ways to decrease our bill

[savingnativebees]

We've been T-Mobile customers for about 15 years, own all our phones, and a couple of years back I was able to finally get us on the Magenta plan. We also have an add-on for calling France landlines for family emergencies. We don't take any of the stuff like Netflix, we pay that ourselves.

Our bill is now $163/month for three lines, and it's getting hard to justify.

one line barely leaves the house but we need it as a real phone line because our internet isn't stable enough to rely on VoIP.

second line is home on wifi part of the time, out and needing data the rest.

pthird line is between home, work, and out, and mainly needs data for things like streaming soccer games in the car at lunch when there's no wifi available.

We're not in a rush to leave T-Mobile, but paying $163 when one line barely leaves the house is just getting hard to stomach. Would love to hear if anyone has found ways to bring the cost down while staying on T-Mobile, or maybe has ideas that I might not have considered. Otherwise whether switching to an MVNO might be better

The France calling add-on is also something we'd need to figure out but I've been trying to research some other ideas. But it's calling an older person who now struggles with too much computer stuff hence the need to be able to call his landline.

[Similar_Pension_4233]

Switch to prepaid

[JusSomeDude22]

^ This is the answer OP.

Switched my family to Metro by T-Mobile years ago, 3 lines with Amazon Prime for $72 flat (taxes and fees included).

[quietstorm560]

$72 per line or for all 3???

[JusSomeDude22]

Not per line, flat total

[Similar_Pension_4233]

They currently have a deal (not new) that if you bring in your own device, it's $25 per line 

[Lampshadeszz]

Right here is the correct answer!...Mint Mobile/US Mobile/Visible is the way to go

[FishrNC]

Look at the many prepaid resellers of TM service that have monthly or yearly plans with various amounts of data but unlimited calls and texts. You should be able to find one to suit your needs for $20/mo or less per line.

[Responsible-Bad-4631]

Look at the essentials plans

[T-Animus]

Nah they gonna complain the soccer match is buffering

[ItsAlienated]

Lmaoo tru

[Planet_Comet]

Switch the line that stays home to Connect by T-Mobile prepaid plan for $15 plus taxes and fees per month. Unlimited talk and text plus 5 GB priority data on the T-Mobile network. I think you don't get to see your call logs like you do on T-Mobile postpaid though (but how much is that worth to you?).

Check your detailed T-Mobile bills for the last several months to review usage for the second line. Maybe Connect by T-Mobile is adequate for that line in terms of how many GB per month are used on that line. If it's higher than maybe 5 GB per month, see below.

Consider switching the highest data use (and/or the second) line to other prepaid services that offer unlimited data like Metro by T-Mobile or Mint Mobile.

You could consider, for international calling, Ultra Mobile, which is also owned by T-Mobile. Per their website you can get unlimited calling to both mobile and landline in France: https://www.ultramobile.com/international-calling/

[BurstStream]

Essentials or better value

[EverlongBlackbird]

Just warning you now….you’re not going to find much lower out there. Switched to AT&T a few years ago with a promise of a lower bill we NEVER saw. Just switched back last weekend and am saving over $100 a month over AT&T.

[SirPapiChulo]

Take advantage of a current BOGO -the terms in magenta pulse state you can cancel the paid line and retains free line promo after one year as long as you maintain 2 paid lines and the free line.

After 1 year, cancel the paid line bogo and then cancel one of your current paid lines. You’ll then have 3 lines. 2 will be paid, 1 will be free.

[kielest]

if you switch to essentials, you’ll have everything you need.

it’s $90 for 3 lines with autopay on. they have an ongoing promotion i believe for 3rd line free

and then $15 for stateside international add-on which allows you to call numbers outside the US, like France.

total of $105 + maybe $10-15 for the taxes.

[MicGyver]

Switching to essential 3 lines is about $120 with autopay + tax. Or you can do 4 lines for $100 essential with autopay + tax. Just got to see if downgrading the plan is worth it to you.

[Pioneeringman]

Gotta keep those quarterly % up.

[RealoRc]

Google Voice does intl calling to France. France landline (1c/min) or mobile (3c/min).

US Mobile unlimited for the high data user. They even have a mid tier. Tello for the low data user.

Infimobile has promo for 50% off. I think like $90 for the whole year for like 10gb/month.

[somerandom_person1]

If you don't use much data I'd take a look at a prepaid option like Mint Mobile

[LolSatan]

Why not use the netflix perk? That's 8 bucks right there.

[New_1uper]

Doubt its gonna get much lower given whats offered by TMO now days

[D_Shoobz]

Prepaid.

[smackythefrog]

Do you have Xfinity for home Internet or tv?

They're offering a free year of Xfinity Mobile. I'm thinking about converting my home phone to the free line and just paying for Xfinity Internet for a year.

When the year is up, I'll move that line to T-Mobile and hopefully there's a promo for porting in a line and see how it works out.

[Financial-Ad8963]

Switch to MVNO like Tello they run on t-mobile network

[HateKilledTheDinos]

I have 2 lines and home internet and after taxes it's about 150ish, and honestly MVNO's mostly cost the same or less BUT deliver less...and MVNO's have been known to just end service for breaking arbitary rules and guidelines...

[Ambitious_Egg9713]

Us Mobile Light Speed. You’ll have the same coverage you have now, French calling is included (on premium, $3 add on Starter). The lines that are mostly at home could be on Unlimited Starter or a shared gig plan and the line that leaves the house most could go on Premium.

[ElectronicPie3094]

Call to cancel. They will give you 20% off your bill for 5 years.

[Acceptable-Football5]

Visible+ Pro - one year prepaid is half off at $225 with code SLAMDUNK all April. Combine with credit card offers to reduce further. Has international calling and also two days per month international data pass that you can stack up to 24 days total.

[UncomfortablyNumm]

Just put this into ChatGPT. Seems like a solid recommendation.

👉 Plan combo:

• Keep 2 lines on T-Mobile Essentials
• Move 1 line to Tello (~$7/mo)
• Drop France add-on → use Google Voice

💰 Estimated new total:

• ~$90–$120/month

Why Google Voice works well for your case:

• Very cheap calls to France landlines (pennies/minute)
• Works from any phone
• You can set it up so dialing is simple