Every month I track all of the bills that I pay in a spreadsheet that I save in my Google account and I suggest that everyone does the same. By taking the time each month to put these numbers in, it allows you to track your expenses, both on monthly bills and what you are spending on things like food and gas.
One thing you will find out if you track your expenses in this fashion is that every year your monthly costs will tend to rise. There are many reasons this can happen but overall costs for services just increase each year. This brings me to my current issue: my cellphone bill is too large. I am paying around $200 a month on a limited data plan for 4 phones. We use less than 25% of our data but to reduce our plan with our current provider would cost MORE than to keep our current plan. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me so I am looking around and think I will be switching to Google Fi.
Google FI
When Google first dipped its toe into providing cellular service a few years ago I was interested in what a phone service through Google would look like. I sat back and checked in on Google Fi from time to time (also they did not have family plans, only individual). This year my Verizon bill finally pushed over the $200 mark and in conjunction with that, I listened to the 10 Pillers of FI podcast by ChooseFI (great podcast, you should check it out). One of their main points was not paying for what you weren't using in the phone and tv realms and we are just not using all of what we are paying for in our phones (or tv, but more on that later).
For my situation, I am specifically looking at the $17 per phone/$10 per GB plan. With 4 phones and a maximum of 5 GB used per month, the total cost prior to fees and tax is a whopping $118. That sets us up to potentially save hundreds of dollars a year.
Is Coverage an Issue?
The main concern I have is if coverage will be an issue. I am not terribly concerned for myself as I live in a very urban area and coverage is plentiful. Even free wifi is basically everywhere at this point. If you are interested in the coverage map you can find it here.
To me, most provider's maps look about the same. Heavy coverage around populations centers and especially on the East Coast so I expect coverage will be fairly ubiquitous. I could be wrong and if I am then I am in luck because Google Fi does not require a contract, it is a month to month so I can cancel whenever I want and switch back if I have to.
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