Dialing Down: Project Fi Cell Phone Service
Ah, cell phones. When they work well, they are great little tools. However, many people greatly overpay for service. Read any frugal living blog or forum and one of the first suggested items to attack in the budget will be cell phone service.
I've been using Boost Mobile for the past few years and felt that I'd done well with costs. My plan was unlimited talk, text, and I think 2GB of data for $43.04/ month (tax included). However, I don't actually use much data and I knew that options had changed since choosing them as my provider. I decided to check into what was out there and chose to go with Google's Project Fi cell phone service.
I signed up for the unlimited talk and text and 1GB of data plan with Project Fi which cost $34.28 with tax, a savings of $8.76 from my Boost days. But wait- Project Fi is different in that you pay for your data use exactly. This means that if you go over your limit, you are charged for that amount (but not gouged with extra fees) and if you are under your limit you also get a credit on your next bill. This is extremely exciting for a low data user like me. I decided to be mindful of my data use for a month and see how it went.
The month was up earlier this week, and I am getting a $9.31 credit on my next bill (!!!). This means that this month's cell phone bill will be $24.99 (tax included), a savings of $18.05 over my Boost Mobile bill plan! I mostly use data at home and at work and can use WiFi in both places instead of my plan, which explains some of my savings.
Not all months will be this low, but I have a goal of getting at least a $5 credit each month. Very do-able, and I'm excited to lower yet another bill!
I've been using Boost Mobile for the past few years and felt that I'd done well with costs. My plan was unlimited talk, text, and I think 2GB of data for $43.04/ month (tax included). However, I don't actually use much data and I knew that options had changed since choosing them as my provider. I decided to check into what was out there and chose to go with Google's Project Fi cell phone service.
I signed up for the unlimited talk and text and 1GB of data plan with Project Fi which cost $34.28 with tax, a savings of $8.76 from my Boost days. But wait- Project Fi is different in that you pay for your data use exactly. This means that if you go over your limit, you are charged for that amount (but not gouged with extra fees) and if you are under your limit you also get a credit on your next bill. This is extremely exciting for a low data user like me. I decided to be mindful of my data use for a month and see how it went.
The month was up earlier this week, and I am getting a $9.31 credit on my next bill (!!!). This means that this month's cell phone bill will be $24.99 (tax included), a savings of $18.05 over my Boost Mobile bill plan! I mostly use data at home and at work and can use WiFi in both places instead of my plan, which explains some of my savings.
Not all months will be this low, but I have a goal of getting at least a $5 credit each month. Very do-able, and I'm excited to lower yet another bill!
Comments