I don’t know about you, but I have to pay WAY too much for my current contracted mobile plan. So when I was given the chance {and a Samsung Galaxy III} to test out the $40 {pay-as-you-go} monthly unlimited plan with Walmart Family Mobile, I was ecstatic. Plus, I’ve always wanted to personally compare the Android and Apple platforms. But I couldn’t afford the time {or money} to try both.
Currently, my mobile plan is one of my highest household costs. Like many people, I buy my smartphones at a discounted rate in exchange for signing a two-year contract plan. But it doesn’t feel like much of a deal when my contract plan cost $80 a month. Plus having the iPhone, I need a special data package {$30} as well as a separate texting package {$30}.
Then {of course} I get to add in taxes, fees, and the additional line my Husband’s iPhone uses. I’d also love to add a new mobile line for my home-business but I shudder to think of adding yet another line and data package to my bill. Then again, its just money right? The mobile companies sure want you to think so.
It really grinds the grits knowing how dependent I am on such an expensive luxury. But with as busy as our life gets, my smartphone has become a saving grace to keep me organized and connected. I’ll be honest, when we suffered a lay-off a few years back, our family chose to discontinue the cable and house-phone so we could keep our mobile phones active instead. Well, we actually had to, we were locked into a contract.
Now I’m left to wonder how things may have been different if we’d had the Walmart Family Mobile monthly unlimited plans to take advantage of instead. One thing that stopped me from utilizing monthly non-contracted plans in the past, were the disposable phones that accompanied them. While great for just making calls, I needed smartphone capabilities. So imagine my shock when I realized that I could walk into Walmart with a Samsung Galaxy smartphone and walk out $25 later with a new phone number!
While Walmart offers many different contact and non-contract options; I’ll be testing out my new Samsung Galaxy III with a non-contract plan. And I’ll be doing that with the {T-Mobile} Walmart Family Mobile unlimited talk, text, and web plan for $40 a month. As I mentioned above, its only cost me $25 so far, which activated the phone {compare that to the $36 to activate a phone on my contract plan}.
The service is billed monthly, so I’ll be billed after about two weeks for my first month. And I’ll be able to pay my bill online {or by phone} via the My Family Mobile website. I have to admit, I was already impressed with the affordability and savings on that first day!
I’ve only owned both plans for about a week now. So far, I’d had crystal clear reception making calls and the Samsung Galaxy smartphone has clearly shown its advantages. Most of my questions now are in regards to data usage and exploring the capabilities of the Android platform. You’ll see more of what I discovered and what I {honestly} thought about this new cell plan next month, when I post again on June 3rd.
Until then, let me know what you think of all this! Do you feel you’re paying too much for your cell service? And what things do you want to know specifically about this non-contract unlimited family mobile plan?
Already interested in heading to Walmart to test out the T-Mobile Family Mobile plan yourself? You can sign up for this plan online at walmart.com. Or if you prefer, check here to see if your close to a Walmart mobile retail location and sign up for this Family Mobile plan in-store.
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Walmart Family Mobile. As always, my thoughts – opinions – and overall enthusiasm are my own. Thank you. #FamilyMobileSaves #cbias #SocialFabric
Terri says
I was really surprised by the phones available with this plan, as well! After converting from a decidedly not smart phone when we renewed our beastly contract – I certainly couldn’t go back. I’m encouraged about this service plan because my family could save an enormous amount monthly and am excited to hear your take after testing it for a period! Thanks so much for sharing about this 🙂
Shaun Hoobler says
Hi Rachel – as a new reader of your blog I though I’d just jump in and leave a quick comment here to say I’ve been enjoying it very much. Don’t think I need a new plan for the moment though. Cheers! Shaun
Dorothy says
I have the Wal-Mart family plan for $40.00 as of June 2013 on Galaxy S2 I also bought at Wal-Mart. My bill has gone up three times in less than a year! It started out at $49.28 for a couple months, then $49.40 for three months and my most recent bill is $49.45! Billing support can’t go off their scripted answer sheet so they just tell me it is due to taxes and fees. It is hard enough to understand “Kevin” in India as it is. Wal-Mart where I signed up as well as other customers who heard me question my bill at Wal-Mart say they only pay $47 and some change. We all live in the same zip code. I just called customer service to change me to the unlimited talk and text for $29.98. I should mention internet is super slow. I barely use it-maybe 2-2.5 megabytes NOT gigabytes a month. Seriously considering going to the prepaid plan.