I currently pay $25 a month for phone service.
This gets me unlimited talk and text. I don’t have a data plan, which is fine by me. No data means that I can’t be tempted to get on the internet, something that would be difficult with my phone’s browser anyway.
I wish I could offer you the $25/month plan, but T-Mobile doesn’t offer it anymore. These days, the cheapest unlimited plan they offer is $40 prepaid, which actually isn’t bad when compared to their standard price of $70 for a single line.
The cheapest monthly phone plans
For reference, here are the cheapest plans I was able to find on the major carriers:
T-Mobile: $40/month (prepaid)
Verizon: $30/month (prepaid)
Sprint: $40/month (prepaid not available)
AT&T: $30/month (prepaid)
What we can learn here are as follows:
- Plans are on the whole cheaper when they are “prepaid”, meaning, no-contract, month to month billing.
- The more data you want, the more expensive the plan is
For that last point, see this chart:
But while I’m all about saving money and lowering my monthly bills, I have to be honest, I really don’t care too much on whether my phone bill is $25 or $40, or even $80. I pay more than that in car insurance each month. Maybe this would have significantly affected my situation a decade or so ago, but not now.
Saving money is great, but it’s not really about the money. So what is it about then?
Enforcing good behavior
Behavior can be enforced through the types of purchases we make.
For example, an unlimited transit pass is more likely to be used than one where you pay per usage. The fact that each ride “feels” free gives you more incentive to use it. Conversely, if you have to shell out $5 every time you want a ride, you’ll think a little harder before you do it, even if the result at the end of the month, financially speaking, is exactly the same.
Now, what we’ve seen here is that the price of a standard phone plan is highly correlated to how much data you use.
For Verizon, $30/month gives you 500MB, while $65/month will give you “unlimited” data (though with a bunch of caveats, because nothing valuable can be truly unlimited).
And one of the aspects of smartphones that makes them so disruptive and addicting is that always-on, everywhere-you-go aspect. In other words, the data plan is the key that affects how much your phone affects your life.
Data is the key
Want to reduce your smartphone usage? Cancel your data plan (or just reduce it as much as possible).
Yes, you can still use WiFi, so it’s not like canceling your data plan is going to magically make you any less of a compulsive phone user. But not having it when you’re on the go will lessen the compulsion, and might retrain you to not jump toward your phone when you do have connectivity.
But as long as you have a smartphone in your hand or pocket or bag, you’re going to use it, data plan or not. (And you’re not going to leave your phone at home either.)
So saving money doesn’t matter. The most important thing is putting systems in place to model the behavior you wish to exhibit. For me, I want to stay present with the people around me and my surroundings, and the way I have found the best way to do that is by not using a smartphone.
How do you do it?
