A couple of months ago, my husband's phone stopped working for the second time. The first time, we took it to a repair shop, and they had it working again in a few hours for ~$150 with a 1-year warranty on the work.
It was a little too good to be true, though, as the phone started having the same problem about a month later, and the warranty ‘no longer applied’ since there was a new scratch on the phone… (reason #79 to just invest in a good phone case from the start….).
We were both on our parents' phone plans up until this point. Venmoing my mom had been worth it to get the family plan discount. But with one of us needing a new phone and the family plans Verizon offered changing to be more expensive, we opted to finally cut the cord on the last thing that financially tethered us to our families of origin - our phone plans. The additional flexibility of being in charge of our plans, having cell phone protection, etc. added to the draw.
While I had heard of Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T, I hadn’t heard of or knew much about many of the other carriers. With the price of a phone, let alone a phone plan through the main networks, being off the charts, I started researching.
We don’t need ‘free’ Disney Plus or upgrades to the newest iPhone the moment they are released. My biggest worry was service, but coverage from all carriers has improved significantly over the past ten years since I first got a smartphone. The carriers, other than the main three (called mobile virtual network operators - MVNOs), lease service rather than have their own cell towers. It’s like owning versus renting all over again.
Mint Mobile (the one my husband went with) uses T-Mobile’s network. Theoretically, the quality will be just as good as T-Mobile most of the time (i.e., your phone may not work as well at a football game when there are thousands of other phones, but otherwise, it should be fine).
Visible (the one I went with a few months after seeing Mint's lackluster coverage) uses Verizon’s network. I haven’t had any issues with the coverage, even when traveling.
Both of the MVNOs pricing were simple and transparent. There have been no hidden fees, and the plans don’t have to be decoded and negotiated. It took me one nap-trapped session to set up Visible. I first signed up for the free trial, but after everything worked fine, I switched my number. It was a download with a couple of clicks.
We ended up buying a new phone for my husband. With a year of service, it was a little less than $450. The same phone and most basic plan would have been ~$1500 if we had stayed with Verizon. Visible’s unlimited plan is $25/month. Add that to the right credit card through a shopping portal for cash back, and even more savings can be had.
Another perk of the right credit card is cell phone protection. The card we used gets up to $800 per claim and $1000 per year coverage with a $50 deductible for theft or damage to the phone (And it’s a card without a yearly fee!). Still, I am adding a monthly savings category in our budget for new phones because these things are built to break.
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The average household has three types of expenses: fixed expenses, variable expenses, and one-off, large (sometimes unexpected) expenses. Too often, we focus on whittling down the variable expenses - cheaper groceries, turning the air up, and not going to that yoga class. But those are the things that actually make us happy (To be clear, those are things that make me happy. I get disproportionate joy from the extra $2.50 for the bougie cottage cheese, I sleep much better when it’s 72 degrees, and going to a yoga class every week is the one hour I get by myself.). These are treats.
I don’t want to weigh these each week to try to save a few dollars. Instead, I focus on our fixed and one-off, large expenses that require us to think about them once. Picking a cheaper apartment automatically saves a couple hundred a month. Raising our deductibles on our car insurance and shopping around saves another. Changing our phone plans fits right in here. Think about it once and save $30 a month. Waiting for a sale or purchasing a refurbished phone less often also saves hundreds of dollars.
If you are someone who uses a phone and wants to save a little money (or time dealing with the legacy networks!):
Re-evaluate your phone plan. There are more options out there today where you could pay considerably less.
Plan for your phone to break. Pay your bill with a card that includes cell phone protection, buy a good case, and start saving before you need it!
When you buy a new phone, shop for deals. Use a shopping portal. Consider getting a refurbished one.
Great article! Definitely worth spending some time on the phone/service search to save $