How much do you spend on a phone each month? As of last month, we spent $170 a month on two phones. And we’d been doing so for years. After a fair amount of hemming and hawing mixed in with waiting out the duration of our contracts, we decided to put a stop to the spending by focusing on a secondary provider. If all goes according to plan, we will slash our phone bill by more than half with Boost Mobile.
Figure Out Your Must Haves
Some couples function on the same wavelength day in and day out. We are not that couple. If we grocery shop together, we can defrost the entire frozen food section while we debate the ice cream flavor we’d most enjoy. Needless to say, this different-strokes-for-different-folks dynamic spilled over into the cell phone scenario as well. As a result, we both put together a list of what we most wanted.
Mr. P’s List:
- An iPhone – “Because I don’t want to learn how to use an Android.” Spoken like the most tech-savvy 90-year-old. But truthfully, he uses the Apple ecosystem at work, so I get it. Kind of.
- Unlimited data – I suggested we both stay on wifi as much as possible for one month to see how much data we actually use, but this is his list of wants. And we currently each have an unlimited plan. And I’m only a little bossy.
- Something simple, not sketchy – Three cheers for this. He was not about to navigate the River Styx to save a buck, and I agree. Boost Mobile runs on Sprint’s network, so we are both confident in coverage.
My List:
- Cheap – What? You’re surprised?
- Reliable – We’ve used Sprint for a long time. Though the first few months saw more calls to customer service than I’d ever care to make again, the service has been really reliable for 3.5 years or better at home, at work, and at my parents’ cottage in the middle of nowhere.
- My iPhone – I have this sneaking suspicion that Mr. P is gunning for a new iPhone. How do I know? He brings it up every time there’s even the slightest lag on his Pinterest app when he’s looking up prime pike fishing time or hydroponic gardening. (SOS. So much SOS.) While I know we’ll both need new phones eventually, we already bought these outright back in the day when Sprint did things like sell phones, not lease them.
Talk to People in Person
I know. What kind of millennial am I? But I’m a firm believer that there is a time and place when an online chat or an email simply won’t do.
Not only does everything start to run together after thirteen seconds of comparing providers online, there’s also an overabundance of useless information. Do a quick search for Boost Mobile. I’ll wait. What do you find? Snazzy advertisements followed by complaints. Like most reviews, people only take the time to comment if they really hate something. Or absolutely love it.
But what complicates things indefinitely is the fact that these reviews are pooled from all around the country, and I have no idea which carrier they used previously. I don’t care how Boost Mobile works in the Smoky Mountains. I want to know how it works in my neighborhood. So excuse me while I stick my fingers in my ears and tune out the online noise.
Instead of combing through the interwebs forever, Mr. P found the closest Boost Mobile retailer, and he also made a note of the locations of a few other secondary providers in case Boost was a bust. He armed himself with our lists of wants, as well as some other questions we had, and set off. After confirming prices and checking out the (lack of) fine print, he was sold.
Give Yourself an Out
It will come as a shock to no one that very rarely in life do I throw caution to the wind. Except one time I used vanilla and chocolate frosting on a homemade cake. But that’s about as risky as my business gets.
After we were both shackled to $85 bills for years, I was not about to sign on any other dotted line if I could help it. So I did what any good wife does: I made my husband take the plunge first. Really, it’s a wonder he doesn’t sleep with one eye open.
My contract actually isn’t up until the end of April, so we figured two months would be the perfect length of time for him to test out the service with Boost Mobile. If things are still going swimmingly, we’ll add a line to his $50 plan for an additional $30. If the service hits the skids, though, he can discontinue his service no fuss, no muss, and we can go back to shopping around.
Post Plunge Thoughts
Over the course of a weekend, we were able to take a handful of steps to slash our phone bill in half. After Mr. P has had the service for a while, I promise to share a full update to see if we’re just as happy with Boost Mobile as we think we will be.
So Tell Me…What’s the most you’ve ever paid for a cell phone? What carrier do you love?
Note: I know we could dial down the unlimited everything. And perhaps we will. But we have no landline, Mr. P can’t connect to wifi at work, and there’s no wifi to be had when we travel up north. I know you’d miss my tweets, so I’m doing this for you, really.
You used vanilla and chocolate frosting on a homemade cake?!
We’re using Verizon, and paying a fortune. Un”fortun”ately, Verizon is the only carrier that gets a signal at our mountain home.
I still have a “Corporate Phone”, and have thus far avoided the need to pay for a personal cell phone plan for myself. As I get closer to retirement, I’m paying more attention. I’m interested in Google’s Fi, and hope I can use the WiFi at our cabin for cellular service there. Lots changing in this field, so I’m monitoring for now….will be interested in seeing your full write up on hubby’s success.
You’re so right about how quickly things are changing! The running on wifi thing is a deal breaker currently since we don’t have wifi most weekends spring-fall. But the best part about this Boost Mobile experiment is that we can pull the plug at any time with no real consequence. Today marks one week, and there have been no noticeable differences at home or at work (he actually thinks it’s slightly faster?!). The true test will be when we get up to Wisconsin in a few weeks!
There are a couple Verizon MVNO’s, but with the recent return to “unlimited” plans, they might not be beneficial unless you are a very light user.
Yes, please do update us on how this works out! My hubby and I are on my mothers plan (shameless, I know. It must sound ridiculous for two nearly-40’s to be on their parents account but why pay more when lines can be added so much cheaper, or in our case free since my mom refuses to take my money!) But as my mom considers retirement soon, she is looking for ways to slash spending. Obviously, the phone is a big expense for most folks so I mentioned, maybe they need to go on Boost when the contract is up, and *ahem* my husband and I will get our very own Boost account also.
