The bliss of saving $1,288 on my cell phone bill! Via Shutterstock
We paid on average $160 per month for cell phone service through Verizon until we realized we could cut our bill in half if we switched to an unlimited family plan on AT&T. We are now sharing a plan with another couple in another household – which is totally legit! AT&T rocks! How much is your cell phone bill? Are there ways you could cut it down?
How we cut our cell phone bill in half
First, to give you an idea of what we had and what we got when we switched, I made this nifty table!
How our old and new cell phone plans compare
| Verizon (old plan) | AT&T (new plan) | |
|---|---|---|
| Phones | Simple phone and iPhone 4 | Two iPhone 5s’ |
| Cost of phones | $99 and $400 | $519 and $540 (purchased new on eBay) |
| Minutes | 900 | Unlimited |
| Data | 1GB | 4GB (shared between four people) |
| Texts | 1,000 each | Unlimited |
| Contract | Two-year | Month to month |
| Cost of protective covers | $0 | $72 |
| Cost per month | $160 | $80 |
| One-year cost | $2,419 | $2,091 |
| Two-year cost | $4,339 | $3,051 |
9 things that we changed to save money
1. Higher upfront cost (see chart above). We both had to buy our phones out of pocket because our new AT&T plan is month to month. When I compared the one-year cost of AT&T and Verizon, including service and the phones, AT&T still came out ahead. When you look at the two-year cost, we are saving more than $1,000 – $1,288 to be exact! The caveat is that we save money AS LONG AS WE DONT BREAK OR LOSE OUR PHONES! We have been enjoying the mobile togs covers with selfie mirrors built in which I received from an earlier promotion. I upgraded to an expensive ($72) Lifeproof phone cover
2. Greater Internet access. My husband was using a simple phone on Verizon and I had a smart phone. So we were only paying for one data plan. Now on AT&T we both have smartphones. And we’re STILL saving money. For me, this switch really underscored how expensive Verizon is.
3. Unlimited texts. With Verizon, we were paying $15 per month per line for 1,000 text messages. We only used about 400 each, but the next lowest rate was $10 for 200 texts. Our new AT&T plan has unlimited texts so we don’t feel guilty about texting or have to squeeze down to fit the lower allotment.
4. More data. Because we’re on an unlimited family plan with another couple, we have more data between the four of us. We all share it, but I doubt we’ll ever go over our 4GB per month allotment. On our Verizon plan I had 1GB for data and only once approached that limit. Most months I average .6 GB of data.
5. Unlimited calls. Both our old plan and our new plan has unlimited minutes.
6. Shared billing. We share a bill with another couple who are good friends. They control the bill, we send them a check every month. (Actually, we haven’t paid them yet! They are very trusting. :)) We have our own online accounts we can log into to check usage and minutes and bills, and we can always disassociate our accounts with our friends should we decide to go our separate ways. We own our phones and are not tied into a two-year contract.
7. Lower taxes. Because the overall bill is lower, we are all paying fewer taxes, which can be a HUGE portion of your cell phone bill.
8. No more piecemeal. With Verizon every item was charged piecemeal, leaving a sour taste in our mouth. A charge for the minutes. A charge for the second line. A charge for texts. A charge for texts on the other phone. A charge for data. Taxes all around! The beauty of an unlimited plan is that there is one flat fee, plus taxes, and that is your bill. Unless we go over our data allotment, the bill should never change. I like knowing exactly how much our cell phone bill is going to be every month.
9. Less coverage. Verizon has the best coverage, there’s no bones about it. Especially in smaller towns like where we live, there are dead zones more common with other carriers. But we decided the high bill just wasn’t worth it. If AT&T or another carrier dropped a call a week, the savings would make up for it. As it turns out, I don’t drop any more calls now than I did when I had Verizon.
As confusing as it can be to compare all the data points, I highly recommend it. We’re saving $1,288 over two years because we switched to a cheaper plan.
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price.
I switched to T-Mobile I was playing at 250 a month for 3 lines way to much I went to T-Mobile and bow I’m at 130 or less tax goes back and forth I u locked my phones and left this was before they tried to be cheaper I called and they would not do anything to make my bill cheaper said if I want to go then go so bye bye and I’m happy same service and half the price
@Tracy That’s great that you switched to save 50% off your phone bill!!!! I can’t believe we stayed with Verizon so long. Our service with AT&T has been great.
I don’t work for Verizon or anything, but I just switched my plan and thought it’s only fair to mention that Verizon has a “More Everything” plan now that includes unlimited calls and messaging and shares data among members of the plan (up to 10 devices). It includes 25 GB of cloud storage (to recover all your contacts, photos, etc. if something happens to your phone), and smartphones on the plan also get a personal hotspot (which I use to get online with my laptop when I don’t have wi-fi access). Another feature which I don’t use but might be useful for those with friends and family in other countries is that the unlimited messaging applies for messaging lots of countries outside the US. You also have the option to either do the 2 year plan, or to do month to month by either buying a device for full price through Verizon or activating your own device that you bought somewhere else (as long as it’s compatible with their service).
That being said, their plans do cost more than AT&T, Spring or T-Mobile, but I consider that to be the trade-off for better coverage, which is worth it to me so I don’t end up stranded in the middle of nowhere without any cell phone service. It’s also worth checking into whether your employer offers a discount with any cell phone providers. I currently get a 20% discount on Verizon through my employer, which brings my monthly cost down quite a bit.
@N. Davis The carriers seem to be getting into a pricing war these days. Seems like everytime I open the paper I see a huge ad comparing plan costs and show how low one is in particular. Glad you found a plan that works for you.
Yes, Verizon has the best coverage. But where I live, AT&T is just as good. And a lot cheaper! Just saying. 🙂
I just switched from T-Mobile to AT&T. I have to say customer service is lousy on both, much worse with T-Mobile which is why I changed my plan in the first place. I have never been jerked around with customer service issues quite like T-Mobile’s customer service. Luckily I get a discount with my employer so the price will be about the same.
@Jacqueline Sorry to hear you experienced poor customer service with T-mobile. When you’ve had a problem, do you ask to speak with a manager?
Fingers crossed it will be better with AT&T.