When I left grad school to start my first real job here at The Penny Hoarder (yay!), I took some time to craft my first-ever, line-by-line budget.
As I added each item, my budget seemed pretty reasonable. I found an Internet-only cable plan for $25 per month, set aside $100 a week for food and allotted $100 for electricity.
My high-ish monthly car payment wasn’t ideal at a starting salary, but since I took a tiny apartment with below-average rent, I could afford all of the necessities — and still set some aside for my savings account.
Then, I got to my cell phone bill.
It was $90 per month. For just me. To have a cell phone.
I had to do something. Luckily, I was able to find a cheaper solution — without sacrificing quality.
The Anatomy of My Old Plan with AT&T
If $90 for a single cell phone plan sounds high to you, let me break it down.
I had a single line through AT&T. I’d been grandfathered into their unlimited data plan, which cost me $30 per month. Unlimited text messaging was another $20 on top of my base rate of $35, the lowest-priced plan available.
Throw in some service fees and taxes, and you’re looking at a bill you might as well round up to $100.
I called AT&T to see what it could do about my bill, but since it had just rolled out a new set of plans with prices based on data usage, there wasn’t anything cheaper available.
I was using tons of data — somewhere around 5GB per month — since I was used to unlimited. That much would cost $110 on the new scheme.
I knew I needed a new phone anyway, so rather than re-up my contract with AT&T, I started asking around about my friends’ plans. Luckily for me, I run in tech-friendly circles, so I kept hearing one response again and again: Google Fi.
Why I Switched to Google Fi
Google Fi is Google’s revolutionary, bargain-priced cell phone service plan.
It isn’t really a network, per se. Rather, Fi piggy-backs on T-Mobile’s and Sprint’s networks, as well as available WiFi wherever you are. Your device automatically switches to whatever source of connectivity is strongest.
There’s no contract, and when I say cheap, I mean it. You pay one easy, flat monthly fee of $20 for unlimited talk and text, and then $10 per GB of data you use.
No more, no less: If you don’t use up all of your data, you get a reimbursement on your next bill.
And if you go over your projected data use? You won’t find any punitive overage charges — the same $10/GB rate, and they don’t even round up.
So if you sign up for 2GB and use 1.2, you’ll receive a credit for $8. If you use 2.6GB, you’ll only be charged the extra $6 — not a full $10.
Even if I continued to use the 5GB per month I was used to, I’d save $20 per month. And if I could find a way to cut back, I could spend way less!
What’s the Catch?
When I decided to switch, the service was invite-only. It only took about a week for me to get my invitation after I requested it, but it was still a barrier to entry.
But you won’t have to worry about this — this week, the service went completely public! That means anyone can sign up, anytime.
The only other thing that might scare you away? Fi is only compatible with Google’s Nexus line of phones, specifically the new models: 5X and 6P.
I’m an Android user who’d already owned a Nexus once and was planning to go back anyway, so this was actually a bonus for me. But if you’re an Apple user, you might not be so jazzed about making the switch.
But before you click the “Back” button and decide you’re done with this article, hear me out. You’d have to give up your preferred OS… but you can buy the 5X for just $349.
How Switching to Android Might Save You (a Lot of) Money
In fact, to incentivize the newly public network, Google has just released a deal that knocks $150 off the price when you activate with Fi before April 7.
That means you get a brand-new smartphone — free and clear, with no contract, lease or monthly installation plan — for less than $200.
And it’s not a crappy phone. It’s got 2GB of RAM just like the iPhone 6s, and it’s actually got an arguably better camera (0.2 more megapixels) and processor (quad-core as opposed to dual-core).
Or, if you want to get really premium, you can pick the Nexus 6P. It’ll cost you $499, but its octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM make it a much nicer phone than the iPhone 6s — even the Plus — which will run you darn close to $1,000 unlocked and without a contract.
Heck, the iPhone 6 Plus costs $399 with a contract — just $100 less than buying the Nexus 6P outright, which will pay for itself in monthly bill savings in no time flat.
Yeah, your iPhone’s pretty, but so is the Nexus line. And paying more money for a product with less impressive specs? No, thanks.
It’s pretty clear that using a Fi-friendly Nexus is a good penny-hoarding option on paper, especially when compared to buying an iPhone, even if you find the cheapest way to do so.
But is it actually a good deal? Will you be satisfied with your service?
How Google Fi Transformed my Phone Bill
I’ve had my new phone and Fi connection for three months now, and I’m happy to say everything’s working great.
The first month, I overestimated my data usage. Looking to tone it down (but not too much), I paid for 3GB — a total of $50.
Since I knew I was paying per GB, I started paying close attention to my data usage. Since I’m usually at home or work — and almost everywhere in between has a WiFi network anyway — keeping my usage down was as easy as asking for some network passwords.
I’ve actually turned it into a game to see how little data I can use, and how close to $20 I can keep my bill.
I only used 1GB of data the first month, so I got a credit for $20 on my next bill. Since then, I’ve happily been paying $30 per month or less for my cell phone service.
And even though it doesn’t have its own towers, Fi’s connectivity hasn’t given me any problems.
Every once in awhile, I’ll fall between coverage zones for a split second… but that happened on AT&T, too. The problem usually resolves itself before I drop a call or have to resend a text message.
And my phone? It’s awesome.
It’s got all the power I could ask for, and I own it free and clear. I haven’t run into a single consistent glitch.
During the past three months, I’ve been able to stash the additional $180 into my savings account… instead of giving it to AT&T.
By the end of the year, I’ll have saved $720. Hey, you could almost buy an iPhone with that!
Your Turn: Would you consider switching to Fi to save money on your cell phone bill?
Jamie Cattanach is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She also writes other stuff, like wine reviews and poems — you can read along at http://ift.tt/1RiB7sH.
The post The Simple Way I’m Saving $720 a Year on My Cell Phone Bill appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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