My current smart phone service with Verizon was recently increased from $59.89 a month to $67.79 per month. The reason for the increase was stated as “increased administration cost”, so I wasn’t really getting anything more. My monthly plan with Verizon included unlimited talk, text and I believe 5 GB of data. I was happy with them; the service was always very reliable. When I called them to discuss any other options to lower my bill, they basically said there wasn’t anything they could offer me.

After doing a lot of research on different providers and plans I decided to try Mint Mobile. This is a prepaid plan as opposed to a postpaid plan which seems fine to me. For unlimited talk, text and 4 GB of data per month, the cost is $15 per month! The offer was to sign up for 3 months (prepaid) and after taxes and fees the total cost for 3 months was $51.78. This makes the taxes and fees only $6.78 for 3 months. After the 3 months if I am happy with the service, I can keep that rate for another full year.  

I am not a heavy data user and always use less than the 4GB’s a month so this plan should work great for me. 

They are sending me a SIM card which I should receive in a few days (for free) and all I need to do is switch it out and then activate my account. According to Mint Mobile, my zip code is in an “excellent” connection area, so I’m hoping the service works well. I can also keep my current phone# and phone.

I must say, the customer service so far has been excellent. I was easily able to speak with an actual person who was very knowledgeable, friendly and patient! I had a lot of questions and she answered all of them without rushing me. She even said that they would be happy to walk me through the activation process over the phone if I would be more comfortable than trying to do it on my own. It does sound very easy to do so I think I can manage it, but it was nice to have that support.

I’ll update again after everything switches over and I begin using it. Paying less for 3 months of the same service as Verizon was charging me for one month will be some great savings. 

And I will need it to bump up my monthly grocery budget. I am stopping the free grocery give away from the senior center. They have been receiving a LOT less donations from the grocery stores and I would rather the food go to others who may need it more than me. I am still doing my monthly food drop offs and will continue to do so to those people without transportation, or who are disabled and can’t drive. I enjoy it!

I was trying to stay at $70 per month for groceries but will be bumping it up to $100 per month. The savings from reducing my cell phone bill makes this possible.

Spending so far this month is right on track. I have spent $60.29 on groceries which only leaves me with $9.71 left to spend for the rest of the month to stay at my monthly goal of $70. I will need to buy butter, cheese, fresh spinach and iced tea soon so it might be a stretch to stay under budget this month. I did a quick tour of my fridge, freezer and pantry and I have 6 chicken drumsticks, frozen veggies, chili, veggie soup, ground meat, fish sticks, tuna, canned chicken, PB&J, pasta, pasta sauce and eggs so I can make it work. I like the challenge of using up what I have on hand! 

The price of eggs keeps going up. I bought an 18 count of large store brand eggs on 8/8 and the regular price is up to $4.89. The time before that, they were $4.75. I’m happy that my store still offers them for just .99 cents when you use 100 store club card points. I have not seen any shortages on any products that I usually buy and can still get some things on sale. At least the price of gas is going down. It was down to $3.89 for regular at my corner station today. Still high but better.

I took my brother out to lunch for his birthday spending $35.91 for both of us with tip and gave him a $25 gift card so some spending there.  

I’m getting excited about our upcoming vacation in September! I’ve been tucking away some spending money every month so I can just enjoy myself without counting every penny.

Not much else is happening, we had an absolutely beautiful weekend with perfect weather in the low 80’s and low humidity. My BF and I went to a few yard sales (I didn’t buy anything) and hit the park for a long walk and then sat outside for a while enjoying the sunshine. 

Football season is fast approaching which means I will soon be hosting my usual football Sunday get togethers. There will be some food spending for this, but everyone either pitches in, or brings something so it’s affordable, and we have so much fun!

I can’t believe it’s already mid-August!