I’m obsessed with optimizing my spending. Who wants to waste money? Not me.
Optimizing some expenses is so obvious and easy, I just assume everyone else is doing it. That’s definitely the case with mobile phone plans. However, I’m consistently proven wrong. Readers tell me frequently that they’re barely getting by. At the same time, they let me know that they spend $60 or even $100 per month on their phone bill. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Mrs. 1500 and I haven’t had a super-sized phone bill in a long time. We’ve been on Republic Wireless where we pay about $24 per month for each phone and the service has been fine.
Recently, I received an offer* to try Ting, another mobile phone service. I had used Ting before and enjoyed the service, but was hesitant to try it again because I didn’t think I’d be able to lower the expense. I was wrong.
Ting’s Amazing $17.89/month Phone Bill
The first thing I did was investigate Ting’s rates. With Ting, you pay for what you use. Their estimator tool told me that with normal usage, my bill would be about $24 per month.
While $24 is really great, it was the same as what I pay on Republic Wireless, so I wouldn’t save any money by switching. And then I did some research and discovered a cool hack…
Before I explain the hack, I’ll show you my numbers for my first month on Ting. With normal usage, my bill came out to $17.89, all taxes and fees included:
Here was my usage:
I hear you calling foul:
You used 0 minutes and sent 0 texts? This is nonsense. Go scratch!
Despite what the Ting dashboard shows, I text every day. And I made phone calls too. Lots of them. I just used Megabytes (data) for both. Google Voice is what makes this possible.
Hacking your Way to an Incredibly Cheap Phone Bill
Google Voice (GV) is a service that you should use regardless of your phone (works for both iPhone and Android), phone plan or provider. It turns your phone number into a virtual number that isn’t associated with any physical phone. You then configure the GV number to forward calls to other phone numbers. You only have to ever hand one phone number out for the rest of your life. If you’re at home, configure GV to ring your home phone. If you’re on the road, have it go to your cell phone. You can even forward to multiple phones at the same time.
GV has other nifty and worthwhile features; it will transcribe voice mails into emails, block unwanted callers, allow for call screening and other cool stuff. It’s awesome technology.
Best of all, it’s free to get a new GV number. And if you have an existing number you’d like to use, you may port it over for a one time fee of $20.
The other technology that makes this hack possible is Google Hangouts. Once you have a GV number, download the Google Hangouts app on your phone. You’ll then use Hangouts for all of your text messaging and phone calls. Phone calls and texts will be handled directly by Hangouts; you don’t even have to configure any forwarding.
When you use Hangout, everything you do on the phone goes over data, so you’ll never pay for minutes or texts. All calls in the United States and Canada are free. Again, you’re only paying for the data it costs to make the call and send the texts, not the calls or texts themselves.
The Fine Print (wait, there is none!)
Right now, the question you should ask is this:
How much data does it take to make a call?
The news gets even better. If you’re on wifi, you’ll use none of your plan’s data. And if you’re on the data network, it’s still cheaper to use data than it is to use cell minutes. 100 minutes of phone calls costs the same as 100MB of data, but a 1 minute call uses about 680KB. So, you get 147 minutes of calling over data for the same price as 100 minutes over the cell network. Win!
The next question you should ask:
This sounds too good to be true. Does Ting approve this? Is Ting going to boot me off once they realize what I’m doing?
The news is great here too. I know that Ting approves this hack because they wrote an article about it on the official company blog.
How cool is that?
How to Set This Up
Here are the basic steps:
- Get a Google Voice number: Either sign up for a free number or transfer your number to Google Voice.
- Get a Ting compatible phone: Use this link** to save $25 on a phone from Ting or read this to learn about how to bring another phone to Ting.
- Order a Ting SIM card.
- Activate the phone on Ting (again, you’ll save $25 with this link if you didn’t already use it to buy a phone).
- Install the Google Hangouts app on your phone: See this post to learn how to set it up.
