Posts made by marcopolomle

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@tracfancier said in Current Tracfone Deals / Discussion thread:

@tracfancier said in Current Tracfone Deals / Discussion thread:

@marcopolomle said in Current Tracfone Deals / Discussion thread:

@tracfancier
I am currently using BYOP on PAYG plan.
Do you suggest buying this phone which is smartphone only ?

How far can you go on the 1500/1500/1500 and 365 days that comes with it (added to what you transfer)? Sooner or later, when old stock runs out, all phones available will be the Smartphone only Plan phones. The Smartphone only plans will fit many people quite well, especially if you upgrade every year with a phone bundle. You have a BYOP, do you think this Tracfone is equal or better or do you plan to SIM swap (Verizon nano SIM)? There have been some better deals if the bundled airtime i9s your main objective.

Verizon makes it more difficult to do something with a phone you have SIM swapped from, since they require a phone`s IMEI on activation of a SIM, thus making AT&T a better fit for SIM swapping maneuvers. There are a lot more details to go with what I have just said, unless your have a lot of experience on the subject. As the years have passed Tracfone complexity has advanced along with their offerings.

I would suggest the Verizon prepaid Moto E4, available from Walmart for $40, or from US Cellular for $20 if you are in their sales area. I will refer you to the following HoFo thread to do some reading, rather than me trying to relay all the details. I believe you will find this phone very interesting for its ability and pricing.
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1900929-Moto-E4

Thanks.
Hopefully I’ll find a deal on MotoE4 on Black Friday

Maybe @tracfancier be able to shed more light on this.
AFAIK the phone is “hard locked” and therefore very difficult to unlock yourself.
The only way is to ask Tracfone for an unlock code.
TracFone’s unlock policy

@tracfancier
I have been following your advice for many years and have successfully got onto dumbphone to smartphone glitch and also been able to do BYOP with your help to currently have an AT&T SIM in my unlocked Windows Phone Lumia 640. Prior to that I had Verizon service on FREE LG Fuel (all courtesy to you).
However, I am getting bored with my Lumia 640 and was thinking of swapping my SIM to an android phone.
IIUC this phone is not the right one based on your suggestion.
Due to dumbphone to smartphone glitch and various refill card deal/glitches, I currently have:
Minutes: 2400
Text Messages: 4000
Data (MB): 4500
Service End Date: 2021

LG Fiesta 2 5.5" 16GB, 2GB ram, Android TracFone with 13MP Camera, Case, Car Charger, App Pack and 1500 Minutes, Texts and Data with 1 Year of Service

Sign up for their emails and get $25 off 50 coupon that can be used on this deal (must use an email not used on HSN previously)

Thanks tracfancier & NotYourMomma

I am unable to figure out how does “XFINITY WiFi Hotspots app” actually works on a non-XFinity Mobile branded phone.
I installed it and logged into my account but all it does is show the hotspots and only connects to " xfinity hotspots" as compared to “XFINITY hotspots”?
What am I doing wrong here?

@almighty1 said:

It appears that there is a $200 Prepaid Visa card offer that requires only XFInity Internet and activation of XFinity Mobile except it will take up to 18 weeks which is 4.5 months. You do probably need to have received the physical offer letter in the mail for proof the offer in case you don’t get it and just to be save, you should keep the XFinity Mobile service active until you receive the promotion. I called the phone number on the letter yesterday even after my XFinity Mobile activation was done on September 9, 2017 and they said I qualified for the promotion since I had XFinity Internet service and also activated XFinity Mobile prior to the offers expiration as it does not list a offer begin date. They have added the promotion to my account and to suggested I keep the letter for reference until I receive the promotion reward.

tracfancier said:
You can sign up for a $25 off code on bottom right of any HSN page to apply for it with your e-mail address.
It must be an e-mail HSN has never seen before.

https://www.hsn.com/products/lg-55-16gb-tracfone-with-13mp-camera-and-1500-minutes/8501879

@tracfancier
I am currently using BYOP on PAYG plan.
Do you suggest buying this phone which is smartphone only ?

WinterTexan said:
Am trying to help someone that uses more minutes than most. Looking for best deal on minutes, not days, as I am used to.

