I'm Saving $ with Mint Mobile!
Since I started my debt-free journey with Dave Ramsey last year, I've been trying to lower all of my monthly bills. My car insurance is already freakishly cheap, I've recently paid off my student loans, my apartment rent is decently affordable, I don't have credit cards, and my car loan will be gone by the end of the year. The only monthly expense left that is a bit high for my liking is my cell phone bill.
After 12 years with Credo Mobile, I've decided to try out a new phone carrier to save some monayyyyyy.
I originally liked Credo because they are very progressive, donate money to causes that matter to me, have great customer service, and use Verizon's towers. When I first signed on with them over a decade ago, they also provided free cell phone upgrades, so I was never paying for a new phone - which now looking back on those days seem almost too good to be true. When I'd renew my two-year contract, I'd just be given a brand new phone FOR FREE! Sadly, now that phones are $1,000+, Credo doesn't provide that crazy good deal anymore, so paying $75/month for a singular cell phone/data and no phone perks just seems unnecessary.
Over the past few weeks, I've been researching different phone companies and have been focusing on mostly contract-free options. I looked at PureTalk USA, Cricket, T-Mobile, and Ultra Mobile.
After reading a few reviews on Reddit, I finally decided to just go for it with Mint Mobile. The 12GB data plan is only $25/month for the first three months (intro offer), and if you sign on for another year, it stays at $25/month. Otherwise, it goes up to $45/month for a three month commitment, which is still better than my $75/month bill with Credo.
Mint Mobile uses T-Mobile's phone towers, so I'm not too worried about coverage. I hardly even text or call anyone and almost always use the wi-fi at work/home for internet, so what am I even paying for? I also didn't want to have to pay more money with a forced phone upgrade or lose my existing phone number and Mint allowed me to keep my existing number and iPhone. Woo hoo!
The switch from Credo to Mint was surprisingly very easy. I put in my online order for the intro offer and three days later I had my new Mint sim card in hand. Credo sim out - Mint sim in. DONE. It's only been a day since the switch, but I haven't noticed a huge difference in data performance. Downloads seem to take a second or two longer when I'm not on a wi-fi network, but calls/texts/emails have gone through as usual - and for 1/3 the price! If I don't end up loving the service, I have 7 days to cancel and get a refund.
So far, I'm sold!
Want to try out Mint Mobile for a week for free? I can share the love and send you a tester sim kit! Let me know - I'd love to help save you some money, too!
1 Week Later Update: When not using wi-fi at home or work, the Mint service is noticeably slower than with Credo. Google Maps struggles quite a bit to load in a timely manner and my apps haven't been functioning as usual (sometimes I have to turn my phone off and on to get them to work), so for now, not ideal, but for $25/month, I'm going to continue my three month trial period and then determine if Cricket or Google Fi might be better options for me!
