I love living out in the middle of nowhere! Except for our lack of internet providers. So when we found a better option, I wanted to share–just in case you’re in a similar situation.
First, some backstory…
We were using a satellite connection. We paid almost $100 a month for 15 GB of anytime data and 50 GB to use between 2AM and 8AM.
That’s not very much data, except for in the middle of the night. When you work from home like I do, you need internet! So we supplemented with our cell phones. Bryan was on a grandfathered plan with Verizon for unlimited data. We paid for hot spot availability. Then I had 5 GB on my phone, which I used mainly for work. We were paying a lot of money each month for our phones and this supplemental data.
Ouch!
When you’re trying to get out of debt, paying a ton of money for phones and internet hurts. It (almost) made us wish we lived in town and had cable or DSL or something. It’d be a lot cheaper.
We’ve been actively searching for a better option for a couple of years. And come up empty. Until recently!
The Solution
Then the Lord brought us the perfect solution! You see, Verizon reintroduced their unlimited plan. They reserve the right to slow down the connection after 22 GB, but that’s still a massive improvement over 15 GB!
So, here’s what we did.
Bryan, Jayme, and I each have a phone that can connect to the internet. We can all hot spot to our computers if we travel or anything.
But, we didn’t stop there. We also hooked up a Mi-Fi hot spot for the computers, and are using that for our home internet.
AND, we got a new device that will give us a home phone number over the connection, and an Ethernet connection to hook computers up to. This is also unlimited.
Bottom Line on Our Internet Budget
After all of that, we actually lowered our Verizon bill!
And we can cancel our satellite internet. So we ended up with faster internet, more data to use, AND $100 a month in savings to throw on my student loans. We are actively trying to pay this final debt off. We are praying that we can slash the total in half over the course of 2017.
Then we’ll be below the debt threshold to continue the process of becoming missionaries to Missionary Acres. So exciting!
And, it’s been amazing to see how the Lord is opening doors for us to save money and earn extra money that we can apply to this debt.
Our recent internet change is just one example, and we’re so thankful!
Are You Taking Advantage of the Unlimited Plan if You’re a Verizon Customer?
Do you have cell service through Verizon? If you do, it might be worth looking into their new plan if you go through a lot of data.
If you live in town and have consistent access to Wi-Fi, it might not be worth it. But if you don’t–I’d highly recommend you at least check it out to see if you can also make changes and save some money.
This whole thing was a reminder for us that it’s always good to be on the lookout for ways to save on those regular budget items!