Also, can you transfer minutes and phone number to a used LG800?
…
tracfancier said:
The LG 800 is 2G technology, it CANNOT be used any longer for AT&T service, not sure about T-Mobile as no one talks about that service…
You can transfer service (phone number/minutes/days) to an UNACTIVATED phone, but not to an active phone (Tracfone will not let you combine phones)

A phone bundle upgrade is the cheapest way to buy airtime = discounted airtime and a free phone in most cases.
But the NEW Smartphones cannot use the Pay as you Go plans, just the Smartphone Only plans.
Tracfone is doing away with TMFL. So buy the TMFL phones and BYOP SIM kits while you still can find them
Tracfone can change this grandfather TMFL policy whenever they wish to chance losing customers.

EDIT: Posting words of wisdom by tracfancier from FW

Offer at a glance

Maximum bonus amount: $750
Availability: Targeted FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MI, NC, OH, TN, WV
Direct deposit required: None
Additional requirements: Deposit $500 and maintain for 30 days
Hard/soft pull: Soft
ChexSystems: Yes
Credit card funding: None
Monthly fees: $11
Early account termination fee: None but $50 closing fee
Household limit: None
Expiration date: November 29th, 2017

Details at Doctor of Credit

@ma-barker said in TIME = MONEY: Collection of PWF strategies to SAVE TIME (even if it cost money):

btw, talking of deductibles, I know of someone who chose the highest deductible to get lower premiums on their auto insurance. Then one day, she got involved in a minor accident that needed minor repairs to her car. When she filed a claim, she realized she has to come up with her deductible first before insurance takes the rest of the tab; she didn’t have an EF to cover for it so she can’t have her vehicle repaired.

Wonder why she filed a claim.
The whole idea behind this strategy is to pay OOP for minor repairs.
Also, the premium goes up if you use insurance claims.

Many trade jobs: If I can pay someone $X/hour to do that work, and I make $X Y/hour at my job or I otherwise value my leisure time at that much, and Y > any extra time/cost in dealing with the outsourcing, then it is simple math that it makes economic sense to outsource/delegate/hire out certain tasks. ** BUT, remember the money you earn is pre-tax. The money you spend is post-tax. With this in mind, it’s costing you ~30-40% more than what you’re earning.

• House cleaning - would take me 4-5 hours, get it done for $XX.00
• Oil changes - would take me about an hour in my garage and get it changed for $XX.00 in labor.
• Snow Removal
• Painting
• Car washing (I drop it off with the guy in the parking garage)
• Handyman jobs
• Lawn mowing
• Gutter cleaning ( see @mikk1 post above or let someone else be at risk to fall off the ladder)

• When outsourcing many trade jobs, the trick is finding a good person. That usually means not using a professional service that advertises and instead finding an individual who works on their own – usually recommended by a friend.

• A FAST/good document feeder/scanner where you can quickly store documents on your computer. Flatbed scanner won’t cut it.

• SSD hard drives.

• Autopay/direct debit credit cards: only have credit cards that can be set up to automatically withdraw full balance from bank acct on the payment due date. I still review the statements to see if any charges are inappropriate, but otherwise don’t bother with paying credit card bills.

• Autopay all utilities, other recurring charges: I try to have them charged to a credit card, rather than withdrawn from checking (to maximize cc points, minimize revealing bank account info, and to be able to dispute the cc charge if there is a problem).

• Pay all remaining bills by checkfree/bank online type programs. Sometimes these can be automated as well to automatically write and send the check (or wire equivalent). BOA & Citibank works well for this.

• Direct deposit of paycheck.

There is a new rule from Bank of America whereby they’ll only approve you for at most two cards per rolling 2 months, three cards per rolling 12 months, and four cards per rolling 24 months.
While the rule sounds similar to Chase’s 5/24 rule, in fact it’s much more manageable. Chase’s rule looks at new cards from all card issuers combined, essentially weeding out churners from ever getting a Chase card. BofA merely limits us as to how many new BofA cards we can get per 2/12/24 month timeframe.

Other Banks with similar restrictions:

Chase has their 5/24 rule, and they recently limited having multiple Sapphire cards.

With Barclays it’s always been hard to get many cards, and they’ve now severely limited Arrival+ card approvals.

Citi limits us to one bonus from within each card family per 24-months.

