My Verizon bill was $82 a month. Unlimited data. I told myself I needed it. I traveled for work sometimes. I used GPS. I streamed podcasts in the car. Surely that justified $82.

Then I actually looked at my data usage. Average: 3.2 GB per month. I was paying for unlimited data and using less than 10% of it. I was an idiot.

Check Your Actual Usage First

Go to your carrier app or website and look at your last six months of data usage. Not what you think you use — what you actually use. Most people on unlimited plans use between 3-8 GB. If you are under 10 GB, you are overpaying. If you are under 5 GB, you are overpaying by a lot.

MVNOs Use the Same Towers

Companies like Mint Mobile, Visible, and US Mobile rent space on the exact same Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile towers that the big carriers use. Coverage is identical. Speeds may be slightly slower during peak congestion, but for everyday use — maps, email, social media, streaming — you will not notice a difference.

What I Switched To

I moved to a prepaid plan with 5 GB of data for $25 a month. My coverage did not change. My speeds did not change. My bill dropped from $82 to $25. That is $57 a month, $684 a year — enough for a weekend trip, a nice dinner out every month, or just the satisfaction of not giving Verizon an extra $57 for data I was not using.

The only catch: prepaid plans usually do not include phone financing. You need to own your phone outright or buy one separately. If you are still paying off a device through your carrier, wait until it is paid off before switching.