The cheapest family plan for back to school

With the new semester coming up, I've started thinking about matters of moment, like phone bills. My son lives with his mom most of the time as I'm always traveling, so I wanted a reliable way to FaceTime regularly without having to use someone else's cellular plan.

Before this, I'd signed up for a single Platinum Unlimited line with Straight Talk for about $65 a month. It has good coverage, plus unlimited hotspot (which comes in handy for my nomadic existence).

So what I decided to do was add a second line onto my own Straight Talk account for my son's phone. That means the cost is on me, not his mom. That was a big deal, as I didn't want to have to keep chasing different bills across households and carriers.

I signed up for this while doing some back to school shopping at Walmart. Not only can you get phones there, but people who subscribe to Platinum Unlimited get Walmart+, which comes with perks like free delivery and gas savings. You'll also get a choice of a Paramount+ or Peacock video streaming subscription, which I don't have much use for but imagine my son will!

When I first went to the store, I thought I'd just have to double up on what I was paying before, but I went on the website and found that the second line was $15 less, so the total amount comes to $115 per month for both lines. Of course, your savings will depend on your plan and the number of lines you want.

Anyway, when it comes to back to school, my son will now have a phone with unlimited talk, text, and 5G data, plus I didn't have to double my bill to do it. I certainly think it's much less cost and trouble than renting a new line elsewhere. 

The only advice I'd offer is if, like me, you're not signing up for multiple lines at once but adding more to your existing account, make sure to check your bill to be certain that any family line discounts are being applied properly.

Anyone else restructuring their family's plan for the school year? What's your setup looking like?