Anyone Here Use Prepaid Mobile Phone Plan to Save $$$?

[kyphysics]

I'm thinking of:

a.) downgrading/sizing to a pre-paid/pay-as-you-go cell phone plan, instead of a fixed monthly one
b.) getting rid of data plan

You can buy prepaid plans for literally whatever (I think the minimum is like $3.00) amount you want and use minutes and/or data as you go. The downside, of course, is if you use a lot of minutes/data unexpectedly for some month...in that case, a regular plan might be better...

But, assuming you know reasonably well you just don't need all those minutes and internet time, has anyone gotten a prepaid plan before?

If so, did you find yourself saving more over time?

 

[vela]

Years ago, I had my mom and I on a prepaid plan with T-Mobile before as neither of us made many calls or texted over the cellular network. The main drawback was the lack of data service. After T-Mobile, I switched us over to Ting, which we're both still using today. We're paying about $14/month/line now for unlimited calls and texts and 1 GB of shared data. We've saved a lot of money over the years compared to how much we would have paid with even the cheapest postpaid plans.

 

[StevieTNZ]

I pay $22/month for my Vodafone pre-paid plan. It comes with 200 minutes to standard NZ/Oz numbers, unlimited txts to standard NZ/Oz numbers and 1.75GB of data. The best thing is that if you don't use it all up after 28 days, it rolls over to the next month (provided you top up and have enough credit for the plan to renew) for up to 12 months. Currently I have about 5GB (accumulated) of mobile data still to be used [I only enable mobile data on my mobile phone if I'm with my laptop and I use my phone to create a hotspot, if no wifi is available].

 

[PAllen]

I'm thinking of:

a.) downgrading/sizing to a pre-paid/pay-as-you-go cell phone plan, instead of a fixed monthly one
b.) getting rid of data plan

You can buy prepaid plans for literally whatever (I think the minimum is like $3.00) amount you want and use minutes and/or data as you go. The downside, of course, is if you use a lot of minutes/data unexpectedly for some month...in that case, a regular plan might be better...

But, assuming you know reasonably well you just don't need all those minutes and internet time, has anyone gotten a prepaid plan before?

If so, did you find yourself saving more over time?

I've used one for years, where you can buy various amounts of minutes/texts/data. My costs have averaged $10/month (I use one of the tracfone plans, where you can put a sim in any unlocked phone of your choice; they have other types of plans as well, but the unlocked option makes it much easier for travel - before COVID). All minutes and data roll over without limit. As a result, usage peaks have never added to my monthly cost, because I always run a substantial rollover.

 

[StevieTNZ]

@kyphysics - what does your current plan include and what does it cost? What deal are you after if you downgrade and how much is that? Who is your current provider? Can you change to a different company and keep your mobile number?

 

[harborsparrow]

I know this post is a few months old, but I wanted to mention the Google Fi cellular service, which we have used exclusively for several years now. It has a flat rate of $25 per month, and then you pay for cellular data actually used beyond that. Coverage is good because the service uses infrastructure from several different companies rather than build its own towers. Also, the phones are all enabled with wifi calling capability at no extra charge and they are also smart of using wifi if it is available rather than cellular signals. My cell phone bill rarely goes about $30 per month. It costs about 1/3 of what a plan from Verizon or AT&T would cost, and the service is actually superior.

 

[symbolipoint]

I'm thinking of:

a.) downgrading/sizing to a pre-paid/pay-as-you-go cell phone plan, instead of a fixed monthly one
b.) getting rid of data plan

You can buy prepaid plans for literally whatever (I think the minimum is like $3.00) amount you want and use minutes and/or data as you go. The downside, of course, is if you use a lot of minutes/data unexpectedly for some month...in that case, a regular plan might be better...

But, assuming you know reasonably well you just don't need all those minutes and internet time, has anyone gotten a prepaid plan before?

If so, did you find yourself saving more over time?

Some prepaid plan might be what you want, because as you hope, you can save money, especially if you do not expect to need much data on the plan. Possible suggestions, US Mobile or Page Plus Cellular, or maybe Tello. You may also want to check into Ting.

 

[kyphysics]

TMobile retired their pay-as-you-go prepaid plan.
Old customers (few months ago) who had those plans can continue to renew.

AFAIK, you cannot get one of those completely new ones. I'm guessing it has to do with inflation and them wanting to force people into monthly plans.

 

[DrJohn]

About ten years ago I had a low level standard contract, which came with 500mb of data. Then we had an internet outage with the normal wi-fi. So I switched to using the mobile as a modem and used that while working for a day and a half - building a website, so lots of uploads and checks, searching for coding advice when something went wrong. I used 490mb out of my 500 mb before the internet came back - that was close. At renewal time, I upped that to 1GB of data and just over a year later the internet crashed again, and took close to three days to get sorted (affecting lots of their clients, according to the user forum!). I used close to 0.95GB that time. So at the next renewal I upped it to 2GB for about 50p more. I sometimes use a website that tracks gliders - every one near us or even within 100s of miles if I get the settings wrong, updating itself every 10 seconds or so, while standing on an airfield out of range of the club's wi-fi. So an account with data matters to me, and if the next renewal is a few pennies more for more data, I will take it. On a recent 10 day greek holiday, I used 1.97gb of my 2GB monthly allowance as sometimes we had poor reception from a hotel or restaurant. I got a shock when they emailed me a warning about that with a couple of days to go of the holiday, and settled for switching off mobile data and accepting the occassional lack of connection. It costs me £16 month.

So, do you feel lucky? Will you dump the data part of the package (which is never expensive to add) or will you be sensible and take a contract with data?

 

[vela]

TMobile retired their pay-as-you-go prepaid plan.

If you're looking to save money, you will want to avoid Verizon, AT&T, and, to a lesser degree, T-Mobile. You're going to find the best deals with MVNOs.

 

[symbolipoint]

If you're looking to save money, you will want to avoid Verizon, AT&T, and, to a lesser degree, T-Mobile. You're going to find the best deals with MVNOs.

Try to understand this the right way, but I STRONGLY AGREE WITH the part quoted here. Very very strongly agree!

 

[StevieTNZ]

On a recent 10 day greek holiday, I used 1.97gb of my 2GB monthly allowance as sometimes we had poor reception from a hotel or restaurant. I got a shock when they emailed me a warning about that with a couple of days to go of the holiday, and settled for switching off mobile data and accepting the occassional lack of connection. It costs me £16 month.

I went to Fiji back in February 2020. I chose a pre-paid Vodafone roaming plan which included 1GB of data, as well as 100 minutes of calling/receiving calls from NZ numbers. Let's just say I had to renew that plan a number of times as 1GB of data doesn't get you that far.

I had 4.5GB of 'bonus' mobile data, as well as 5.25GB of mobile data (1.75GB every month + 3.5GB rolled over from the previous 12 months), available for use. I've just recently returned from holiday, so while at my uncles as well as when in the car driving to different locations (including the drive to my uncles, drive from Hastings to Taupo, and drive from Taupo to home), I created a hotspot from my phone to laptop. Friday-Tuesday I used up all the bonus data I had (which was due to expire in 30 days anyway, so may as well use it), and about 0.5GB of my usual data plan. But I had my CrashPlan backup disabled until I reached the hotel's wifi in Taupo.