Some of your subscriptions may have started as free trials but are no longer free. Then there are apps you pay for that can be substituted for ones that don’t cost anything to use. Tap or click here for five mistakes you’re making that cost you money. If you’re using the same services as other family members, you can bundle costs into family plans and save. Some of these plans don’t require everyone who uses the service to be related or live together.
Prime benefits for your household
Apple One for all
Apple One launched in 2020 to offer bundles of Apple services for a lower monthly price:
The Individual plan costs $14.95 per month and includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and Apple iCloud+ storage of 50GB.Upgrade to the Family plan for $19.95 per month and you get the same services that come with the Individual plan with 200GB of storage. The Premier plan adds News+ and Fitness+ and includes 2TB of storage for $29.95 per month.
The Family and Premier plans can be shared with up to five other people using Family Sharing as long as they live in the same country. One adult can set up Family Sharing for the group from their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac. You can also use Family Sharing for services such as iCloud+ alone. Your family can share a single iCloud storage plan for everyone’s data. Each person’s files and documents remain private, and you can always see how much storage is being used. iCloud+ costs 99 cents for 50GB of storage, $2.99 for 200GB of storage and $9.99 for 2TB of storage. To set up Family Sharing on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:
Go to Settings.Tap your name.Tap Family Sharing and then tap Set Up Your Family.Follow the on-screen instructions to set up your family and invite your family members.
Tap or click here for instructions on setting up iCloud+ on all of your devices.
Share your Google One
Your Google Drive account includes 15GB of storage for free, and you can upgrade to Google One for more capacity:
The Basic plan has 100GB of storage and adds access to direct technical support from Google. It costs $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year.Upgrade to the Standard and storage is doubled to 200GB. This tier adds 3% back in the Google Store and costs $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year.The Premium plan gives you 2TB of storage, 10% back in the Google Store and a VPN for your Android and iOS devices. It costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year.
Both the Standard and Premium plans can be shared with five other people. Members of the group won’t be able to see each other’s files, but they share storage space and can see how much space the others are using. All members must live in the same country as the family manager. To set up family sharing, go to families.google.com/families and sign in with your Google account and follow the onscreen instructions to add members.
Share your Dropbox
The free Basic Dropbox plan works for one user and three devices and comes with 2GB of storage. Upgrade to Plus and get 2TB of storage, offline access, unlimited device connections, Dropbox Passwords manager, deleted file recovery and more. Plus goes for $11.99 per month or $119.88 per year. The Family plan includes everything from the Plus plan and can be shared by six people. This tier costs $19.99 per month or $203.88 per year. Dropbox Family adds a Family Room folder for shared content such as photos, videos and documents while maintaining private accounts for each member. Dropbox Family members don’t have to live in the same house. Go to dropbox.com/buy/family to set up your Family account.
T-Mobile discounts for 55+, members of the military and first responders
T-Mobile’s Magenta plan costs $120 per month for three lines. You get unlimited 5G & 4G LTE data, perks with T-Mobile Tuesday, 100GB of premium data, 5GB high-mobile hotspot, scam blocking protection, standard definition Netflix for one screen and more. T-Mobile offers special deals for people who are 55 years and older, first responders, and members of the military. Only the account holder needs to qualify for each plan, and members don’t need to live under the same roof:
The Magenta Military plan offers the same benefits as the standard Magenta plan and costs $90 per month for three lines. The Magenta First Responder plan follows the same guidelines as the Military plan and costs $90 per month for three lines. The Magenta 55+ is the same as above and costs $105 per month for three lines.
You can compare the plans at t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans. Tap or click here to learn about T-Mobile’s Scam Shield.
Verizon unlimited plans for the family
All Verizon plans come with 4G LTE, unlimited talk and text and call filter spam blocker. The basic 5G Start plan costs $35 per month per line for four or more lines. It adds 5G access nationwide and unlimited data. Verizon offers discounts for members of the military and first responders. You only need one person on the plan to qualify, and members do not have to live under the same roof. For the 55+ plan, you need to have a Florida billing address and the main person on the plan must be 55 years or older.
The 5G Start plan for military members offers the same benefits as the standard plan of $30 per month per line for four or more lines.The 5G Start plan for first responders offers the same benefits as the military plan for the same price: $30 per month per line for four or more lines.The 55+ plan is limited to Florida residents. This plan goes for $80 per month for two lines (you’d be paying $95 per month for two lines under the military and first responder plans).
There are higher tiers of plans you can check out at verizon.com/plans/unlimited/#plans.
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