How I’m Saving $1,038 On WiFi for One Year (or Longer) Without Sacrificing

In September 2022, after my monthly Internet bill increased to $122.54 per month (it was $66.01 in June 2020), I wondered how much money I’d save if I switched to a plan with a slower WiFi speed.

I scampered over to the Breezeline website to peek at their Internet plans. The prices I saw blew my mind, so I started an online chat which led to a phone call. The kind lady informed me that new and current customers are eligible for all promotions forever.

From $122.54 to $36.03 per month

I agreed to a new plan for $36.03 per month with 100 Mbps download speeds. That’s a savings of $86.51 per month, equating to $1,038 in one year and $31,143 across three decades!

Mind. Blown.

After one year, the monthly fee jumps to $75.59 before taxes; let’s call it $78.54 with taxes. Relative to what I was paying in September 2022, this is still a savings of $44 per month, which equates to $528 in one year. But as noted above, I won’t be paying the non-promotional price after one year:

New and current customers are eligible for all promotions forever.

Breezeline always has promotions, so I’ll apply for a new one during the 12th month of my current plan. Even if current customers become ineligible for promotions, I'm saving money by downgrading to a plan with speeds that fit my needs.

This is what I paid Breezeline for WiFi since moving to Miami Beach:

• $66.01 from April 2020 to June 2020
• $76.01 and $77.01 from July 2020 to February 2021
• $97.01 and $100.90 from March 2021 to February 2022
• $115.90 from March 2022 to August 2022
• $122.54 in September 2022
• $21.84 credit from October 2022 to December 2022
• $36.03 from January to February 2023

I was on the same plan from April 2020 to September 2022. I received a $21.84 credit after downgrading to the 100 Mbps promotional plan.

Is 100 Mbps fast enough?

Yes, for 99% of all humans, 99% of the time, including myself.

It took 50.46 seconds to download 49 songs from the This is Ziggy Marley playlist on Spotify. So, like, one second per song. Holy hippos, that’s blazing fast! There is no need for a faster download speed. Remember when it took more than one hour to download one song?!

I download and upload many files while working, but I don’t notice a difference with the slower speed. Podcasts download faster than necessary. I can stream movies or live sports in 1080p without issue.

To see if my Internet is as fast as what I’m paying for, I conducted 15 speed tests on the two days most of this article was written and edited. The results:

• Median download speed was 101.3 Mbps
• Median upload speed was 10.5 Mbps
• For 11 tests, the download speed was 99.9-101.9 Mbps
• For 3 tests, the download speed was 64-67 Mbps
• For 1 test, the download speed was 80.53 Mbps

This is interesting because when you click the “i” icon next to the noted speed on their plans page, a window pops up stating:

Speeds are stated for download only over wired connections. Wireless speeds will be substantially lower.

The image below shows the details of the median result for download speeds.

One of the best financial decisions of my life

Downgrading my Internet plan from 250 Mbps to 100 Mbps download speed was one of the most valuable financial decisions I’ve ever made. In one year, I’m gaining $1,038 while losing $0 in value.

It’s worth your time to discover how much you’d save by downgrading to a plan with slower Internet speeds and if you qualify for a promotional plan. You won’t know how much you can save until you start exploring.

You likely need less speed than you think. Review this resource to find out.

If Not WiFi, what else can you save money on?

If you can't save on WiFi, look into your cell phone bill. Are you paying for unlimited data? If yes, why? How much do you use per month? If you never use more than 4 GB, why pay for more? Paying for something you don’t use is dumb.

In 2022, I paid an average of $26.53 per month for my cell phone bill. I’m on the 4GB data plan with PureTalk. The service quality is great. If I need more data in a given month, I can pay $10 for 2GB. I’ve done this twice in the 18 months I’ve had service with PureTalk.

Explore other avenues if you can't save on WiFi or your cell phone bill. What are you waiting for? Remember, you may save $1000 in one year.