If you're like most people, your phone bill is way too expensive. For years, we had AT&T but we switched to Cricket Wireless a few years ago and saved a TON of money. One of us recently switched to Mint Mobile to try it out and have loved that as well.
Make sure you don't miss my Mint Mobile review! Both Mint and Cricket offer compelling products at a fraction of the prices of the major carriers.
Let's be honest, living without a cell phone seems nearly impossible for most people, so finding a cheaper alternative is your best bet.
It’s hard to imagine a time without cell phones. For many people it’s the first thing they see in the morning and the last thing they see at night.
We aren't here to curb your cell phone addiction, but rather help you pay less for your phone bill.
Today I'll focus on how to save money on your cell phone bill.
Because cell phones have become an essential device in everyday life, one would think there would be tons of options when it comes to cellular service. But in reality, there are just a handful of large carriers.
As phone screens get larger, so do the monthly prices cell phone companies charge us. In an effort to reduce our monthly bills we searched until we found the cheapest phone plans. This was back in the fall of 2014, and in the years since we made the switch, we’ve each saved over $1,500!
The savings add up quickly and compound over time!
Cricket Wireless At A Glance
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| Plan Cost | Plans start as low as low as $25/month |
| Plan Types | Monthly |
| Features | |
| Requirements | |
Clicking Below will take you to the Cricket Wireless website to sign up. | |
Why we jumped to Cricket from AT&T
We chose to switch from one of the large carriers to one that was more affordable.
Ultimately, for our needs, Cricket Wireless was the best deal. You can easily port over your existing cell number, and all you have to do is just make sure your phone is unlocked and compatible with their network.
They likely won't buy out your existing contract so you might need to get creative if you are locked in with your carrier.
When we made the jump, there weren’t any physical Cricket Wireless locations near us, so everything was done online. They mailed out a SIM card within a week and we were set. We do think it’s worth noting that Cricket is owned by AT&T, but their pricing and flexibility would lead you to believe they are unrelated.
The low-cost phone carriers like Cricket have a variety of plans available.
Cricket, in particular, has plans ranging from $25 (no data) to $60 (unlimited data) and everything in between. Their monthly prices also include all taxes and fees! No more hidden fees in the fine print that show up on your bill. But you should take into account a $25 activation fee.
We opted for a plan in the middle of their range since we don’t need unlimited high speed data with WIFI access at home and work.
Cricket Wireless Reception
One thing a lot of our friends have asked us is if we have noticed worse reception or coverage.
The good news is that we have not, and we actually think we have fewer dropped calls now. The one time we felt we had worse service was on a trip to a remote part of Vermont. Some of our friends with AT&T still managed to get 1 bar of service in the middle of nowhere. If you live out in a forest it’s probably worth looking into before making the switch, but the 99% of you that live in a city or suburb will be more than fine.
We never had a problem with service and were pleasantly surprised that we felt we got the same product for less!
What’s The Catch?
The biggest thing to know is that there isn’t an option to buy a new phone at a discounted price. At least for the ‘latest and greatest' models of iPhones and Samsung phones. You also can’t pay for a new phone on a monthly basis without running that chance of paying interest.
When we get new phones we pay the full price of the phone outright, which is not cheap. But when you run the numbers, paying for the phone outright is the optimal choice anyway.
However, we recommend that you do not upgrade your phone every year and wait until it is absolutely necessary. Believe it or not, an iPhone can last years! We just don’t recommend upgrading the operating system very often since that can slow you down. If it ain’t broken don’t fix it!
Contrary to all of the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy commercials, you do not need to upgrade to the latest phone every year. We promise that the people on the other end of the line (or text thread) cannot tell whether you are texting or calling on an iPhone 4s or iPhone X. If you are the kind of person who needs the latest and greatest phone regularly, please read our article on lifestyle creep.
