28 Comments

  1. 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.

  2. Amy (Poshmark @poshsweetly)

    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!

  3. 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!

  4. 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.

  5. 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

  6. 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.

  7. 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+!

      • Lindsay

        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!

  8. 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!

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. 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!

  12. 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.

  13. 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!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.