(UPDATE: Google has rendered this deal next to useless, While Ting is still a great deal, I'll be adding a post about Republic Wireless shortly as an awesome alt)
How much are you paying your cell company? You might already be getting a good deal, or so you think. I am always looking for the best way to save money, it has very little to do with the economy, I'm just cheap like that, mainly because I have other places I like to spend my money, like on my second-hand Samsung II Epic 4g touch (amazing.)
Yup I have tech envy, we all do, so after my third year with my best buddy the Optimus V she started to break down on me (or maybe it was my 9 months old drool breaking the touch screen) so I decided I was on the market for a new phone.
Excited I went straight to my long time provider, Virgin Mobile who by the way is awesome if you need unlimited data. I could have kept paying that and bought a new s3, but I have been grandfathered in for the last three years (if I decided to upgrade my phone I'd have to upgrade their pay check to $35 a month), which kept my tech envy in check because who wants to give up all that data for $25 a month? I'd have to be crazy to pass on that, until now...
Ting Mobile is a company that to me blends the desire for tight-wads and tech-nerds into one beautiful bundle, you pay for what you use, if you over-paid they credit you, if you over-use they don't punish you, whats the catch?
No catch, at all.
There are however some pros and cons, I'm guessing you are paying anywhere from 60-95 bucks for your cell a month, am I right? If I'm not maybe your like me and got lucky to be stuck in an old plan that saves you cash, I'm not telling you to switch if your happy, and if your a heavy user, but if your one of those poor tech-loving nerds like me and got sucked into a big bill so you could get the cool phone for almost "free" then hear me out.
Lets say your paying (we'll go low here) $65 a month, $780 a year that's not including tax or if they suckered you into the $5-7 a month insurance that covers you as well as a paper hospital gown, but for the sake of comparison, almost eight-hundred a year gets you a new phone and maybe unlimited data, maybe. So now you know already you are not getting that pricy gadget for free, you are paying long term, and then some. Its like a mortgage for your cell phone, like we need another one of those.
I was paying $25 a month with Virgin Mobile (and was happy) $480 less than you lets say, and before you think I'm rubbing your nose in it, I paid for my phone up front $140, so I'm really only saving $340, but still, isn't that a hotel room and a car rental for a weekend trip?
Now, here's what I'm paying with Ting, with my second hand near mint condition Sprint sII (that you can upgrade to jelly bean and have the same system your used to now with your big budget cell bill)
Firstly, I want to give credit where credit is due, this smart guy Mr Every Day Dollar has come up with a really nice addition to the savings Ting is already offering http://mreverydaydollar.com/a-review-of-ting-disrupting-the-mobile-phone-market
But here is a quick step by step anyway:
Get a phone, sprint or ting or white-listed (read more at ting.com)
Start service, its super easy with their killer support.
After you're activated go to Google play and download either Groove ip or Talkatone.
Get a Google voice number or port your existing.
Use Wifi at home (or at the library, or the in-laws, or yada yada yada) and 3G on the go.
I can tell you I spend a lot of time at home (writing and raising my little chunky monkey) so this is PERFECT for me, I'm usually within wifi range, but I do keep my 3G on all day long Saturday which is the only day I work outside the house, the only place I cannot get wifi.
Here's the vote with your cents pros and cons run down:
Pros: Cool phones (sorry apple users but in the future they'll be a place at Ting for you too) super cheap bill, easy activation/termination, pay for what you use, amazing support. I could go on and on really.
Cons: The service is not as good as your $800 a year service, but for what you pay for its worth every cent.
So the bottom line? If your paying even $65 a month, and I'm paying $9 that's a total of $672 in my saving account that I wouldn't have had. Too be fair once again, I paid $100 on eBay for this awesome Samsung, so lets drop that to $572 WITH my tech envy sweet-tooth nicely satiated.
So, is that enough? It was for me to switch from my well-loved VM phone to my Sprint/Ting addiction, and yet I haven't even addressed half the cool things Ting offers, you should go check for yourself. Imagine, that teenage kid bugging you and bugging you for a smart phone, for $108 a year they can have one, and you can even put a cap on how much $$$ they run up on your bill thanks to Ting.
Now, I am going to say this system is thanks to Mr Every Day Dollar, so you can use the link at the bottom of his post to give him (and yourself) a free twenty-five buck credit (just like I did), but just in case your want to donate to this tight-wad here's my link too https://z67g4e1b273.ting.com/
Just remember, every dime you spend makes big co.take notice.
We buy junk, they build more, we waste money/time on junk services, the good ones shut down due to lack of funding.
When you work that 40-60 hr work week away from your family, to pay for things we really don't need, think about where you'd rather be, at home with them right? The more money you save, even those little dimes, add up to a lot with each one of us.
If you spent a whole day walking around asking for one dollar from everyone you met, imagine how fast your pocket would fill up. Just one dollar, one cent from each person makes a huge difference in the make or break of the companies we love, and those we hate.
Since we vote with our cash, vote well, tell the big companies what to make for us, show them what we will stand for, and what we won't.
It really is that simple, just vote with your cents.
