Saving Money on Wireless Service

[Hermit]

Ever since I caught the FIRE bug, I have been looking for ways to save $$ and accelerate my retirement date.

One big monthly expense that seemed untouchable was our cellular service. We were spending appx $260/month for 5 lines of service with data.

3 of the lines were for our now grown-up kids and they started contributed a share once they moved out on their own. But, we still paid the lion's share which came to about $150/month.

In addition to reading a lot about savings and retirement, I've also been reading about "minimalism". So, after a recent chat with the Princess (i.e., daughter) who is very much into a simple lifestyle, the wife and I decided to get rid of our smartphones.

We notified the other kids and told them they would need to find their own plans. Then, we started looking for a simple plan of our own.

The best deal I found was Cricket Wireless. I had read a lot of good things about Consumer Cellular, but that would require us to buy new phones. While my wife's iPhone is 3 years old, mine is less than 2 years old and I didn't like the idea of having to buy 2 new phones when we still have 2 perfectly good iPhones.

With Cricket Wireless I was able to get a plain talk and text (no data) plan using our iPhones. Out of pocket cost for the 2 lines: $50/mo.

So, I'm pretty happy to have found a way to save an add'l $100/mo.

Thanks to this lengthy thread and some links from it, I have been able to do just the opposite. I just ordered a plan and sim card from Boom Mobile. So am going from a flip phone that I pay just under $30/mo with Verizon to a smart phone plan on the Verizon network that I pay just under $30/mo with 2 Gb of data/mo. The cheapest I could get on Verizon's network with my smart phone was $80/mo. Their off shore affiliate was $50/mo. I hope this new MVNO works out OK. So far, everything seems quite easy and they have their support staff here in the US.

 

[CoolRich59]

Thanks to this lengthy thread and some links from it, I have been able to do just the opposite.

There is a wealth of information in this thread. If my Luddite experience does not pan out, I will be returning to this thread to check out some of the suggestions.

 

[ChrisTexas]

Ever since I caught the FIRE bug, I have been looking for ways to save $$ and accelerate my retirement date.



One big monthly expense that seemed untouchable was our cellular service. We were spending appx $260/month for 5 lines of service with data.



3 of the lines were for our now grown-up kids and they started contributed a share once they moved out on their own. But, we still paid the lion's share which came to about $150/month.



In addition to reading a lot about savings and retirement, I've also been reading about "minimalism". So, after a recent chat with the Princess (i.e., daughter) who is very much into a simple lifestyle, the wife and I decided to get rid of our smartphones.



We notified the other kids and told them they would need to find their own plans. Then, we started looking for a simple plan of our own.



The best deal I found was Cricket Wireless. I had read a lot of good things about Consumer Cellular, but that would require us to buy new phones. While my wife's iPhone is 3 years old, mine is less than 2 years old and I didn't like the idea of having to buy 2 new phones when we still have 2 perfectly good iPhones.



With Cricket Wireless I was able to get a plain talk and text (no data) plan using our iPhones. Out of pocket cost for the 2 lines: $50/mo.



So, I'm pretty happy to have found a way to save an add'l $100/mo.

Everybody needs to get over their love affair with ATT, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile. In general they are all great networks. Maybe your leave in the country and in this case your neighbors will tell you what Network to buy. Secondly buy older or used phones. For example, an IPhone 5S works great, you can’t wait to get a newer iPhone or Android. Finally, pick a no contract company that works flawlessly if you like data, unlimited calls and text. Republic, mint, etc are for non phone user penny pinchers.
In our case we pay $60a month for two phones that share 15Gb on total wireless. It’s the Verizon Network. Final,y, we lay very little taxes on the bill. The big four will advertise a rate then slap on lots of extra fees. Finally, if you get sucked into a new expensive IPhone or Android your fear of damage makes you buy some Insurance. My iPhone 5s cost me $99 new, if it breaks I will repair or replace. So go get you some Total Wireless, Cricket, etc and you will be happy.

 

[Cobra9777]

We've used Ting for about 4 years now and are quite happy with the pay-for-what-you-use design of the service. For light users like us, it is very cheap. We usually pay around $35-40/mo for two smartphones. We're currently on the GSM network (T-Mobile), which we've found to be a bit more reliable than CDMA (Sprint) in the areas we usually need mobile service.

At home and most other places, we use WiFi instead of Ting mobile data. We also have a landline which costs us nothing, using an Obi-200 VoIP adapter. So we rarely use Ting voice minutes at home. And we both use Hangouts for messaging, which keeps our combined text count near zero, and again is totally free on WiFi. I also use Hangouts for voice calls on Wifi and mobile, although DW prefers to use the traditional cell phone functionality.

With all that, the only reason our Ting bill is $35-40 is we are both heavy Google Maps users while driving. We live in an area with insanely unpredictable traffic. So we always have navigation on when driving just for the real-time traffic updates. Over the years, the traffic info on Google Maps has become really good and the ability to navigate around problems is worth the data charges, IMO. Yes, you can use Google Maps in offline mode, but you won't get real-time traffic, which is the whole point in our case.

