This is a mini-guide to save on your cell phone bill for both the service and equipment. I have been in the wireless industry for four years at the retail level. I am writing this in hopes that some people can save some dollars instead of paying a car payment sized phone bill.
Selecting a company
This is going to have to do a lot with where you live. Luckily for us there are generally the same tiers of providers throughout the United States.
Tier 1: Big Four (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile)
Tier 2: Prepaid Monthly (Cricket, Boost, US Cellular, MetroPCS, etc)
Tier 3: Prepaid dollar-for-dollar (Ting, ProjectFi, etc)
Choosing a tier is going to be based off of your needs. With Verizon and AT&T you are going to pay the most on a postpaid account for the best service. For more rural areas these can sometimes be the only options to get usable service. Where the lower tiered companies come in handy are in urban areas. All companies use the network of one of the big four, they contract them out and slow the speeds down. They slow speeds down because the service is generally cheaper and also the big four do not want prepaid customers taking priority over their own customers. Before signing up for any postpaid service I highly recommend trying out their service on prepaid for a month to confirm you have the service you need.
The Equipment
Everyone wants a nice phone. We all hear about the $1,000 iPhone X or the $950 Galaxy Note 8. What if I told you that there were phones that did 95% of the same things at nearly the same speed and storage size for 15-35% of the cost? These higher tier smartphones are amazing looking and have the bells and whistles that some people love. At the end of the day most of my customers use their phone for calling, texting, pictures/videos, social media, and web browsing. Instead of being locked into a phone equipment installment plan of $20-$40 monthly I am going to link some devices in this price range that I know are solid and reliable phones.
Moto G Plus - $185 w/ads $219 w/o ads
But /u/HammyFresh, I am under contract for X months/years longer
Well do I have good news for you! T-Mobile and AT&T both pay up to $650 for termination fees if you switch to them. How it works is the same for each company. You must trade in your financed or contracted smartphone to the new carrier and finance a new one with them. Where you can come out ahead is when you trade in that phone you have $600 left to pay on, instead of getting another phone of that price get the cheapest one in the store. The company will then buy you out of the other companies contract and you take a minimal hit when you pay off the device you selected with the new carrier.
The Big Picture
If you are a single line on a big carrier's postpaid plan you are likely paying $60-$90 just for the service. Factor in a phone installment plan and insurance on the phone (they have the habit of leaving this bit out, don't they?) and you are somewhere between $100-$140 just for one line of service. That amounts to between $1200-$1700 a year.
I am going to be using Cricket as an example of how you can change this. With Cricket you get to use AT&T's network. The call coverage is the same, they slow the data speeds down to 8MBPS. After autopay with Cricket you are looking at between $35(4GB)- $55(unlimited). Add the $200ish to the service for the phone and yearly you are between $620-$860 which is much more reasonable.
I really hope this helps people. I am no financial guru but when I see the same $150+ in budgets for cell phones I get physically ill. We can all control this!
Submitted October 17, 2017 at 11:32AM by HammyFresh http://ift.tt/2yoaMJR