I will definitely keep you posted, Amy! They have pretty competitive add-a-line options, too. But it’s only worth it if the service isn’t terrible. I hope to have something up on traveling with Boost service in the next 2-3 weeks!
The most I’ve ever paid for a cell phone? $180, and we’re currently spending ~$4/phone/month >_>
Haha, you asked!
Hopefully your test subject will be happy, and you can take the plunge as well. Crazy high cell phone bills and cable are low hanging fruit everyone should at least look into for alternatives and/or extermination. ?
That’s amazing! It is low hanging fruit now that our contracts are up/almost up. The penalties were too stiff to take the plunge beforehand. But as near as I can tell, $40 a person for the same service as $85 is a no brainer. And if we find something better that allows us to keep our phones and test it out, I’m all for making a switch again!
We are also on Verizon, I hope to make the switch to a cheaper provider eventually. We don’t get unlimited data and it’s still over $100 a month.
Hopefully competition keeps increasing and we see prices drop. Waiting for the same thing to happen to cable!
Yes to cable following suit! My hope is that this will have been such a success that Mr. P will get on board with saying adios to cable. We only have a dozen or so channels left, but I can’t quite get him to part with this favorites.
Great post Penny as usual 🙂 I currently pay $70.06 per month after tax. My contract ends in Sept as soon as it is complete I am going to try and find a cheap plan with no data I want to drive down my costs. I will try and rely on wifi for my internet surfing.
Thanks
Matthew
I hope you’ll share out what you find, Matthew!
I did force Mr. Picky Pincher to come to the Dark Side (Android). He hated me/the phone for probably a year before it grew on him. I’ve heard of Boost Mobile but it’s not my thing personally. I opted for Google FI since I love Android and Google. It helps that our cell phone bill is a QUARTER now of what we used to pay with Verizon and AT&T.
There are so, so many carriers out there now and they all use the same cell towers. There’s no reason to stay with big names like Verizon or AT&T that charge out the wazoo for the same damn service.
I do love me some Google. We may take the plunge to Android one day, but for now, I’m happy to experiment with the phones we already own! You make a smart point about using the same towers.
I used to pay $150 for two lines-one I did not use (was my mom’s) and the other had unlimited text and talk, but no data. It was a ridiculous monthly amount but it was in my mom’s name and after she passed I just didn’t want to deal with it, so I didn’t.
Now I use Consumer Cellular and pay $30/month. That gets me 1500 minutes, 2000 texts and 200 MB of data. It doesn’t offer unlimited data, but goes up to 5GB for $40/month. I like that you can start the month off on the lowest tier for everything, and then when you go over it bumps you up automatically, no additional fees.
I chose CC because a friend had it and liked it and we each got a discount when I signed up. I figured if I didn’t like it I could actually do my own research but I’ve been super happy. Looking forward to hearing about Boost!
I’ve not heard of that! If this doesn’t go well, I will look into it. Boost also offers less data. We might go that route eventually. But $80 total seems so great compared to $170+!
I second the recommendation for Consumer Cellular! I do use a minimal amount of data, though. It does upgrade you to the next tier automatically if you go over data, texts or minutes without extra fees, which Jax mentioned
That’s awesome to know that you get instantly upgraded. I can’t wait to experiment more with different options when I’m contract free!
I use Verizon also. Reliable but pricey as others have mentioned. I’m scared to try something with a lesser reputation though. I have a friend who got freedompop for his teenage son, but the microphone doesn’t work, so his son can only hear, not talk. Maybe that’s a gift, but I don’t know.
Ha! That’s hilarious and awful at the same time. We were in the too good to be true camp, but 7 days in and no complaints. Curious when we travel more what it’s like. I’ll definitely report back!
We took our iPhones to Pure Talk but discovered that we couldn’t get MMS (group texts or texts with photos) because Apple locks the settings and you can’t change them. There was a workaround for a while, but it was closed.
Everything else worked fine, but when we discovered that people were including us on group messages that we never received (and they didn’t get an error message, so they thought we were ignoring them), we loved Pure Talk so much we switched to Android phones rather than go back to AT&T with our iPhones. We both have wifi at work and at home, so our monthly bill is $45-55 total depending on how much we talk.
While I loved my iPhone, I was super-surprised to find that I like my Android more. I have the Galaxy s5, which is a generation old but is waterproof and fabulous.
That’s really good to know. I’ll have to ask my husband if he’s gotten any group texts recently! Thanks for the heads up.
I use T-mobile and pay $33 a month every month for unlimited data, unlimited text and 100 minutes. T-mobile no longer advertise and make you go to Walmart to get the sim card. I’ve been using it for more than 5 years now and it works. We have a landline because bundling is cheaper with internet than just paying internet.
Amazing price! We’re pretty happy with $80 for two unlimited plans, but you never know! Thanks for sharing the option, R.
We’ve been reasonably satisfied with Cricket, especially for $70 a month for two lines. And I suspect at least some of the problems we have had are because we bought super cheap phones that I’d still love to replace with something better.
I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a major carrier again. So glad to get away from that big Verizon bill once a month.
I’ve had a few people who live out east and out west sing the praises of Cricket! Not sure if I know anyone right by me that has it. Glad it’s working out well for you, Emily!
I have T-Mobile and it’s been the best for traveling to other countries! I don’t have to pay for an international plan, and even get the same plan in Mexico and Canada as I do in the United States. Abroad, I get unlimited everything besides .20 cent minute phone calls.
Wow! And with how much you travel, that’s so important!
We use AT&T and do have unlimited data, but no texting and only 550 minutes per month. We rarely use it for calling though, and have thousands of rollover minutes. Now with my husbands contract up we’re looking into switching. Been thinking about Google Fi, but I’ll be interested in how the Boost experiment works for you!