- Turn off calls and texts for the phone’s native number. Remember that you’ll be using your GV number with Hangouts for calls and texts, so you should turn off the phone’s native number. To do this, log into Ting’s website and click Your Account, Device Settings. Disable Can make/receive calls and Can send/receive text messages:
Tips
- Life is better on wifi: If you’re on wifi, everything you do on the phone is free. Stay on wifi whenever available.
- No streaming: On day 3 of my test, I walked out of my home with Google Music streaming. By the time I noticed, I had chewed through 41 megabytes of data. Oops. If you use a streaming service, cache the content to your phone so you don’t use precious data. Pro tip: You can minimize data usage when not on wifi by restricting which app can use cellular data.
- Monitor your data: To keep track of your cellular data usage, install the Ting mobile app on your phone and monitor it daily, at least for the first couple weeks of your new service. You can also monitor data usage from the Ting website.
Too much Trouble?
This isn’t complicated. You could set all of this up in an hour if you’re totally clueless. If you’re just a little tech savvy, you could do all of this in 10 minutes. However, if this is still too much for you, there are some other good reasons to choose Ting:
- Gamify your usage: Knowing that I’m paying for what I use makes me use my phone less. Less time staring down at my phone and more time participating in human activities is a win.
- iPhone: If you’re an iPhone fan, Ting supports iPhones. Republic Wireless doesn’t.
- Awesome support: When you call Ting, someone picks up the phone. From the start. You never deal with a robot (Press 1 for new service, 2 for billing questions). Someone just picks up. A real, living breathing human. Try it: 855.846.4389. And even better, the humans are nice and knowledgeable. Hey cable companies, you could take a lesson from Ting.
It Gets EVEN Better
My phone bill was $17.89 which is pretty great. I used about 310 megabytes of data, but wasn’t trying to conserve. There were a couple other apps that I used during my test period that gulped copious amounts of data. Did I really need to check the USA Today app while waiting to pick my children up at school? No!
Revisiting the data plan, it wouldn’t be difficult for me to keep my date usage to under 100MB which would bring my monthly bill down to about $10/month:
Other random notes to help you with your decision:
- Ting doesn’t actually have its own cell towers, but buys airtime from Sprint and T-Mobile. While I didn’t test calling over the cellular network, the data service was excellent. Long gone are the days when you had to be on Verizon to get decent service.
- Transferring and activating service on Ting was a breeze. The phone launched with a wizard that transferred everything off my old Moto X and onto my Google Pixel. I was up and running on Ting in about 30 minutes. Most of that time was spent waiting for the transfer to complete.
I’m switching my service from Republic Wireless to Ting permanently. The savings are too good to pass up. If you’re ready to try Ting, don’t forget to use this link to save $25.
*Full disclosure: I was provided a phone to test Ting. However, I paid for my SIM card and service.
**This is not an affiliate link. While you’ll save $25 when you sign up, I receive no compensation. I do this because I love you and want you to save money. Really. For the most part. Probably.
Join the 10s who have signed up already!
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*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.
It’s an interesting hack that will work well for those using a defined amount of calling time, thanks for sharing. We will stick with republic, more from the fact that my wife likes to call family and talk for hours. Unltimited talk is as such a necessity. I’m also grandfathered into unlimited data on republic, though given my usage I am considering upgrading to a 1 gb plan. It’s important to use plans consummate with your utilization.
Fulltimefinance recently posted…Sometimes Free isn’t Free
I wouldn’t switch either, but just to be clear, as long as you’re on wifi, all calling is unlimited. Nothing counts against your data or plan. This works without the hack too since some phones allow for wifi calling.
Ooo, I didn’t know it was cheaper to use data than minutes (at least with Ting). We’ve had “0 texts” for quite a few years now, but not 0 minutes!
