Relocated to the States recently as an international student and trying to understand prepaid phone options in the USA. Currently paying $65/month on a postpaid plan which feels really high for a student budget. I need around 10GB monthly for data and regular texts/calls. Back home everything was pay-as-you-go so this whole postpaid vs prepaid thing is confusing. Never had a prepaid phone plan here so not sure what to look for. Annual vs monthly billing which makes more sense? Any hidden costs or activation fees to watch out for? Any advice from people who have been through this helps a lot!
New to US – $65/mo phone plan feels too much
byu/Wiggle_mind inFrugal
Posted by Wiggle_mind
8 Comments
Buy a used mid-range unlocked phone from a friend or a site like Backmarket, then use an MVNO instead of one of the big 3 carriers.
/r/NoContract is a good resource.
Mint mobile
That’s about 4X too much. Sign up with US Mobile. Unlimited data will cost you $170 for the year – $15/mo
Look at all of these if you have your phone already and figure out which one works the best for you and in your are
Mint Mobile, Boost Mobile, US Mobile and Visible
They are all pretty inexpensive and offer a lot of benefits for low cost but you have to look at them and see what works best for you
US Mobile is a good choice. I’ve been using them for 4 years now.
You could build your own phone plan with tello. It would be around $19 for how much data you need.
I pay $14 a month for a USMobile plan bought during one of their sales. Unlimited everything and runs on the T-Mobile network.
I recently switched to Mint Mobile. They’re running a special through early March for $15/month (plus some little fees) for unlimited data. I paid for a year to lock in the price. So far I get as good or better connectivity as my overpriced AT&T plan.