Will Mint Mobile Plans Save Me Money?

Last Updated on May 8, 2022 by Stone

Check out my Review of Mint Mobile. The company started in California in 2016 and was purchased by actor Ryan Reynolds in 2019. It is now one of the fastest-growing companies in America and is disrupting the big telecom’s wireless business. Growth and disruption of the wireless industry is one thing but will Mint Mobile Plans save you money?

Review

What Data Plans does Mint Mobile Offer?

Mint Mobiles’ plans include unlimited text and talk within the USA. Data plans range from 4GB a month to unlimited. Data is 5G or 4G LTE, whichever has the strongest signal when you are using your phone. Here is a quick breakdown of costs.

After the initial 3-month promo, the customer can switch to the 12-month plan (the best deal) to keep the same low price. I acknowledge that the 12-month plan might be too high of an upfront cost for some people, especially those with a large family. There are ways to lower this amount, like what I’m doing (see below).

How is Mint Mobile’s Coverage?

Mint Mobile uses T-Mobile’s network so consider that before your dive in. If you don’t currently get great coverage in your area with T-Mobile, you won’t with Mint Mobile either. Luckily you can enter your zip code on their website and check out the coverage for the places you frequent.

Since Mint Mobile is paying T-Mobile for the use of its network and doesn’t own any of that infrastructure, its customers will be the first to experience any network slowdowns. Like all major carriers, T-Mobile prioritizes its customers first. This situation is not unique to Mint Mobile.

What Phones can I get with Mint Mobile?

Mint Mobile has the latest and greatest iPhones and Android sets. They also sell some older models at a lower price. Some Newer phones are bundled with 6 months of free service, while others can be purchased at a discount when bundled with a 12-month plan.

Phones can be purchased outright or financed using Affirm. Of course, you can always bring your current device as well. If you bring your phone that you purchased unlocked (like from the Apple store), you won’t have any problems. In general, GSM (Global System for Mobiles) devices used by AT&T and T-Mobile should work fine.

If you are switching from Verizon, you might have some issues as it uses CDMA (Code Division Mulitple Access). You can check if your phone is compatible by visiting Mint Mobile’s website.

My First Month with Mint Mobile

My family has 4 mobile phones at the moment. I have two: one for work; one for personal. My oldest daughter and my wife have the other 2 phones. All phones are relatively new, so I decided not to buy any new ones and just ordered the SIM card kits. I looked at our historical data usage to best optimize my initial order. I determined that I rarely use more than 2GB on my work phone, my wife uses less than 10GB, I use around 15GB on my personal phone, and my daughter consistently uses 20-30GB.

I ordered 4GB, 10GB, and 2 Unlimited SIMS Card kits. I received them within a couple of days. I downloaded the user-friendly Mint Mobile app to guide me through the setup. I had all devices switched, and our phone numbers ported over in about 45 minutes.

I noticed I now had more service bars than with my previous provider. I have been using the phone for a month and have experienced no data slowdowns or any irritations whatsoever with the service. Turning on WIFI-calling was super easy and allowed me to make phone calls at work where the cellular signal is weak due to my office being inside a large building.

At the end of the first month, they even sent me an update with how much data I used⸺turns out I could probably downgrade from unlimited to 15GB for my personal phone. So far, I am delighted with the service.

Save $1000

So my previous provider was charging me approximately $180/month for 4 phones with unlimited data, text, and calling to the US, Canada, and Mexico. This works out to $2160 a year. Here is how my costs broke down with Mint Mobile for the first 3 months:

The prices above are the same prices I’d get if I renew for 12 months. My yearly cost would be $1271. That’s a savings of $889. If I now factor in that I can downgrade one unlimited plan to a 15GB plan, I save another $60 bringing the total savings to about $950.

Invest the Savings!

A straightforward thing someone could do is put these savings into an index fund like the Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTSAX), with a 5-year average return of 10.95%. To be more conservative in the calculation, we could use 7% as the rate of return (approximately the return of the top 500 companies trading in the US stock market).

Assuming the $950 is invested each year, it translates into a possible future value of $6796 in 5 years or $14994 in 10 years. When was the last time you saved money that easily? Note: This is just an idea, not investing advice.

Recommendation

I would recommend Mint Mobile as long as you are in a location where the network signal is strong. Luckily, you can head over to their home page and enter your zip to check your coverage before buying. I like that they don’t nickel and dime you with a complicated bill.

You can track everything on the user-friendly app. They make it easy to add on international roaming when you travel, and any leftover credit doesn’t expire. Hotspot data and WIFI calling are also free. Other carriers charge extra for this. They also have a 7-day cancellation policy in which you can return everything for a full refund.