I actually have a ~$4/mo cell phone plan with AirVoice pay as you go. ?. I’ll have to do the math to see if it would make sense to convert some minutes to data. I’m thinking it wouldn’t, due partly to the difference in plan structure (no “buckets”) and background data use. At home we’re already 100% Google voice / no monthly charge. ?
$4!!! You’re kicking my butt!
Great hack and perfect timing!! I switched from overpriced AT&T to Ting a month ago. I was contemplating Republic but went with Ting because I could take my IPhone over and with Republic had to buy a new phone. I have been pretty happy with coverage, inside my house it’s spotty though. I have been using hangouts to place outgoing calls over wifi to save on minutes but it’s becoming silly as i’ll let incoming calls go to voicemail and then i’ll call them back via hangouts. What a cheapskate I am Haha! Anyway, I will be doing this, I do love me some hacks!! Thanks!
Ha ha, if you do my hack though, Hangouts will ring for incoming calls too!
In my younger days, I would have been all over this hack. But my company pays for my cell phone now. My wife is on a family plan with Sprint that costs about $50/month. She uses a lot of data so we’d probably save around $25/month.
As far as optimizing expenses go, I was more into this in my early working years. We don’t splurge on a lot of things but we no longer watch every penny we spend. As our incomes have gone up, the law of diminishing returns comes in where saving $300 a year no longer becomes a priority.
Great write-up overall and I’m sure this will help a lot of people. I agree with you in that if you’re struggling to get by, there’s absolutely no reason you should be spending up to $100 on your cell phone each month. There are a lot of cheap options out there if you put just a little effort into it. Same goes for many other expenses.
Go Finance Yourself! recently posted…Performance Talks: Dividend Stocks vs. Growth Stocks
I recently switched from Verizon to Google FI and had my bill drop down to about $30/month (including the cost of the new phone). My old phone was on its last legs and I was going to be overseas for three weeks, so I wanted to find a plan that would allow me to use it internationally for free. Google has a similar data setup where you don’t pay anything if it is over wifi. I ended up using 150mb last month and paying $1.50 for it. I did find myself naturally gamifying, which, as you said, helps a lot.
Matt @ Optimize Your Life recently posted…How You Do Anything is How You Do Everything
Google FI is pretty awesome too! That would probably be my second choice.
Very clear advice! I have Republic Wireless with a slightly older plan (I think), my monthly bill, taxes and all is only $13. I only have a data plan when connected to wifi, but I can upgrade whenever, if I need data when traveling or for some other reason. I then only pay for data for that time period, then back to my regular rate.
I’ve shared this info with several people, they all act surprised, but then go back to using their $100 per month phone, rarely do I even get a follow up question. This is when its my turn to be surprised.
PedalsforPennies recently posted…Looking back can sometimes show us the way forward
Pedals – I get the exact same reaction from people when I tell them about my Republic bill. They’re convinced there must be a catch and don’t trust it, despite my insistence that I’ve never had coverage issues and have been successfully doing this for 2+ years. I don’t get it. Why would you willingly throw away $60+ per month when there is a viable alternative?!
I love how competitive and creative phone companies are getting. Less than $18 is amazing. My wife and I share a family plan with my brother and his wife: ends up at $28 per line for unlimited everything. I felt good about this, but being able to shave an extra $10 per line is tempting. Thanks for sharing!
“I love how competitive and creative phone companies are getting.”
I know, right? Remember when we just accepted $100 phone bills? Yikes.
Good stuff. I shared with a few friends. Let’s not forget that if a household can save $80 a month (if I did this hack, that is what I would save), that is $960 a yr and ultimately $24,000 less that is needed in the portfolio to cover this ongoing expense once FIRE (assuming the 4% WR rule).
If someone is saving $2,000 a month to FIRE, this shaves 1yr off of working.
Nice way to think about it!
With the recent update to the google voice app, you may be able to skip google hangouts and just use the native google voice app.