With that said, there are many cheaper alternatives to iPhones. We know plenty of people that are happy with many types of phones (Samsung, LG, Motorola, HTC). Remember, a phone is just a tool used to communicate, stay organized, and take photos. It’s not your identity and it is not who you are. If your phone defines who you are, then personal finance is probably the least of your worries!
Once you build your net worth you can splurge on a phone.
Bring Your Own Phone
When we first switched, we simply unlocked our phones and kept our existing iPhones. You can use this tool to see if your current phone will work on their network!
How Much Can You Save Each Year?
Cricket Wireless is not the only low-cost cell phone company on the market. Cricket is simply one of our favorites, has great coverage where we live, and has only gotten better over time. In fact, a few months ago we got a text message from Cricket saying that they were increasing the data on their data plans at no additional cost!
So how much can this actually save you? Look at the example below.
Note: The information in the table below is accurate as of 03/2018; Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile do not offer a 5GB plan.
These are not the cheapest plans available, simply the cheapest equivalents plans (equal amounts of data). For our plans, we signed up for Cricket's auto-pay to save an additional $5 each month, which is a no-brainer. Who wants junk mail, anyway? Not me.
We saved $540 a year. With no noticeable change in service or quality.
By choosing the Cricket Wireless plan with automatic payments from the example above you’d save $540 each year ($420 vs $960)! That’s half a grand you can save each year or use to pay down your high interest debt like credit cards! Or use it for your family's Christmas celebration.
If your current plan is even more expensive, or you’d be switching multiple lines for your family, you’d be saving even more. Multiple lines will make the savings add up quickly.
We used this information to convince our friends and family to switch to Cricket Wireless almost 4 years ago. Needless to say, they still thank us when they get their phone bill. We encourage you to do the same!
Ready to Switch? Click here to read our step-by-step guide!
Cricket Wireless
Pros
- Low Cost Plans
- Can Use Current Phone
- Can Keep Current Phone Number
- Easy Setup
Cons
- Need Unlocked Phone
- No Guaranteed 0% Interest On Phone Purchases
Francisco Maldonado, MD is a personal finance expert who was raised in poverty by a single mother and had to learn everything about personal finance on his own. In addition to running his personal finance site, The Finance Twins, with his twin brother, his site has been featured on Forbes, Business Insider, CNBC, US News, The Simple Dollar and other top publications. Francisco is a physician who borrowed over $200,000 to pay for his medical training and understands debt payoff strategies and frugal living. He received his M.D. from the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, the most selective medical school in the country, and a Bachelors degree in physiology from the University of Minnesota. He is currently a radiology resident at Northwestern University. You can contact Francisco here or via Instagram @thefinancetwins.
Great advice, thanks for doing the research.
Of course! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.
I just switched to Cricket from A T&T and so far have been happy and had no problems. I have 1 line and 5 mb of data which says I pay $40. /month. They are automaticity deducting my bill with my credit card , so I don’t understand why my bill is $40. And not the $35 advertised?
Please contact Cricket support. They have always been very helpful.
I’m a Cricket Sales Lead and I’d like to help answer that question for you. To be able to receive that $5 discount using the automatic bill pay option, you have to be on the $55 Unlimited Plan, which is unlimited talk, text and data(up to 22GB because no cellular company actually has true unlimited data). And to reach that 22GB of data, you’ve gotta be streaming alot of movies or videos or playing alit of games without being around some type of Wi-Fi. I hope I’ve been able to answer your question. Welcome to #CRICKETNATION!
This is awesome advice! Look forward to investigating the switch myself and advising clients I work with on doing the same. Great article!
Thanks! Good luck!
Everything in this article is true. I’ve been with Cricket since around 2004 when it first moved to the East coast. Customer service used to be bad, but has improved a lot.
I love cricket
Actually you can receive the $5 discount on the $40 plan and up.
I switched from T-mobile to Cricket a few years ago. We have 5 phones on our plan and we’re paying almost $400 a month on T-mobile. I have convinced several family members and a few friends to switch over to Cricket, too. I now pay $125 per month for unlimited talk, text and data on all 5 phones! I love Cricket!!
