get cell-phone coverage on our AT&T phones, it's on the extended network. For the first couple years that we went with our iPhones, using cellular data was fairly slow, but otherwise we had no problems. Last year, however, we heard from AT&T about our out-of-network data usage on our iPhone 4 (my wife's) and 4S (mine). We both received warnings, and in my case I was eventually cut off from all out-of-network data for the duration of my billing period. It turns out there was a latency in terms of when the data usage was reported to AT&T, so that by the time I received the initial warning, I had already exceeded the limit. (Keep in mind, this is not about going over my overall data-plan limit -- I was on unlimited data at the time -- it's about using too much extended-network data, which I had never even realized was a thing, but which apparently costs AT&T a lot of money.)



This year, I want to be smarter about my data usage. Here are a few of the things I'm going to try. I would appreciate feedback on a) how effective they're likely to be, or b) any other tips you can think of. I should also mention that what might have been the most effective tactic -- changing my billing cycle so that it occurs in the middle of our trip -- is not available to us.



1. Unsubscribe from HTML-heavy newsletters

2. Turn off notifications

3. Turn off location awareness (or at least only using it when absolutely necessary)

4. Use Onavo Extend (no idea how effective that is, but I figure it can't hurt)

5. Check email via the Gmail app, and only look at the main inbox (will this allow me to avoid downloading other emails? If not, is there another way to accomplish that goal?)

6. Don't download podcasts or any other large files

7. Turn off Siri (which I don't use much anyway)



And of course, the best approach of all: Put down the damn iPhone and just enjoy my vacation. :-)



What do you think? Will these work? Anything I'm missing?

via iLounge Forums http://forums.ilounge.com/iphone/278156-tips-minimizing-out-network-data-usage.html