Summary

We’ve been on Ting since February 2013, and have loved it! I’d written a post or two previously, but I think this beginning of the year is a good time to look back. It’s been great saving around $130 per month on our cell phone bill compared to our previous normal bill with Sprint which had been around $180/mo after taxes.

Heads up, our savings over the past (almost) year has been over $1400!

If you alreday know about Ting and are ready to sign up, feel free to use my referral link (https://zdocstl202.ting.com/) and you and I will both save $25! Keep reading if you want to learn more about our experience the past year.

Our Typical Usage

We have two smartphones — an HTC EVO 4G LTE, and a Samsung Galaxy S3. Not too surprisingly Ann talks on the phone significantly more than I do ;) – I use the phone calling ability in Gmail probably 90% of the time to talk with people (See my Google Voice notes below, so the proper number shows up on their caller ID). Even when I do end up using our cell phone for calls a lot, we’re still saving a bunch (see September in the table below). We don’t typically stream full movies or audio to our phones when they’re not connected to WiFi. We will catch a few YouTube funny videos while on cell data, but we try not to make a habit of it — just hook up to WiFi.

The downside to Ting is data roaming; it doesn’t have it. Text messages still work because those go over your cell network, but you can’t check email, etc. Voice roaming is fine and there’s no extra charge for it. If you travel a bunch into unpopulated areas and need data, you’ll need to plan ahead – see my notes below for what I do.

Our 2013 Ting Bills

For comparison our monthly Sprint bill was around $180.

Month of 2013	Bill
February	$26.76
March	$38.81
April	$74.12
May	$54.76
June	$74.59
July	$4.27*
August	$54.70
September	$85.91
October	$54.77
November	$54.77
December	$54.77

Customer Service

Ting’s customer service has always been top-notch. They’ve been interested in my questions, and have been able to answer them quickly and kindly.

Wrap-up

If you look over these numbers and decide to sign up, feel free to use my referral code and both you and I will save $25:
https://zdocstl202.ting.com/, 

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Explanations From Above

Data Roaming Notes

Personally, I bought a Verizon JetPack modem off craigslist ($25) and set it up with the minimal data amount (4GB) that I use when I’m travelling. That sets me back about $50 a month. I would already have this anyways as a secondary internet connection for my business, so personally I don’t deduct that from my cell phone savings — but if you want to, that still means I’m saving around $80 per month.

Google Voice Integration

I’ve used Google Voice for several years now. I had my “main” number (the one I give out to everyone) ported over to Google Voice back in the Spring of 2013. Then I set up my Ting phone number as one of the forwarding devices in Google Voice. It’s an excellent service that I use to read my voicemails and texts, as well as respond to text messages.