 

[ivinsfan]

Everybody needs to get over their love affair with ATT, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile. In general they are all great networks. Maybe your leave in the country and in this case your neighbors will tell you what Network to buy. Secondly buy older or used phones. For example, an IPhone 5S works great, you can’t wait to get a newer iPhone or Android. Finally, pick a no contract company that works flawlessly if you like data, unlimited calls and text. Republic, mint, etc are for non phone user penny pinchers.
In our case we pay $60a month for two phones that share 15Gb on total wireless. It’s the Verizon Network. Final,y, we lay very little taxes on the bill. The big four will advertise a rate then slap on lots of extra fees. Finally, if you get sucked into a new expensive IPhone or Android your fear of damage makes you buy some Insurance. My iPhone 5s cost me $99 new, if it breaks I will repair or replace. So go get you some Total Wireless, Cricket, etc and you will be happy.

Which carrier? I I'm under the impression Verizon doesnt offer a low priced partner carrier.

 

[REWahoo]

Which carrier? I I'm under the impression Verizon doesnt offer a low priced partner carrier.

Here's a list of all the MVNOs in the US. Several use the Verizon network:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_mobile_virtual_network_operators

 

[ivinsfan]

Here's a list of all the MVNOs in the US. Several use the Verizon network:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_mobile_virtual_network_operators

Great resource

 

[Dog]

It really is incredible how "disruptive" smartphones have been.



No longer need a camera.



No longer need a Nuvi or GPS device.



No longer need an alarm clock.



No longer need a watch.



No longer an iPod or MP3 player.



I'm sure there are others, but this what I thought of offhand.

BINGO....and add to the list a radio in in the car with podcasts and multiple music options.

 

[ziggy29]

Everybody needs to get over their love affair with ATT, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile.

Well, you can use other MVNOs, but almost all of them use one of these networks anyway.

 

[braumeister]

It really is incredible how "disruptive" smartphones have been.

No longer need a camera.
No longer need a Nuvi or GPS device.
No longer need an alarm clock.
No longer need a watch.
No longer an iPod or MP3 player.
I'm sure there are others, but this what I thought of offhand.

a radio in in the car

Also:
a calculator
wallet size calendar
an address/phone # book
credit cards (stored in Apple Pay or similar)
notepad
magnifying glass (zoom the camera)
compass
and on and on

 

[LastOfTheBoomers]

We’ve been using consumer cellular for 3 years now - I was about to jump ship to T-Mobile for their 55 plan that was $60 - but they doubled their data plan from 1.5 to 3 gb for the same price - so 2 lines 250min - unlimited texts 3gb data with aarp discount is just under $50
The only thing missing is international roaming - but I’m ok with getting a SIM card on the road since you get a local number

 

[audreyh1]

Also:
a calculator
wallet size calendar
an address/phone # book
credit cards (stored in Apple Pay or similar)
notepad
magnifying glass (zoom the camera)
compass
and on and on

Don't forget flashlight!

 

[Nightcap]

Consumer Cellular are lovely people and their tech support is great. Sadly, I'm in a dead zone. T-Mobile provided me with a microcell, so I now have great coverage at home and unlimited service for not much more than CC was charging. (I found CC's limitations annoying.)

 

[samclem]

Also:
a calculator
wallet size calendar
an address/phone # book
credit cards (stored in Apple Pay or similar)
notepad
magnifying glass (zoom the camera)
compass
and on and on

An inclinometer, which makes the phone a great replacement for a bubble level in a lot of applications (works best with a straightedge). I use this app, I'm sure there are others. It will even talk to you as the angle changes, which can be handy if you need to be looking elsewhere while positioning something.

 

[Dog]

Also:

a calculator

wallet size calendar

an address/phone # book

credit cards (stored in Apple Pay or similar)

notepad

magnifying glass (zoom the camera)

compass

and on and on

Yes, I use all of these (exception is Credit card) and the flashlight Audrey mentioned as well. It has cut down significantly how much crap I have to carry in my purse. Geez, no wonder I panic when I misplace my phone!

 

[flintnational]

The deal below from Red Pocket Mobile showed up on Slickdeals.com today. I am not familiar with Red Pocket, but it looks like a great deal.

You have to purchase the deal through Red Pocket's Ebay store linked from the Slickdeals site above. The sale ends 11/29 at 8AM. The sale is not listed at the Red Pocket site. I included the site for reference only. Use the Slickdeals.com link above to see the deal.

The deal - 1 GB of data, 1k minutes of talk and unlimited texts for $12.50 per month/annual purchase. The major feature is Red Pocket allows you select any major network, ATT, Verizon and others.

 

[bloom2708]

For one phone, the Red Pocket deal above and the Unlimited/Unlimited/2 GB 4G/month for $185 are both really good.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1318269323...45ffebfe0d&AdChoicePreference=true&rmvSB=true

Pick Verizon if that is the best, AT&T if that is the best coverage, etc.