Amex for quite some time has their rule about only giving the bonus on each card once.

Thanks DoC

@barnyardromeo said in CCleaner hacked with malware:

Another reason to love open source

Which software(s) do you recommend ?

Wow.
Now they are infecting the software at source.

This thread collects strategies that SAVE TIME, even if the strategies cost money.

This is the opposite of strategies that take lots of time to save a few bucks. Instead, spend a few bucks, and save lots of time.

These strategies that may not be the absolute cheapest in direct monetary cost/savings, but represent a good balance of money vs. time/hassle/aggravation for those who don’t mind spending a little more money to save time, get good efficient service, minimize hassle, or free up time in your life for family/hobbies etc.

From the FWF thread on this topic it is clear that some people have strong views re whether it is moral to hire a maid, do your own laundry, clean your own gutters etc. But please, lets keep this thread focused on sharing strategies that save time with an emphasis on strategies that at first may seem expensive, but because they save significant time, are in fact good efficient strategies for people who value their time to pursue other activities (whether that’s making more money, exercising, reading to your kids etc).

This thread is not a place to share general household tips, or general money-saving tips etc. It is for time-saving tips, especially ones that cost money but are well worth the cost.

Please post all types of questions in this thread.
Ask anything you were afraid to ask elsewhere.
No flaming or fighting please.

You go G Girl !
I’m learning so much from you guys
I never knew all these existed.

Doesn’t Windows 10 store the key in ROM?

@mikk1 said in Post your favorite windows software thread:

I don’t know that it’s really considered software - but, anyone here using a VPN that they would recommend?

I’m using PIA vpn service and it has worked well for last 3 years.
I have nothing to compare it with since it has been the only VPN I have ever used.
So, take it with a grain of salt.

These are my favorites:

1. Sandboxie - great for staying safe on the net, simultaneously logging into same website by using different sandboxes, trying out software etc

2. Malwarebytes

3. Cute PDF (print to PDF)

4. X-change PDF viewer (great for filling PDF forms)

First two are the only software I ever paid for and have lifetime license.

@ThomasPaine
I"m also an Android person and have never used these apps.
I’ll definitively try them out.

@bostonone said in Welcome FatWallet Refugees:

Checking in. Thanks to the folks who got this up & running. Reach out if you need help - glad to volunteer and help in any way I can.

Glad to see you here.
What I am doing is:

1. Make people aware about this site.
2. Post important threads from FW to continue the discussion here after FW is shut down.

@meed18 said in Bank of America Premium Rewards Credit Card – 50,000 Point Bonus, $100 Annual Travel Credit:

Happy to see that my last useful post from FWF was reproduced here as one of the first finance posts. thanks @marcopolomle !

Thanks meed18
I’m just trying to keep the discussion continue here once the FW is shut down.

Thanks HotSalami & Almighty1 and others for the deal & the info

marcopolomle said:
Few questions

1. Has anyone tried porting their number after getting a new number?
2. Is there an early termination fee if you don’t like the service ?
3. Can I buy now and activate the service later ?
4. What happens if I buy it and don’t activate it?

I am concerned about not getting a good coverage in my area thereby making the deal worthless.
That’s why I first want to try out the service before porting all our numbers.

1. You can’t port after getting a new number since you either order with a new number or you order as a port. From what I read on DSLReports from Comcast employees, you have to cancel the line with the new number and then order again with the port.
2. No, it’s a month to month service so there is no contract or any early termination fee
3. Your service will begin when you activate or 7 days after delivery whichever is earlier.
4. See #3, your service will begin whether you like it or not after 7 days from the delivery date.

The service is the same as Verizon Wireless so depending on how their service is at your location.

XM Plans (https://www.xfinity.com/mobile/plan)

• No line access fees on up to 5 lines
• Unlimited Verizon nationwide talk and text
• Unlimited: $45 PER LINE, no sharing
• By the gig (pay-as-you-go) plan: SHARED by all lines. Under 100MB: FREE; Otherwise, $12/GB
• There is no contract, you will pay monthly taxes and fees which vary by location…usually $2-3 but in areas like City and County of San Francisco, California - $5.21

Devices:
*XM is a Verizon MVNO, most XM devices are LOCKED to XM. See below for unlock policy.
*XM & Verizon does not tied SIM card and phone together. (Sprint ties them together).
*This means, with XM, you are free to move the XM SIM card to any compatible devices, including VZW post-paid phones (VZW prepaid phone has to be unlocked).

