Off to University Prepaid Sim Free Plans 2019 May

Yes! Finally, she is off to University. Going to univ. has proven to be a challenge. Car? NO! Bike? Better yet walk? Health Insurance? License? Smartphone Plan???? Yikes. I started to look into the prepaid phones plans with no contract and my head started to spin.

So I had to first understand my daughters usage. On average she used 8 to 9 GB of Data each month since February 2019. That's a lot. Why? She commutes to high school via a train. During the 50 min each way door to door travel she is live streaming music and videos. She hasn't had a regular phone call in that same time period nor texting as all her communication is via data hogging apps. Instagram, Messenger, Line, What's App, are all her go to communication pathways. It can be quite frustrating as she will occasionally message me on three apps at once. It's like which one do I respond to? So as far as my daughters needs for getting a prepaid plan in the US we must also recognize her lifestyle will change. When she goes to live on campus she will have universal internet. She will also not have the commute. So she will stream on line and not use so much data. Weekends she may be out and about and will need a fair amount of data. But WiFi hot spots are in many places. On vacation to Los Angeles we'd all get up in the morning and go to Target for WiFi. So we are not looking at an unlimited plan per se. Although at the writing of this there are some two year contract plans that are cheaper than going sim free. Tempting but for the first year of University we are wanting to wait and see how she likes things. Growing up in Japan all her life with periodic whirlwind tours of California where it was restaurants, amusement parks, beaches, and malls. Living in California is not as glorious and  it's expensive. So that is why we are waiting. But which company is good? Which plan?

To cut through all the charts I've created; I found that every provider has you spending $30 to $50 a month. All have slight variations. Unlimited is a loosely used term meaning you have unlimited use of 50 GB of data and then they throttle you back to a 2 G network which is like being put in the corner having to wait until the next month to get out of purgatory.

Another facet of this moving to the US is that older users are stuck in ancient methods of communication. Like talk and text. In Asia, people walk around sometimes video chatting with a friend or family member out and about. For many in older users communication was a private affair. You didn't share your phone number with anyone. Now you can troll someone by liking their profile and even chat and send pics and vids without ever being formally introduced. So I'm saying that even though my daughter's preferred method of communication is apps. Others are stuck in talk and text methodology.
So I know people still actually dial on a phone family, friends, and businesses. I've seen persons in Japan driving a car with a Navi in the dashboard of the car live streaming TV and video chatting on their smart phone. It is much different than all the regulations that the US has. Holding your smart phone while driving is illegal but that 44 ounce soda is okay?

https://www.pcmag.com/article/259293/the-best-cheap-cell-phone-plans-youve-never-heard-of
This link has a great read on the cheapest plans available. They are cheap and you get nothing for what you need. If I were to buy my 85 year old mom a smart phone I'd get her the $5. a month plan because she'd most likely never turn it on. Her prepaid flip phone is just to call AAA in case of a road side emergency. She refills her phone yearly and is happy.

The one I like and am heading for is MINT https://www.mintmobile.com/choose-plan/

They have a $15 a month plan and a $20 a month plan. I'm looking at the $20 a month for her needs. It is 8 GB of data and unlimited text and talk nationwide. The plan also includes the sim card for her exact phone. Some carriers charge $3-$20 for the nano sim card. The difference is you pay in 3 month chunks at a time. It's not month to month it is more like quarter to quarter. I don't mind that. No contract and no cancellation fee.

Beware of YouTube videos because many of them are older from last year or 5 years ago and the plans change every 6 months. Also many are tubers are bought by a brand that they push for a buck and they don't have your interest at heart. They are a monkey dancing to the music. I'm hoping by the time we get our daughter to Los Angeles in August the plans will be even better. I'm writing this as of May 2019.

Now when you have a plan purchased that is not the price you pay. There are about $8 to $25 in taxes and recovery fees with many states like NY who charge 24% tax on phone usage. California is estimated to be about 1%. But sales tax is 10% on each bill. Then you add 911 fee and a few others. If you know someone in the area you will go to ask them to tell you how much the taxes and fees are. One carrier, US Mobile, pays all those fees. So their $42 plan is actually $42. But they have the worst customer service and many people were unable without great trouble to connect their phones. So my $20 plan of choice may cost $30 or less from my estimation.

Here is a link to a site that will tell you the cost of 911 service on your phone.
911 state by state fee chart for cellular service: https://www.nena.org/page/911RateByState
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vgd4QVtxcHWwXarrFI3C7zmxXQsk0_q39jAx0DPnaLo/edit?usp=sharing

Each State has a recovery fee and then there are State, Local, and other taxes.

So good luck with your phone needs and finding that carrier to keep you in touch with your loved one. God Bless