CRICKETED

The only part of our lives Matthew and I did not combine quickly after we got married was our cell phone plans. He was on AT&T's unlimited data plan, which we knew once he abandoned, they'd never give him back (at least not at the same price). I was on Verizon's cheapest 1 GB plan and liked them better because of their coverage.

In the spring of 2016, after we had successfully been using YNAB for a few months and were motivated by the results
(not uncommon), we began looking for ways to save even more money. Matthew pointed out we were spending a crazy percentage of our monthly budget on TV, internet and cell phones. He started shopping cell phone providers and eventually picked Cricket.

Cricket uses the same network as AT&T, so any AT&T phone will work on the Cricket network (as opposed to requiring an "unlocked" and generally more expensive phone). Matthew was able to get a free new phone for switching over, and his one line + 2.5 GB of data came in at $30/month (he got a discount for electing to autodraft the bill). A few months later, I dropped and shattered my iPhone. We took that as a sign. We cancelled my Verizon line and moved my number to Cricket, where I was able to use Matthew's old AT&T iPhone (until I dropped that one, too... it was a really rough time). We got a one-time discount for moving my line over from Verizon AND we got a monthly discount for having more than one line now. They were practically paying US at this point.

Before all this went down, I was paying a little under $80 for my small Verizon plan and Matthew was paying about $75 on AT&T for a combined $165/month. At Cricket, we pay $70 FLAT for both lines. Let me say that again: WE CUT OUR PHONE BILL IN HALF. We saved $1,000/year by moving off of the major networks and onto Cricket. I haven't once looked back. And Cricket loves us so much, they have gradually increased our data to 5 GB each, at no additional charge. We will randomly get a text message saying our plan is increasing for free. So, $70 flat, for two lines, with 5 GB of data EACH? Come on.

However, the cable and internet doesn't have such a happy ending. We couldn't get Comcast to give us a low enough rate, so we cut cable altogether. Bye bye, DVR. I thought I would really miss it, but I haven't. It's hardest during football season, of course.

I am always interested in hearing new ways to cut expenses: anyone have any good tips or tricks?