samills610

Currently still living on the UK Three network after 4 months in the country and rarely has it caused me a problem. I pay 14GBP per month for 15gb of data in the US and all calls back home are free. I then use whatsapp calling for any US friends I need to contact.

The very few times I require a US number for something I provide with my wife's number, but this is getting slightly tiring, so I am thinking of picking up a second very cheap pay-as-you-go type phone. Any suggestions for this? I would not require data or anything - it would basically be sat in my office draw as a way of receiving calls intermittently

petitefrancaise

open a gmail.com email address and get a google voice number. It will be a local US one. There is another thread going on about this, so take a look.

samills610

Thank you Petitefrancaise. Have just had a read on the other thread and some others, but having a bit of an issue I'm wondering if you (or anybody else) is able to advise on.

I am trying to set up a number, but to use that number with my device (i.e. to receive calls on my phone) it asks for my phone number to send a verification code to, but it will not accept a non US number. Does this mean that I still need to own another phone/number? Would it be possible to input a friend's number just to set it up, or would this mean that all incoming Google voice calls would be directed to my friend's phone?

May require some testing over the weekend. I have already used Google hangouts dialler to make outgoing calls, but did not realize I can obtain a number from Google to receive incoming calls.

TYIA

tom169

Go to Walmart and look for their burner phone selection.

samills610

A bit of a follow up on this almost 18 months or so since I first asked about potentially using a Three contract as it offered international dialling and calls. This may or may not be handy for anybody who sees this and thinks the same, even if just temporarily, so thought it was worth putting out there -

I moved UK>US just over a year ago, and at the time was paying ~12GBP per month for an unlimited rolling 30 day sim-only contract with Three (through a family and friends discount code, which was effectively 50% off the full price). Upon arriving I saw just how much contracts were here; probably $70+ per month for the high amounts of data that I use (I stream music and video a lot, as well as video calling). My wife is still in her family plan so nothing to be benefited there either...

I am STILL using that same sim with my UK number. I make ~95% of all my calls to family and friends over whatsapp using my unlimited data [edit: whilst data is unlimited in the UK, it is capped at 14gb whilst 'abroad'], and I can dial UK landlines/mobiles over normal cellular service for free when I want, great for calling my grandparents who are the only people I speak to without whatsapp and smart phones. I signed up to a google phone number as above, which has given me a US mobile number and I can make and receive sms and calls to my same phone, using the google voice app. All of my US friends also have whatsapp, with the exception of 1/2 who I use google voice with. I am dependent on good internet service, but I live in NYC and have never struggled, often having 4G at all times (as said I stream an awful lot and has always been fine). I also travel frequently to my family-in law in CT and no issues, and last weekend I was in the Catskill mountains and equally had very few issues with service. I use my US google number for all forms and to provide to any businesses when I need to provide a number and a way for hem to contact me

The only issue that I can think of I have had is that 'Venmo' (the payments app) does not recognise my google number - this obviously hasn't affected me greatly

I know this is not permanent, but at ~$15 or so per month I have already saved ~$700 (estimated as $70-$15 * 13) and will likely stay like this until service is removed.

(That said, as I am planning to purchase property in the next 24 months or so, I am trying to find other ways of building credit, and have heard that as a phone contract is ultimately a line of credit, this could help me do so. [697 on my Experian FICO score8 - if anybody knows how much if any difference having a phone would impact it?]

petitefrancaise

Thank you for the update.
Good to know that this is working for you - I frequently have EU/UK clients that are somewhat shocked at the cost of cellphone service over here.

Credit score - get a small loan (buy a piece of furniture on credit), credit card - never spend more than 30% on it and pay if off every month. I don't think mobile phone companies report to the credit bureaux ( never seen my t-mobile on it) unless there is a problem with payment and then that gets reported, same as other utilities.

ss120396

I found that mobile plans in the US are very expensive for just one person, but the discounts for family plans are much higher than the UK. On the plan I had with Three they didn't have any sort of family discounts at all. With T-Mobile on the other hand, they give a 25% discount for adding a 2nd person to your plan, and then a 75% discount for each person after that. So with a family of 4, I'm paying not much more than I would in the UK (and would be paying less than the UK if the pound weren't so weak).

petitefrancaise

I have a t-mobile plan that costs me $130 for 3 lines, 2gbs of data each line and $15 for stateside only international calling and texting. My data usage is peanuts, as is my eldest daughter's. However youngest likes to watch youtube videos on the bus on the way to and from school - this is the only thing that has stopped me switching to google fi. The minute she's off my hands, I'm switching to google fi where my cell phone bill will be $30 a month.

ss120396

That sounds very high. I'm paying $120+tax for unlimited data for 4 people with T-Mobile.