• Make sure that when you use a non-XFinity Mobile branded device that in order for data to work, to set the APN to:
  COMCAST.RSLR.VZWENTP
  If you’ve activated but your iPhone’s not working, confirm that you see “XFINITY Mobile” on the top left of the home screen.
  Connect to a WiFi network
  Go to Settings > General > About
  Wait for the Carrier Settings Update prompt to appear, then select “Update” which will get your data working.
  For those with iPhone’s who are unable to change/edit your APN, goto http://www.unlockit.co.nz/unlockit and even though XFinity Mobile is not on the list, just pick Verizon Wireless which will make the APN visible so you can manually edit it.
• The latest and current PRL (Preferred Roaming List) as of September 17, 2017 is 15516.
  If you have a older version, you will need to power off phone, remove SIM from phone and power on phone so it boots up. After booting up, you will need to power off phone, insert SIM in phone and power on. You can check the PRL version by going to Settings -> About phone -> Status. The PRL is what controls what cell towers you can and cannot connect
  to including the 1xRTT/3G/4G LTE networks. This is a better explanation of what a PRL is:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preferred_Roaming_List
• Hint: Buy $1 LG X Charge, unlocked LG X Charge first. and then move XM sim to an iPhone/Pixel/etc.

Port-in:
As of September 1, 2017 - You can order the phone with a new number and activate while still being able to port your number from another carrier. To do so you’ll need to call XFinity
Mobile Team at 888-936-4968 so their mobile team can assist with your number change/porting request. This information was posted by ComcastMax in official capacity in the following thread and also verified by XFinity Mobile on Facebook:
http://forums.xfinity.com/t5/Xfinity-Mobile/change-number/td-p/2…

LG X Charge for $1:
*Exclusive XM SKU
5.5" 720p Screen
2 GB RAM
Large 4,500 mAh battery
Bluetooth 4.2
Wi-Fi 2.4Ghz/5G Dual Band !!
Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 !!
Snapdragon 425 CPU
Android 7.0 (Nougat)
Internal Storage of 16 GB (9.43 GB usable)
microSD slot up to 2TB

• LG X Charge comes SIM LOCKED to XM. Asking me for Sim Unlock Pin using a T-Mobile sim and my VZW sim
• AFTER you request unlock, it can partially support AT&T & T-Mobile (missing some bands).
• AFTER you request unlock, it WILL NOT support Sprint, as all Sprint devices have to be whitelisted and even if it was whitelisted, it is missing 4G LTE bands 25, 26, 41 so all you will get is 3G.

UNLOCK INFO
Attention: Make sure you put your XM SIM into the phone you want unlocked, turn the phone on and allow it to register on the network as they can only provide the unlock code for the most recent registered device.

https://www.xfinity.com/mobile/support/article/115004305128/am-i-eligible-to-unlock-my-phone

If you need to unlock your phone so that you can switch out your SIM card, it’s no problem. There are just a few requirements to be aware of.
Criteria for unlocking your phone
Make sure the following things are true:
The phone must be an XFINITY Mobile device.
The phone must not be reported lost, stolen, or involved with fraudulent activity.
The phone cannot be active on another XFINITY Mobile customer’s account.
Your XFINITY Mobile Account must be in good standing. One exception is if you are an active member of the military—regardless of account standing, all active-duty military personnel are eligible to have their phones unlocked.
If you’re on a Device Payment Plan…
In addition to the criteria mentioned above, if you’re paying for your phone on a Device Payment Plan and you have an active account with XFINITY Mobile, the phone you want to unlock must belong to a current XFINITY Mobile or Comcast customer. Your account must be in good standing as well.
If you’re paying for your phone on a Device Payment Plan but your account with XFINITY Mobile is inactive, the account must still be in good standing. Also, the primary account holder must be able to authenticate the disconnected account before the phone is eligible for unlocking.
NOTE: After your phone is unlocked, you are still responsible for making all the remaining payments on your Device Payment Plan.

