I got my monthly cell phone bill and to my surprise an $80 increase greeted my eyes. It didn't take long to figure out that the techie in my home; whom I call husband, had added some unnecessary feature that brought a huge increase to our monthly plan.
So, my search began to bring down that cell phone bill all together. I hate paying bills already, so any way I can reduce my outgo so that I can keep more of my income to spend on things that I love is always a quest of mine.
My first call was to T-Mobile, I don't even know what this man added but I kindly told them to remove it and to let me know if I qualify for any deals that would bring my $158 bill down even more (2 lines); she got it down to $135 all taxes and fees included, not bad but I felt I could do better.
So, to Google I go; the first website that popped up: WhistleOut.com. Here you can input your needs – number of phone lines, data, minutes, messages, etc – and WhistleOut will give you the cheapest options that meets your needs. Cool right? The first option was T-Mobile, LOL. I'm a Realtor and a Credit Counselor and I'm always on the phone. I drive around a lot, I have no sense of direction and therefore use a ton of data to Google Map my behind out of areas that I frequently show houses in and should know my way around by now (these suburbs and their confusing subdivisions!). Further my huz is a techie and is always researching something online; and when I have to bring the kids to work with me, they're using data to watch movies to keep them occupied. I say all that to say… I need unlimited messages, unlimited minutes and at least 6G of data (yep I use it all). So….the Simple Plan with T-Mobile it is — Whomp Whomp (insert sad face).
HOWEVER; I did see another option that saved a measly $5 with MetroPCS; and guess who's network it runs on? T-MOBILE! It turns out that all of the discount carriers are sub-brands of the major carriers that we spend a ton of money with. I literally had no idea. According to SaveOnPhone.com, all of the major carriers have not so distant step cousins (sub-brands) that they don't claim or associate themselves with in public. These sub-brands run on their network and their towers without the expensive ‘lock you in and charge you a ton of money to cancel' contract. Going with the sub-brands versus the major carrier can save 60-70% off an average phone bill. That's pretty fantastic :).
Now, there were cheaper options than T-Mobile and MetroPCS, particularly the GoSmart service plan that also runs on the T-Mobile network but on a 3G network. I had no problem with that being that before the 4G existed we were completely fine with 3G. Guess who did have a problem with it? The Techie. In his words: “Losing speed to save $20 a month is not worth it; I'll work an extra hour per pay period to cover it if you'd like.” Cocky behind.
Anyhoo, I guess I'll be content with my $135. If funds were tight, please believe we'd be going up to Cricket, GoSmart or MetroPCS and making a switch, and if funds were super tight Republic Wireless would be our friend at $25-40 a month (check 'em out their prices are phenom!). If you are not in a profession that requires you to be on the phone all the time or using data all day long (such as a realtor, loan officer, attorney, sales, etc); you shouldn't be paying over $65 per phone line anyway. There are waaaay too many cheaper options out there that won't lock you into a contract, where you can use your current phone or purchase good quality android/smart phones (or purchase an unlocked phone online at a discount) that won't have you walking around with a 1980's size 10 shoe-looking cellular device attached to your ear (remember those, ha ha!).
Further, I see so many credit reports with 1000s of dollars owed to Verizon, Sprint, etc simply because 1. They couldn't afford the bill and 2. They canceled the contract. Who can afford to give hundreds, let alone thousands of dollars to somebody for a cell phone! STOP THE MADNESS!!!! “Ain't nobody got time for that!” Your money has more important things to do 🙂
Hope this helps!
ATT = Cricket is their sub-brand
Sprint = Boost Mobile/Credo are their sub-brands
T-Mobile = GoSmart/MetroPCS are their sub-brands
Verizon = Total Wireless is their sub-brand
