Ahhhh...my first ever attempt at blogging!
Yesterday, I posed a question to my facebook viewers. I said, "I'd like to write up a post about how we save money on cable, phone, internet, and cellular service. I keep getting told by people how much money they spend on all of these services together. Just yesterday, someone told me that they spend almost $500 a month on these things (HOLY CRAP!!!). If interested, comment or like below. And, if you're willing, please tell me how much you spend every month on these items combined along with how many people are on your cellular plan."
The response was more than I had anticipated. I knew that people were spending a lot of money on their bills, I just didn't realize how many people felt "stuck" with what they were already paying. There are so many options out there now. Very rarely should you be stuck paying such high rates. Unfortunately, many of the large cellular companies out there trap you, by giving you something for "free" if you lock yourself into a contract.
In Part 1 of this series, I'm going to talk about saving money on your cellular bills. I've tried a few different options in the past. I've been locked into a contract with Sprint and Verizon. I hated both of those options, as I never came close to using all the minutes I was paying for. As soon as my last contract was up, I switched to a company called Republic Wireless. I really liked this provider, and the price for unlimited voice, text and data, however, there were a few things I didn't like:
1. You HAD to buy the phone they were offering. For me, the screen size was too small and the camera/video was horrible.
2. I couldn't receive text messages from 6 digit text numbers. So, for example, I couldn't get text messages from Redbox with special offers.
3. If you cancel your subscription with Republic, you can do nothing with your phone. You can't even transfer it to another Republic customer. In my opinion, that's wasted money.
4. If I wanted to add my kids to the plan, I had to order extra phones directly from Republic, and the discount for the added lines wasn't good enough to make it worth the money.
While still using Republic, I wanted to add my kids, but like I already mentioned, it wasn't worth it. I opted to buy 2 of my children a cheap Tracphone. I think I paid something like $15/month per phone for very few minutes and no data. Considering my kids barely used the phones, it was a complete waste of money.
That's when I discovered Ting (https://zffesk1qn14.ting.com/). Ting is not a contract phone and it is not a pre-paid phone. It is a post-paid phone. What first attracted me to Ting is that they charge you according to your actual usage without any contract. At the end of the billing cycle Ting will charge you according to your usage in the tiers listed below in 3 separate categories: minutes, texts, and data. There are no plans or overages - you just pay for what you use. Also, knowing that I can save money by limiting my usage helps me be more aware of my usage and more likely to do things like connect to WiFi when it is available.
Below is a diagram of the rates Ting offers. Remember you start out at XS (zero minutes, texts, and data) and the plan will adapt according to your usage. In the example below using up to 2100 minutes, 2000 texts, and 2000 megabytes of data, shared between THREE devices, you would pay roughly $90 per month. Each additional line costs $6 per month to continue service. That being said, you can also decrease the amount of lines you have. One line is only $6, 2 lines are $12, etc., etc. Here's what I REALLY like about this - I can add phones for each of my children for only $6 each. My oldest son uses more than any of the other kids, so my plan adapted to his extra usage, but it wasn't by much. For my other kids, who don't use a lot of minutes, text, and data, I at least can have the peace of mind knowing that they have a phone in case of an emergency....$6 is worth it!
Ting also includes usage alerts and individual line limits for free. Most other carriers I have used charge extra for those features and call them "parental controls" or something similar. If you have a family and your teenager is texting or using up data like crazy you can automatically warn them to slow down, and then if they do not heed the warning, cut them off until the end of the billing period - they will learn pretty quickly to stay within the limits you have provided ;-)
Ting also offers dashboard apps for both Android and iOS to track your usage and change settings directly from your phone.
Not sure if this plan will work for you.....grab one of your current cell phone bills and find out right on the Ting website!
Are you in a contract and don't want to pay the early termination fees? Ting will help you with that, too!
By now, you're probably wondering about the actual phone. Ting has a bring your own device (BYOD) program where you can activate almost any new or used Sprint device. I took advantage of this when I first signed up and bought an inexpensive Smartphone from Digicircle to try everything out before deciding to switch the whole family over. If you don't mind buying a used phone, this is a great way to get a nice smartphone for much less than retail value.
Below is a screenshot of the digicircle website (see notation in purple on the left side of the picture):
I'll admit, I was skeptical of Digicircle at first, but I'm so glad I gave them a chance. I have since bought numerous tech gadgets from them and haven't had one problem. Below is a picture of the phone that I purchased from them. I paid $110 with shipping on Aug. 2013. I still have this phone and LOVE it! I had no problems activating it on Ting, but if I had, Digicircle offered me an activation warranty with my purchase. There was absolutely no risk!
The last thing I want to say about Ting is this - Ting has a referral program where each person you refer gets a $25 credit towards service or a new device and the person who referred them also gets a $25 service credit.
If this blog post has helped you decide to switch to Ting please use my referral link (https://zffesk1qn14.ting.com/). After using the referral link you will get $25 off a device OR your first month's service.
Stay tuned.....I'll talk about home phones, cable, and internet very soon!!
