Author Topic: I got my cellphone bill down to $0.00 with FreeUP Mobile  (Read 2043 times)

CheapScholar

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I got my cellphone bill down to $0.00 with FreeUP Mobile
« on: April 08, 2019, 04:43:14 PM »
On another thread a couple months ago some of us discussed cheap phone plans/going phoneless/resorting to flip phones.

I’ve been on Ting the past 30 months and it was actually OK.  But, I think I’ve found something even better.  FreeUP Mobile has a free plan where you get 1000 texts/minutes per month.  I signed up over a month ago and I have to say it’s been great so far.  FreeUP is an MVNO like Republic, Ting, Trac.  If you want a data plan they have plans starting at $10 for a small amount of data and also a $15 plan and a $20 plan.  For me, the free plan with no data is actually just fine.  My phone GPS still works without data.  I still like not having the data honestly.  I did have to pay $5 for the FreeUP SIM card.  I put it in my wife’s old iPhone 5c and it works great (FreeUP uses the ATT network in case you’re wondering).

Anyway, I have been using the phone for talk and texts the past month and it’s great.  Yesterday my month ended and my 1000 texts/minutes were replenished.  FYI - you can also earn freeup points by taking surveys and printing coupons.  For me, I’d never need more than 1000 texts/minutes in one month anyway.  The FreeUP website and app are intuitive and easy to use.

If you’re interested in joining you can use my referral code: https://freeupmobile.com/?refer=00158014

I’m not sure what I’d do with the referral dollars.  I like the free version, but maybe my wife would get off the plan with her parents if I had some credit with FreeUP.  At any rate, if I end up getting more than a couple referrals I will edit this post and encourage someone else to get referral credits.
« Last Edit: April 08, 2019, 04:54:56 PM by CheapScholar »

ThatGuy

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Re: I got my cellphone bill down to $0.00 with FreeUP Mobile
« Reply #1 on: April 08, 2019, 07:25:05 PM »
WOW!  Thanks.  I'm going to have to think about this.  I'm on Cricket Wireless which is an mvno that is also on the ATT network.  I like having a little data but it would still cut my bill in half and I already have a phone that will work.

Junco

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Re: I got my cellphone bill down to $0.00 with FreeUP Mobile
« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2019, 01:50:43 PM »
Thanks for the info. I've been using Republic Wireless for a few years at $24 a month so this could be a big improvement.

If you have the zero-data plan, do you know if it is possible to purchase data from your phone so you can check something online if you decide you need to mid-month?

I'd probably be fine with the zero-data plan 99% of the time but it would be nice to buy and use data in an emergency.

Thanks,

CheapScholar

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Re: I got my cellphone bill down to $0.00 with FreeUP Mobile
« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2019, 04:36:04 PM »
Thanks for the info. I've been using Republic Wireless for a few years at $24 a month so this could be a big improvement.

If you have the zero-data plan, do you know if it is possible to purchase data from your phone so you can check something online if you decide you need to mid-month?

I'd probably be fine with the zero-data plan 99% of the time but it would be nice to buy and use data in an emergency.

Thanks,

I believe the answer to this is YES.  I just logged into my account and clicked around as if I wanted to upgrade immediately.  Which gave me this:

“If you need to change your plan before your next payment date, we will need you to decide how you want to handle the change in plan amount. You can either go ahead and take a credit if you are reducing your plan or you can pay the difference in plan amounts the day you switch.”

Of course, you’d need to be on some WiFi network for at least a minute to make the switch, you couldn’t just change on the fly on the road because you wouldn’t have data.  You can easily change plans every month.  Like you, I anticipate that once in a blue moon I might shell out the $10 for the data plan (vacation, heavy work travel months).

*edit: a more detailed answer to your question, I don’t believe you can text/call FreeUP from anywhere and do some type of immediate upgrade.  So if you’re looking for immediate data in a serious emergency with no short term WiFi to borrow you might be out of luck.
« Last Edit: April 11, 2019, 04:52:43 PM by CheapScholar »

terran

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Re: I got my cellphone bill down to $0.00 with FreeUP Mobile
« Reply #4 on: April 11, 2019, 08:40:33 PM »
You aren't paying for the product you ARE the product. They need to make money off you somehow. Maybe the trade is worth it to you. Just sayin'.

