Cost-Sharing Cell Phone Lines

[graham2181]

Hi,
I have an old t-mobile plan that offers me 4 lines for ~100 bucks. Unlimited calling and text and 4 Gb of data. Current t-mobile plans like that offer 2 lines for 100$. So for my current plan I need only two lines, which I keep active the rest are not.

I was wondering if someone tried an idea to share their extra lines with other folks to reduce costs for both?
I was thinking if you paid me ~30$ for both lines we could both cut our bill in half.

 

[Bamaman]

No, I wouldn't think about sharing a phone line with anyone. Everyone should stand on their own two feet.

I won't even share my Fire 8 password with anyone (like grandkids.) I found $132 in game charges on my Visa last month by my grandson who thought the games were free.

I remember the many times my daughter has shared lines, and got stuck with bills she couldn't pay. And her FICO score shows it to this day. I hate to think of the $ thousands she has cost us on cellphone bills.

After 36 years of being on the phone the majority day at work, I seldom use a telephone to talk. And I love being low tech--without any cellphone.

 

[jebmke]

Terms may also not allow this.

 

[Ready]

If it was with a close family member (even a cousin, aunt, etc)...maybe. Otherwise I would not want to mingle my phone usage with others to save a few dollars.

I am thinking of switching from AT&T to T-Mobile though. They have a 2 line plan (55+) for $70, which includes all taxes and fees. We pay around $130 for the same plans through AT&T.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I have 8-10 friends and family on my AT&T plan. I did this a few years ago when getting a cell phone for DC which caused me to go off of my very old grandfathered unlimited plan. After investigating it, I figured we could get the per device cost down to around $28 per line (after mega corp discount).

It works because these are all adults (or family) that I have known for a long time and none are data hogs. (We share a 15 Gig monthly data plan = 1.5 GB per device.) Some use < 1/2 Gig on a typical month. Last month 8 cell phones used under 5 GB in total.

Fast forward a few years (to now) and there are other things out there that are more competitive with this. I've moved my child to a cricket plan w/5GB so I don't have to hassle him about how much data to use - if he uses up the plan allotment Cricket data limits him to 128Kb/sec data but no overage charge.

Again, this doesn't work for everyone - but it does for us. The friends part pay me electronically (auto pay) like clockwork.

 

[homestead]

I am on my son-in-law's Cricket plan with 5 unlimited lines for $100/mo.
I pay $20/mo and is working out great.
This plan is grandfathered and not currently avail. , but you can get 4 Cricket lines for $100.

 

[Cobra9777]

4GB of data is nothing for 4 lines, especially if you're going to share it with somebody you can't control. You also can't control what content they access on the internet, which could be illegal.

Ditch the old plan and get an MVNO. Ting will give you wholesale access to the T-Mobile network and you pay only for what you use. DW and I are fairly heavy users, although we're careful to use WiFi whenever available to reduce our mobile data usage. We also use Wifi calling and texting when we can. Our average cost per month per phone is $15-20.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Our DS is on our plan. He will stay there and pay his share, as long as it makes financial sense to do so. We were paying $80/line for 3 phones. About a year ago, we switched to $50/line, 3 new iPhone 7s (bad color-they couldn't give them away, LOL). We were on Verizon, and we switched to Credo Mobile which uses the Verizon network. And now unlimited data, more texts and phone calls we would ever do. Other networks in our area are too lousy to consider.

Would we share with other friends and family---no. My trust in others has gone down over the decades, which is the main problem. We only have one friend we mutually trust 100%--and he just retired from AT&T, so that isn't going to happen, LOL.

Credo Mobile has a decidedly liberal political bent, but if you lean that way, it is a pretty darn good deal.

 

[Dean56]

I am thinking of switching from AT&T to T-Mobile though. They have a 2 line plan (55+) for $70, which includes all taxes and fees. We pay around $130 for the same plans through AT&T.

Sprint has a similar plan called Unlimited 55+
https://www.sprint.com/en/shop/plans/55-unlimited.html

 

[REWahoo]

... you can get 4 Cricket lines for $100.

+1

DW and I have the 4/$100 Cricket unlimited plan. Two of our grandchildren are also on the plan since their parents have company supplied phones. Paying me $50/mo for two unlimited lines for their kids is a bargain.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I am on my son-in-law's Cricket plan with 5 unlimited lines for $100/mo.
I pay $20/mo and is working out great.
This plan is grandfathered and not currently avail. , but you can get 4 Cricket lines for $100.

Yes, this was a great deal and is the reason I moved my son to Cricket. My intention was to perhaps move 5 lines there to capture the 5 for $100 deal. The issue I ran into (even though Cricket uses AT&T network) is that Cricket had/has lower Mb/s limits than AT&T and some people were hesitant to make the move. I confirmed this with the same phone/ switch sim - AT&T was much faster on speedtest.net -- but in terms of every day experience, I really couldn't tell any difference.

It can be a pain to get old folks to change.

 

[GA_Brown]

To answer the OP question, it depends on the phone plan and participants. If you have a shared data plan, It can be an issue if you go over the allotted data. Also the hassle of collecting payment from multiple plan users. Inviting non immediate family members to share your plan because it is cheaper for them is just inviting more hassle into your life IMHO.

We have an unlimited family plan with 5 lines. Our 2 children (25 & 23) and I just added my dads line. My dad and mom had their own plan but mom passed and now I’m responsible for paying all dads bills, it was cheaper and more convient for me to add his line to my plan, one less bill to pay.

 

[Chuckanut]

+1

DW and I have the 4/$100 Cricket unlimited plan. Two of our grandchildren are also on the plan since their parents have company supplied phones. Paying me $50/mo for two unlimited lines for their kids is a bargain.

WOW! I am in awe of your money saving skills. But, if you looked like you were going to walk into my store, I would close it immediately!

 

[Scuba]

I wouldn’t do this as I think it’s best if friends and adult family members do not depend on us financially.