It looks like Google is dropping SMS (texting) support from Hangouts within the next month. So Google Voice will have to be the app to use. I’ve been a Republic (grandfathered) user since 2011, and Google Voice since 2008. All calls are forwarded to my Obihai adaptor for (free) home use, and Republic Moto X for cellular and wifi use. My total communications bill, all voice, text and data everywhere, runs about $13 a month and it’s all using just one Google Voice phone number.
“It looks like Google is dropping SMS (texting) support from Hangouts within the next month.”
True, but Google has stated that they’ll continue to support it with their Messages app.
I don’t disagree that RW is a great option too though.
Hi.
In my opinion the best available plan is currently from Mint phone.
https://www.mintsim.com/plans
Unlimited phone + unlimited text+ 2GB of 4G data for $16.58 per month if you pay for 12 month in advance. Uses T-Mobile network, which works great for me.
First three month they even give you a better offer to test their network.
Thats much better than constantly pinching megabytes and call minutes.
Agreed, I think Mint has the best plan out there. No reason to worry about talking or the random text. Plus, 2GB is more than enough data for my uses. All for less than $17/month if you pay in advance for the whole year.
As long as you’re willing to pay upfront, this is a wonderful deal.
I looked at Ting a couple of years ago, but read that they use T-Mobile towers. T-Mobile provides horrible service where I live so I didn’t switch. Now I see they use Sprint towers as well, which would be awesome because that’s what I use now and am happy with the cell service. I may have to look at Ting again! Thanks!
Yeah, just make sure you get a CDMA phone for Sprint.
Google Voice was a lifesaver years ago when I needed a way to make cheap calls home to India (1c/min) or Botswana (16c/minute). Now my parents and most other relatives all have iphones and decent internet speeds and we Facetime for free, so I use Google Voice much less than I used to.
Mr. BITA is on Google Fi, and pays $35/month. I thought _that_ was cheap. We loved having it when we traveled to Europe last year. We used data on his phone a lot (Google Maps) when we were in Spain, and for that month our bill went all the way up to $42.
So Ting will let me bring my good old iPhone you say. Maybe I will finally get off my ass and get me some savings. It would be extremely satisfying to have a lower phone bill than Mr. BITA. He has been unbearably smug even since he got on Fi.
Mrs. BITA recently posted…Parenting on FIRE
Yep, you can bring over your old phone as long as it’s CDMA (Sprint compatible). Come on, show Mr. BITA up!
Great job hacking your phone bill! I’m always on wifi with my Google Fi phone, so my bill is pretty derned low as well. I preferred the Google FI phones, so that’s why I went with them over Ting/Republic. We both switched and are paying A QUARTER of what we used to pay with Verizon and AT&T.
Pretty good deal by the looks of things! Nice move on the switch.
We just stick with our €5/month sim-only for now (300 nationwide minutes/texts/Mb’s), use wifi where possible. Works like a charm!
Team CF recently posted…Real Estate Financing: FAIL!
I’m all for minimizing recording expenses, I currently pay $10/month with Airvoice Wireless, buy I feel compelled to share my experience with Google Voice.
First of all, MMS generally doesn’t work (or at least I can’t figure it out).
Second, the “one phone number” line is misleading because when you make outbound calls or send texts people will see your real (non-Google Voice) number. There is no magic that changes your phone number.
Third, you now need Internet access to see voicemails.
Now, part of this is because I’m using a phone without Google Hangout support. Also, I usually have cellular data turned off to save money (data is expensive on Airvoice).
Overall, I’ve been very disappointed with Google Voice.
For sure I think Google Hangout support on the phone would help out with the IMing — not sure if there’s another way to get that part working.
If you can’t use Hangouts, what about WhatsApp or other similar messaging apps? Everyone you’re messaging would have to have the same app though. 🙁
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With the update to Google Voice that recently rolled out you should be able to send MMS messages. When I send texts with the Google Voice app people see my number. Same when I call if I choose google voice as the default. These issued should be solved.
