Why I Switched to Mint Mobile (And Why My Parents Did Too)

Full transparency: this post contains a referral link — if you sign up through it, I earn a small credit on my account. If you’d rather skip that, you can head straight to mintmobile.com. Either way, I just want to share what’s been working for us.

A friend (thanks Matt) recommended Mint Mobile to me about a year and a half ago, and it’s genuinely been one of the best money moves we’ve made. I wanted to write this up because word of mouth is why I finally switched.

The AT&T Situation

My wife and I had always gotten our phones through AT&T. It was fine for a while, but then they started doing the thing where they lock in your device credit and you can only apply so much per billing cycle. On top of that, the prices just kept creeping up (at the time).

Part of the reason we were on AT&T’s unlimited plan was the bundle. We had our internet and cellular through them, and the bundling discount made the unlimited plan feel worth it. But our internet had crept up to around $90/month for 1 gig, so we switched to Google Fiber for $70. Once we did that, we lost the bundling discount on cellular, and suddenly our phone bill got too high.

Now, to be fair, AT&T does have cheaper plans. But to get those lower prices, you typically need more lines. For two lines on unlimited without a bundle discount, we were stuck. I won’t list their current pricing here because it’ll change, but at the time, the math just didn’t work for us anymore.

When I switched jobs (and took an intentional pay cut to do something I loved and work with people I love (Hey Tim)) and we needed to tighten up our budget, the phone bill was one of the first things we looked at.

The Savings Are Real

Here’s where I’ll let the numbers do the talking. Below are two screenshots from my YNAB account: one showing what we were paying AT&T, and one showing our Mint Mobile charges.

This isn’t to say AT&T is a bad carrier; they’re not at all. They are great. But on their unlimited plan, we were about to be consistently paying $135/month for two lines (after our discounts dropped). You’ll notice the $172.66 charge in there. That was because I had to travel to Dublin for work and added AT&T’s international plan for the trip. The two $645.51 charges at the end were us paying off our lines so we could leave.

We didn’t actually lose the full $645 per phone. That was the total remaining balance. I went back and looked at our last AT&T bill. We were on payment 8 of 36 at $9.73/credit/month per line. So the real loss was the 28 months of credits we forfeited: about $272 per phone, or roughly $545 total for both lines. Still not nothing, but a lot less painful than it looks at first glance.

Now here’s what Mint Mobile looks like:

A quick breakdown of the Mint charges, since they look a little different than a typical monthly bill:

• $62.98 (Oct 2024) - This was our trial period to make sure we liked the service before committing.
• $529.02 (Jan 2025) - Two lines, 15GB plan, paid for the full year. That’s our annual cost for both of us.
• $65.94 (Jan 2026) - My wife’s 15GB plan renewal. They let you pay quarterly now, which is nice.
• $126.51 (Jan 2026) - My renewal, and this one’s lower because I had 2 referral credits applied (thanks mom and dad for using my referral link).

So we went from ~$135/month to about $529/year for two lines.

Here’s a chart that shows the full picture, including the upfront device payoff we had to eat to leave AT&T, and when the switch started actually saving us money:

Even factoring in the credits we forfeited (~$545), we hit break-even at around 9 months. Everything after that is savings, roughly $97/month compared to what we would’ve been paying AT&T. And yes, I did this math before leaving. I have a calculator below.

Here’s how I got there: The real cost to switch was $608 upfront (~$545 in forfeited credits + the $62.98 trial). Then in January we paid $529.02 for two lines for the full year, bringing our total Mint spend to $1,137. If we’d stayed on AT&T at $135/month, we would’ve hit that same $1,137 by about month 9. After that point, AT&T keeps going at $135/month while our Mint bill stays flat until renewal. That’s where the savings really start to compound.

Year 2, Year 3, and Beyond

The break-even story is nice, but the real payoff is what happens after that. Here’s how it looks over three years, assuming AT&T stays at $135/month and Mint renews on the annual plan:

*Year 1 includes the ~$545 in forfeited AT&T credits and the trial.

And here’s the thing: even if I went with Mint’s most expensive plan (Unlimited at $30/line/month), I’d still save:

So even in the worst-case scenario on Mint, I was saving $900/year compared to what we were paying AT&T. We went with the 15GB plan because we’re mostly on Wi-Fi.

By year 3, we’ll have saved roughly $2,500 compared to staying on AT&T. That’s a vacation to CB (Carolina Beach).

And honestly, year 2 is where it really clicks. No more switching costs, no more device payoff. That’s it.

The Experience

I’m on the 15GB plan, and honestly, it’s been more than enough. I work from home and use Wi-Fi most of the day, so your mileage will vary depending on how much you’re on mobile data. In a year and a half, I’ve only come close to running out once. I think I got down to about 1GB remaining cause I was tethering. My wife is on Mint too and hasn’t had any issues. She could likely be on the 5GB plan, but I want to make sure she always has enough.

Mint runs on T-Mobile’s network, and I’d say the service is comparable to what we had on AT&T. The one time I noticed any kind of degradation was at the NC State football game in the fall. From what I’ve read, MVNOs like Mint Mobile can get deprioritized at large events. It wasn’t terrible. My texts with images were just taking longer than usual to send. I was still able to make and receive phone calls without any problems (in fact, I was calling Matt; who recommended Mint). That’s the only time I’ve noticed anything.

My Parents Switched Too

I liked Mint enough that I switched my parents over as well. They’re on a fixed income now that they are retired, so keeping costs low matters. They got the unlimited plan for the year at $180 with the current promotion. That’ll go up to $360 the following year, but they can always switch down to a smaller plan. They like it so far.

Should You Switch? Run the Numbers

I built a quick calculator for myself to run the numbers. You can plug in your current monthly bill, how many lines you have, and any switching costs. It’ll show you the break-even point and 3-year savings.

A quick note: This is just a tool for running some rough numbers, not financial advice. [Insert boring legal stuff cause I’m cautious] Pricing from both carriers is subject to change, and your actual costs may vary based on taxes, fees, and plan availability at the time you switch.

Would I Recommend It?

If you’re looking to lower your phone bill and you’re mostly on Wi-Fi during the day (or even if you are not), Mint Mobile is worth a serious look. The savings have been meaningful for our family, and the service has been solid.

This isn’t a sponsored post, just a genuine recommendation from someone who’s been using it for over a year and a half. That said, I do have a referral link, and I wanted to be upfront about that.

Happy to answer any questions if you’re thinking about making the switch.