Mint Mobile

Decreasing the Outgoing > Mint Mobile

Background

One of the fastest ways to drain your money pond is to use a big-name cellular carrier. For instance, the cheapest single-line plan that AT&T offers is an unlimited data plan (with a 3 GB hotspot limit) for $65 per month. You can get a line from Verizon for $50 per month, but you have to choose between 5G (which is capped at 4 GB) or 4G. Either way, it adds up to $600 a year before taxes and fees.

Mint Mobile is a “mobile virtual network operator,” or, secondary carrier, for short. Secondary carriers rent cellular service from larger companies to benefit both parties. The smaller company gains customers by offering lower rates, and the bigger company makes money through the smaller company. I’ve saved thousands of dollars by using secondary carriers for over six years.

To use a secondary carrier you need an unlocked phone. You can spend $1200 for the latest phone, or you can buy a slightly outdated phone – that was perfectly acceptable a year ago – for a fraction of the cost on eBay. Just be sure to check your phone’s compatibility on the Mint Mobile website first.

About Mint Mobile

Enter Mint Mobile, the secondary carrier with spunk. Mint Mobile uses the T-Mobile network, which offers 5G coverage over 90% of the US (more than any other carrier) and 4G coverage over 99% of the US. Don’t worry, Mint defaults to 5G and only uses 4G when 5G isn’t available. And they use a low bandwidth signal, which means the signal travels through obstructions like walls and rain better, giving you better coverage1. (While low bandwidth signals are slower than high bandwidth, the low bandwidth signal is still about 200 mbps2, which is fast enough to download a two-hour 1080p movie in just 24 seconds.)

Almost miraculously, Mint Mobile’s plans weren’t affected by recent inflation – they start at just $15 per month. The $15 plan includes unlimited talk and text and 5GB of data. This $15 plan works perfectly for me since I have home internet and don’t need much data. (If you need more data, Mint Mobile offers a variety of plans with different amounts of data, all for less than the big-name competitor.)

There are some intricacies to be aware of. The $15 tag is good for a three-month stint for new customers. And after the first three months you can still get it for $15/month, but only if you choose the 12-month plan thereafter and pay the cost up front.

Thankfully, Mint Mobile offers a family plan that allows you to get the $15 price without paying it all up front. The plan allows you to pay over time in three-month increments of $45 per quarter – still less than you would pay in a month for a competitor! (Paying over time is helpful since it frees up $135 in capital to be invested.)

But what about those times when you use up all your data livestreaming your vacation on Instagram? Fear not; Mint Mobile provides the easy option to buy more data or switch plans at any point.

How can secondary carriers offer such low costs? For one thing, they don’t pay for physical stores and sales reps; they’re totally online-based (similar to a high yeild savings account). You can read more about how Mint saves money here.

Features

Mint Mobile offers a refer-a-friend program, in which your friend gets his or her first three months free (a $45 value for the 5 GB plan, and going on up from there). You get the same value reward as your friend. You can even receive $100 if a friend switches from AT&T or Verizon! The refer-a-friend category is the only area where I’m not completely satisfied with Mint. The referral credit doesn’t automatically apply to your next bill, but rests in your wallet until you request them to apply it to your bill. This can easily be done through a chat message, but I would appreciate the convenience of the action being performed automatically.

One delightful little fact about Mint is that their taxes and fees are lower than some competitors. I previously used a different secondary carrier, and for their $15 plan, the taxes/fees were an additional 30%. This is normal for cellular services due to recovery fees and a variety of state and federal charges. But Mint Mobile’s fees are only 15.5%; nearly half the rate of the competitor.

Mint Mobile participates on cashback services, which give bonuses between $5-$15.

Mint Mobile also allows you to pay with PayPal, which can net you an additional 3%-6% cashback.

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