Sadly, I’m on a really old phone with no Google Voice app support either. It sounds like this is really the root of my poor experience with Google Voice.
You can get your Google voice number to show up when making outbound calls, you just need to port your cell phone number over to GV. This costs a one time fee of $20. The advantage of this is phenomenal though, because you can hop around cellular providers and keep the same number. No more porting in and porting out!
OK Mr. 1500, you’ve motivated me to dump my $78/mo Verizon plan (2 phones, wife & I). Our stomping grounds are in the Longmont-Berthoud-Loveland area. I’ve hesitated from switching in the past, because coworkers and friends with T-Mobile and Sprint had notoriously shitty coverage. Did you go with Ting’s GSM or CDMA plan?
I went with the GSM one because it looked like it had better coverage. It’s been great around Boulder, Longmont, Loveland and Fort Collins.
Nice job Carl! I’ve thought about going data-only, but my current cell phone service is only $10 for the ENTIRE YEAR. That’s hard to beat, so I haven’t convinced myself to switch yet.
One question though — do you find that you miss GV calls when your phone goes to sleep? I’ve been a GV user for almost a decade now, and have seen this issue. Either that, or the phone just doesn’t ring but will ring on my other lines.
Very strange.
Mr. Tako @ Mr. Tako Escapes recently posted…The Power Of A Phone Call
Nope. With Hangouts, I don’t miss anything.
Great workaround!
I loved Ting, but loved Republic Wireless more, especially with the Nexus 6, etc.
https://znbta01fh12.ting.com/
I’ve got the Pixel XL on Ting though. Love it, although it looks exactly like an iPhone.
I like Ting. They are a cool company. I dislike Sprint coverage. I dislike being rewarded for not using my phone. $6 if you don’t use it at all. Why even have it then?
I want to use it. I want to use it freely when driving (streaming music), traveling (internet, video, tv).
The $27/month plan (with auto-recharge) on H20 Wireless is fixed price and I can use it all I want.
For multi-family, 5 lines at Cricket Wireless for $100 all up is a fantastic option.
Ting uses T-Mobile for GSM phones. Sprint is way better now. I remember just a couple years ago when it was horrible though.
So this might sound crazy but I’m thinking about life without a cell phone. I pay $33 a month now, but I kind of don’t even like having it. Maybe this would be a good compromise. Have a phone, just don’t use it. 🙂
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Life without a phone sounds pretty good to me!
We’d looked at Ting a few years back, but with the data we used (using no hacks because we didn’t think about that stuff back then) our plan would only save us about $20/mo overall from our current plan. However, looking into that Mint option, I’m really tempted to switch to it since we’re on T mobile network now and I have an unlocked phone. $200 for the year seems pretty good and it’d be the same network. I think I’ll be the guinea pig with it and swap over first to see how we like it before we both switch.
Thanks for making the cell plan options seem way more reasonable and divulging the hacks for less data use!
Mr. SSC recently posted…I Like Work, but I Love Life More
Nice hack! I’ve been with Repbulic Wireless for about 4 years now. My plan costs $11 per month. The only catch is that I only have data usage when I’m on a WIFI network. Works well for me though. I think its great that these companies have created plans like this though. There is just no need to pay $60-$100 or more per month.
I have Republic Wireless (2+ years now) and my bill in a “normal” month (normal = no out of town travel requiring extraneous data usage for maps, locating services and Googling restaurants, etc.) ranges from $14-$17… without any of the effort of these “hacks” or an extra Google number.
My plan is $20 per month for 0.5GB of data, with any unused data being refunded (hence bills <$20) and I keep my data turned off all the time in the Republic app. At home and at work (so, 80% of the time) I am automatically connected to wifi. When I am out and about, I turn my data on only if needed to look something up – and I always check for wifi first. My phone has "learned" and remembers the wifi connections at the gym, the grocery store, the Starbucks drive-thru, my favorite restaurants, etc. and automatically connects to them there, so a lot of the time I'm covered even when I'm not home or at work. I've had zero problems with calls or coverage whether at home, in the mountains or at the beach.