Be Careful if you plan to order cheap LG phone and use the SIM card in your Verizon iPhone 6S/7. No one I have seen, has been able to get Visual Voicemail to work with the XM SIM on apple devices as of this month. If anyone knows different please add to wiki. Also, if you do this, there is no WiFi Calling and no personal hotspot.

100MB of free data is shared between all the lines in an account.

Having trouble activating with xfinitymobile.com/activate… try www.xfinity.com/mobile/activate

*** Added $200 Visa Card Flyer *** and *** Second Showing that Double Play is OK ***

LG X Charge, Black case/cover for only $1.99 if you can wait several weeks for shipping…
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Soft-Pudding-TPU-Gel-Cover-Case-Skin-for-LG-X-power-2-K10-Power/32805199765.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.cc9ZQC

LG X Charge phone details/bands…
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=5424

The default apps on the LG X Charge which is the standard for all Android devices is:
XFINITY MOBILE https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xfinitymobile.myaccount
XFinty Mobile Voice Mail https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.comcast.modesto.vvm.client
even though the setup will allow you to install the following as optional:
Pocket Geek https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pocketgeek.android
XFinity Stream TV https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xfinity.cloudtvr
XFinity MyAccount https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.comcast.cvs.android

To get XFinity WiFi working on a non-XFinity Mobile branded device to get free unlimited WiFi when needed, all you need to do is install the XFINITY WiFi Hotspots app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.comcast.hsf

There is also a Free Google 100GB storage for 2 years, just open the Google Drive app on the LG Charge X and it will show the offer.

Port-in:

• You must port-in your number BEFORE ACTIVATION, either during or AFTER phone order.
• No port-in is allowed after activation. No exception!
• If you are not sure, once you receive the phone, call in to port and activate.

Device Payment Pricing & Other Info

Offers valid 8/25/17 through 9/13/17. Restrictions apply. $200 savings off regular retail price when activating a new XFINITY Mobile line of service. Valid on select devices. While supplies last. Limit 5 per account. © 2017 Comcast. All rights reserved.

Additional fees, such as those for government taxes and regulatory recovery fees, apply.

Pay monthly for your device: XFINITY Mobile Device Payment Plan Agreement (“Device Agreement”) required. Applicable taxes for the full device amount charged when device is shipped (or when the device is fulfilled in an XFINITY retail store) and is in addition to the monthly charge.

The remaining balance under the Device Agreement becomes immediately due and payable if there is no remaining line on your XFINITY Mobile account that receives service from XFINITY Mobile and at least one of the following post pay subscriptions are not maintained on the account during the term of the Device Agreement: XFINITY TV, Internet, or Voice; or XFINITY Mobile service is terminated for breach.

Summary:

• Get Verizon unlimited talk & text with Verizon’s postpaid domestic roaming for $0/month+junk fees ($2-3 per month). VoLTE is enabled.
• Pay for data if you need it (100MB free, $12 per GB, or $45 unlimited) – tethering is available, throttling after 20GB, VoLTE, MMS and iMessage do NOT count toward data usage.

Comcast is running a $200 discount on Xfinity Mobile handsets through 9/13/17. This makes for the following deals:

$250 iPhone 6s
$199 iPhone SE
$1 LG X Charge

Like Verizon postpaid lines, you can swap an already-activated SIM into any other Verizon network capable phone. So, if you choose to get the LG X Charge, you can place the activated SIM in another phone and you’re off to the races.

From what I can tell, the PAYGO data includes 100MB “free” per month – so if you’re a WiFi user you can get away with Verizon-quality unlimited talk & text for nearly free (for my jurisdiction, monthly recurring charges are about $2 per month)

Of course, you need to be a Comcast HSI customer.

<edit>

A few additional notes:

• NFL Mobile by Verizon allegedly works – however I’m unsure if it burns mobile data if you’re not on WiFi.

• For those that plan on using/paying for data (it seems like many people have been waiting for BYOD – this is a close as it’ll get), if you swap your device, the APN setting is:

comcast.rslr.vzwentp

• (Also for paying data users) – tethering is enabled.

I sometimes find it hard to figure out which App works for a particular job.
A Google search often leads me to sites with confusing results and which probably gets some commission out of recommending them.
I am hoping that FW members here will some personal insight about various Apps based on their personal experiences.

I am so happy that MrsGuin is here