The Best Low-Cost Cell Phone and Service Provider

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Trying to find a good cheap cell phone and cell service company is nothing new. People have been fleeing the big four service providers for years now. Going to smaller companies with no contracts like Boost Mobile, Metro, Cricket, Consumer Cellular, etc.. The best low cost service I have found, for my usage, is a company called Ting Mobile or Ting. They have been around since 2012 and I have had their service for the last 5 years or so.

The other part of this is getting a low priced phone that will still perform to your liking. This part seems difficult, but it really isn’t. The reason for this is Motorola. These phones are about as cheap as it gets and the hardware, software, and specs will satisfy the majority of cell phone users. I was skeptical at first but have since been won over in a big way.

Who this is not for.

So I will begin by saying that this budget system probably will not work for someone who is a hardcore user of their device on a daily basis. I mean heavy data use and running multiple apps all day long, like streaming music, movies, and games. But for the majority of people out there this combo plan will work.

Ting for cell service

When you sign up at Ting.com will get a $25 credit towards the purchase of a device from them or it will go towards your bill. Then if you refer others you can get $50 for the first referral and $25 for each one after that.

Ting is the pay as you go a la carte cell phone service company. You only pay for what you use each month. Pricing is based on tiers of usage for calls, texts, and data in MB(megabytes). Ting uses Sprint service towers, so the phone will say sprint for service and not Ting.

Ting allows you to bring your own device, BYOD. They are compatible with most phones in use today. They have an easy tool on the website to check if your phone is compatible.

So the costs start with $6 per line per month. This is the cost whether you use the phone or not. As long as the number and phone remain active in their system they will charge you.

Next the call pricing starts as $3 for up to 100 minutes. Then $9 for up to 500, $18 for up to 1000, $35 for up to 2100, and 1.9 cents per minute over 2100.

Now for the text pricing. $3 for up to 100 texts, $5 for up to 1000, $8 for up to 2000, $11 for up to 4800, and 25 cents per text over 4800.

Then the data pricing starts at $3 for up to 100MB. $10 for up to 500, $16 for up to 1GB or 1000MB, $20 for up to 2GB, and $10 per GB over 2GB.

Additionally you can cut your usage even more by using apps such as Skype or Whatsapp for free calls or texts. Remember to only use these on Wifi or you will be paying mobile data charges and that will defeat the purpose.

Now on to the Motorola

First off let me say that I am referring to new unlocked cell phones that you buy from Amazon or Best Buy, or if you buy it from Ting directly then you are good. Ting sells phones at a competitive price compared to Amazon or Best Buy. Best Buy is cheaper only if you activate it with them, and that will not be with Ting.

So Motorola has the lowest priced phones running Android 9. Just look around and see what I mean. After looking at the specs it is a no brainer. But after getting a Moto G5 Plus brand new in 2017 I was sold immediately.

Unbelievably cheap for what you get

So now two years later I see the wave of adds for the new G7. Now the G5 I got in 2017 for $275, and I just bought the G7 about for $270. Both of these came from Amazon and they were unlocked with the ability to work on all four major carriers. Unbelievable compared to $400, $600, $800, or holy shit $1000 for the other choices out there.

Now I’m not going to get all deep into the weeds on the specs, since everyone will be looking for different things. But I will say that I don’t know how much faster a phone can get and how much better a screen can look than the Moto G series.

Can you really tell if something is 2k, 4k, or 8k on a little screen? Once it is a HD screen it is going to satisfy most people here. Works for me and everyone I have asked about this.

The main details of importance would be that it has 64GB of internal memory and supports SD cards for more storage. It has 4GB of RAM with a mid range snapdragon processor which like I said is fast. I touch it and it goes. How much faster it could go seems very irrelevant. The screen is a 6.2 inch HD screen. Beautiful.

I know I forgot to mention the cameras. Everyone loves their cameras. Well I am not a camera nut but according to many reviews and some personal experience, I believe the cameras will make most people happy.

Choices available

Now there are three Moto G7 models to choose from in the United States. The G7 and G7 power are around the same $250-$300 price range, and the G7 play is $200. That G7 play is a real steal. The specs are a little weaker than the other two, but it is still so worth 200 bucks.

Crunch the numbers

Now for multiple phones on one account with Ting, everyone will share the usage. So all the activity from all the phones is combined to give you your monthly usage totals.

So I went from some crazy $70+ per month from a big carrier, then to Boost for $40 per month. Since I have been with Ting from 2014, I have averaged $15-$20 per month per line. I think that speaks for itself. When I add in the brand new phone for $275 that I used for 2 years, then the cost is only $26-$31 per month. This is just an average. Some months were more and some were less. But for me it has been the best budget cell phone setup I could find.

So do your own research and crunch those numbers to see if this combo plan can save you money.

Looking to save more money? Read about the 25 things to stop spend money on.