CheapScholar

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Re: I got my cellphone bill down to $0.00 with FreeUP Mobile
« Reply #5 on: April 11, 2019, 09:26:30 PM »
You aren't paying for the product you ARE the product. They need to make money off you somehow. Maybe the trade is worth it to you. Just sayin'.

I guess?  I hardly ever use my phone other than texting my wife that I picked up our son from school.  I don’t see how that makes me a product.  FreeUP doesn’t even have my credit card on file.  They have no consumer data or anything sensitive about me.

terran

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Re: I got my cellphone bill down to $0.00 with FreeUP Mobile
« Reply #6 on: April 11, 2019, 09:29:58 PM »
You aren't paying for the product you ARE the product. They need to make money off you somehow. Maybe the trade is worth it to you. Just sayin'.

I guess?  I hardly ever use my phone other than texting my wife that I picked up our son from school.  I don’t see how that makes me a product.  FreeUP doesn’t even have my credit card on file.  They have no consumer data or anything sensitive about me.

I'd still want to know what they're getting out of the deal. Cell phones can gather a lot of information about you even if you don't use them much. Maybe I'm just paranoid though.

Junco

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Re: I got my cellphone bill down to $0.00 with FreeUP Mobile
« Reply #7 on: April 12, 2019, 09:25:50 AM »
Thank you for the follow up, CheapScholar!

edit: opted for their $10 a month plan with unlimited call, text, and 200MB data. That should be good enough for me and save me at least $10 a month vs Republic!
« Last Edit: April 12, 2019, 10:36:00 AM by Junco »

CheapScholar

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Re: I got my cellphone bill down to $0.00 with FreeUP Mobile
« Reply #8 on: April 12, 2019, 01:33:19 PM »
You aren't paying for the product you ARE the product. They need to make money off you somehow. Maybe the trade is worth it to you. Just sayin'.

I guess?  I hardly ever use my phone other than texting my wife that I picked up our son from school.  I don’t see how that makes me a product.  FreeUP doesn’t even have my credit card on file.  They have no consumer data or anything sensitive about me.

I'd still want to know what they're getting out of the deal. Cell phones can gather a lot of information about you even if you don't use them much. Maybe I'm just paranoid though.

I respect that - I’m probably more paranoid than most people myself when it comes to this stuff.  I think with FreeUP, they count on many people (if not most) taking their surveys in order to get credit to buy the premium plans.  In that case, you’re absolutely right that those people are the products.  But there’s no obligation to take the surveys.  You can stick to the free plan or pay good old cash to buy the data plans.  I’ll also say there’s no pressure to take the surveys.  I’ve been a member for 6 weeks now and FreeUP hasn’t pressured or reminded me to take a survey yet.

I think it’s kind of analogous to the cruising industry.  If you cruise non-peak times, book an inside cabin, don’t gamble, don’t buy excursions, the cruise line loses on you.  FreeUP is losing on the cheap guys like me that take the free plan with 1000 texts/minutes, but they know most people will probably go premium eventually.

kpd905

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Re: I got my cellphone bill down to $0.00 with FreeUP Mobile
« Reply #9 on: April 13, 2019, 08:14:56 PM »
I see you can add 200 mb of data to the free plan for $5/month.  Can you set it to just do that automatically every month, or do you need to go in and manually select it each month?

CheapScholar

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Re: I got my cellphone bill down to $0.00 with FreeUP Mobile
« Reply #10 on: April 13, 2019, 08:31:50 PM »
I see you can add 200 mb of data to the free plan for $5/month.  Can you set it to just do that automatically every month, or do you need to go in and manually select it each month?

It auto renews to whichever plan you had the month before.  FreeUP used to make you login and renew or pick your plan for the coming month but they changed it.

Probably good to login once every few weeks and check out your account though.