This may not work for everyone, especially those who have jobs that keep them on the road a lot, or who don't have wifi access at work. But I went from paying $80/month with AT&T to $16/month on average with Republic, and I am never looking back.
Very cool! I love that you’re sharing with others how to keep using services they love without paying through the roof to major carriers. I pay about $50 per year – yes PER YEAR – for cell phone service and everyone thinks my husband and I have iPhones or smartphones. We’ve been doing this for 9 years now to a $10k savings or more.
I need to update the post, but this is how we do it:
http://katenesi.com/our-zero-dollar-cell-phone-bill-frugal
Another quick note, you skip out on paying all the security fees and taxes following prepay plan and using GV, too. You aren’t roped into all those constant monthly charges.
Already on Ting. Could I use my ting number for this?
Yes. You would transfer your Ting number to Google Voice. You would then get a new number with Ting that you would ignore.
Last year I switched to Consumer Cellular and got my bill down to $29-but $17 is much better. One nice thing about CC is that you can use any phone and I think that may have been why I didn’t research Ting that much-I wasn’t interested in purchasing a new phone. I will keep this hack in my back pocket for the future!
I hate to disappoint, but the SMS part of this equation is going to stop soon. See https://9to5google.com/2017/03/24/google-details-talk-transition-sms-removal-for-hangouts-other-g-suite-changes/
And I would not hold my breath on the Internet calling either 🙁
This article seems to be referring to Google Hangouts and Talk, which are separate (but related) services from Google Voice. Google just did an overhaul of Voice that included adding group texts and pictures to their SMS functionality, just a few weeks ago. I doubt that SMS is going anywhere on Voice right after they overhauled it!
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And it looks like the Messsages app will have SMS support.
My husband’s bill on Republic is similar! He’s grandfathered into the old “Refund” plan they did for a while, so he gets refunded for any data he doesn’t use in a month. I think I’ve seen his bill go as low as $13.xx and as high as $20.xx.
I use Google Voice myself! It made the transition to Republic from Verizon this year really, really easy. Unfortunately, I got to Republic too late for the Refund plan (had to wait for my Verizon contract to end), so like you, I pay a flat amount per month. Comes out to about $23 for me.
Stephonee recently posted…How Do You Save Money on Food With Allergies, Health & Dietary Restrictions?
Definitely going to have to check this out.
So cool! I keep going back and forth on switching over.
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How about up in good ole Canada? Our options are much more limited. Will any of this work here??
1500 –
Just another way to show – even when you think you’ve drilled it down low, you can go LOWER. Nice!
-Lanny
What’s the process if you already have Ting? I fall in the less than tech savvy category.
You would port your number over to Google Voice. After that, Ting would assign your phone a new number that you’d never use. Ting has great support, so I’d recommend calling them if you have any questions or issues.
Cheers. I have dealt with their customer service and I have been very impressed. Thanks for getting back so soon. I will be doing this ASAP.
1500,
Tried setting this up through Ting and they say that minutes will accrue through Ting due to Call forwarding. Is this how you have your set up? I see you accrued 0 minutes and 0 messages.
I may have the Google Voice settings wrong.
Just wondering how you did this.
Thanks.
No, I don’t call forward. I take the calls through Google Hangouts. I even disable the phone’s real number so it can’t be used. https://ting.com/blog/google-hangouts-free-outbound-wi-fi-calling/
It’s been 3 months I’m using Ting and love it!!!!
I love Ting! Great price and fantastic customer service if you need it. They were great for my wife and I, until we moved to small town Iowa where there’s no coverage from them. We’re with US Cellular now, and my wallet feels the pain!
Tello would have saved you even more. Based on your usage your bill would have been $6.16 + tax.
@ Daniel
Might want to try usmobile. They use Tmobile and cheaper than Ting.