That’s awesome, Melissa! It’s amazing how much you can save, especially with multiple lines!
I understand greatly about the $400 a month. I was with Sprint for 20 years and was paying over $400 a month seemed as though Sprint was going up on my bill every month. So I decided to switch to Cricket, now paying $80 a month on my phone. I was experiencing drop calls on a regular with Sprint and I don’t have many with Cricket. Switching to Cricket has been the best decision I’ve made. I don’t have an iPhone like I had with Sprint but my phone is durable.
AT&T owns Cricket since 2013, and Cricket uses AT&T’s cell network.
That’s exactly right!
100% correct! ATT service for Cricket price. No brainer. Also you get superior GSM service as opposed to Sprint and Verizon.
I have been using Cricket for a couple of years now and I was happy with them. HOWEVER, I don’t know if you guys are interested or not but the second PG&E turned off the power last week, AT&T/Cricket cell service and data went down.
If you are in need of emergency help, you cannot call 911 or access your data. It was 2.5 days knowing that if there’s a fire or are in need of emergency services in the middle of a Red Flag warning, you cannot call 911 for help. Totally unacceptable.
And as all the services were restored magically RIGHT AFTER the power was restored tells me AT&T/Cricket HAS NO SECONDARY POWER SOURCE for the AT&T tower here in my area for emergency services. The Verizon tower also went down during the power outage but was restored quickly while the power was out. That says a lot. Like if you want to be able to contact the outside world during a PG&E power shutdown….don’t go with Cricket. Just thought I’d share.
Wow. You’re the first person to bring this up, Cathy. Hopefully AT&T will learn from this and have a back-up power source for any future emergencies! Do most people in your area have other forms of communications to use during emergencies (radios etc.)? I’ve never lived in an area where there are Red Flag warnings, so just curious.
I think you should move to another area. I live in New England where storms are one after the other and I have never experienced any kind of problem with cricket wireless.
I have been employed at Cricket Wireless for 3 years now, and hands down the best no contract service out there. I currently have Cricket Wireless service myself, and I am pleased to say it’s well worth the money and the savings. Great coverage
I have been using cricket for years I love them a great selection of phones excellent service even the warranty department is phenomenal my phone stop charging. I called in to a store asked a couple questions they gave me the manufacturer number called dropped the phone off at the ups store for free and within 3 days I have a brand new phone. . prices are good phone are great plans are flexible and affordable even for 5 lines I have five lines myself i pay 130 they even have the option to pay 10 a month to have hot space transfer your data to any device great service thank you cricket for giving middle class a break
I have been a customer since 2011 with cricket and never had a drop call. I enjoy the service, customer service and my easy to work phones plus they offer upgrades too. Thank you for confirming I am making the right decisions. #greatarticle
It definitely makes sense to go with a prepaid carrier. However, if coverage is adequate for both Cricket and Metro where you live, Metro by T-Mobile is the way to go. Better pricing and they don’t cap your speeds like Cricket. Read the fine print. Crickets caps your video and browsing to ridiculously low speeds. Metro doesn’t.
I have had Cricket since 2013, and love it! Great price and service. I have never had a drop call, and I live in a rural area and I travel, with no problems. There is one issue I have with them. After have my phone for 6 years I wanted to upgrade. When I checked their site, found the phone I wanted, but there were 2 prices. One at $99 and another $199, for the same phone. The lower price were for new accounts and the higher price were for existing customers. It’s like they don’t value the customers that have been with them for for any length of time with any issues. It’s a shame that they don’t value their loyal customers.
Cru6cket used to give money off to trade in your old phone when you bought a new one. Ask if they still do that when you buy your new phone.
I have been using Tracfone for about 5 years. However, I recently bought a phone from Cricket because I wanted a particular phone and Cricket offered the best deal on the phone but had to sin up for a plan. Tracfone is about 8 dollars cheaper so I plan on switching at the end of my plan.