Mint Mobile Review: Is It Really Worth It?

Paul
Is it Really worth it?

*Disclaimer:  In the future I become affiliated with Mint Mobile, the link will be changed and I will be getting money for referring you to the site.  So use the links if you want to support my blog.  Thanks*

Mint Mobile and Me?

I’ve been using Mint Mobile for quite some time over two years now and I thought it would be high time to talk about it.   I wanted to discuss if it this would be a good way to save money or if it is even worth it.   I have my thoughts on this and we shall discuss this even more because maybe you have some questions that I can help answer.  I know that most people have their own ideas about this cellular service.  We will take a deep dive into how this is either good or bad but I believe this is mostly a good choice for people trying to save money as long as you are in the coverage areas.   There are several places that isn’t in the coverage area and you should decide for yourself before you go and switch.

International Roaming

This is was something that was big deal for me when I went traveling internationally.  I could keep my number and have friends and family contact me if they needed to.  So the internationally calling was something that drew me to Mint Mobile.   I will say Cricket Wireless which I was using before I switch didn’t have the types of roaming I was looking for and that was one of the reasons I switched.  Mint Mobile has a new way for people like me to be able to have international roaming called Mintnational which you can have choices of 1 day , 3 day, or 7 day international unlimited data roaming.   It starts at 10$ and goes up to 40$.  Which isn’t as bad because when I was trying to keep use my phone previously I had to keep loading up my wallet and couldn’t keep track of how much I spent until I got home.  It was way more than I payed unlike the 7 day pass now.   You decide how you want to do use it but it to me is well worth the price of keeping my number and having friends and family be able to text or call you if they need to.

Paying Month or Yearly

It can seem quite unusual to pay yearly and save money but the more you pay in advance the more money you save in the long run.  This can be a great way to save money and not have to worry about paying for your cellular bill each month.   They even have some great plans starting at 15$ and up to 40$ a month if you decide to go that way.  I like Mint Mobile because I can also use my phone as a hot spot unlike Cricket who wouldn’t allow me to do that even with my unlocked phone.  I really think they are trying to compete with other cellular providers in price and user friendly experience.   I know without a doubt that they have been very helpful to me and I am always happy that they will be there if I need them.  I always suggest paying yearly if you can and saving as much money by doing it that way.

Coverage area Mint Mobile

Coverage area as of Feb 2024

In the US the coverage area is quite big but as you can see there are areas in the western area that will not work with Mint Mobile. I am hopeful that they will fix those gaps but until then those areas will not work and you should visit Mint Mobile and see if your area is in the coverage area before you decide to market he switch.   I am glad I did and whenever I am about the US it has worked even in Los Angeles Internation Airport, which is where I stopped while doing my international Travel.   I had no issue with data and using my phone in LA.   I would assume that it should work just fine for everyone who lives there but I will not say for certain that it will work for you.

Finally I will say I recommend them for my cellular provider because of the ease of paying yearly and not having to worry about paying monthly and when tax season, I always go ahead and pay for the next year with the money I get from the government.  So I am saving way more each year.   I know this is just my opinion but I will say Mint Mobile is the one provider that is great at keeping me connected to my family and friends on a yearly bases.   🙂  I have yet to have any major cellular issues and traveling with my phone it is always connected to the cellular network.

A Few Ways to make money while you look for a long term job!

Paul

Make money by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free

Those Side Hustles

Can you make money while looking for a job?  Most of us who are unemployed are looking for ways to earn some extra money to pay bills. I thought it would be an idea to at least suggest to people who are in the IT field where they can go to possibly earn money while you’re either looking for new a job or pivot to do something else. Either way is up to you but this is something that can be quite useful even if you need extra money for one reason or another. This is something that can make your even more money or find you a new job that you have been looking for.

Blogging / Vlogging — Both of these do the same exact thing. You either write or start creating videos on YouTube and other video platforms to bring in entertainment, Educational, or provide a unique view to something that most others may not see. I am not saying this will bring in a lot of money but if you have been doing this for a while, you could simply ramp up and help you bring in some revenue. You’ll have to decide what you are good at and explore those possibilities.

Taking Surveys —  There are several different surveys sites out that will either give you amazon cards, or other ways to pay you.   I’ve been using Survey Junkie for the past few months and it is nice because you can take survey’s whenever you have a chance and get paid for them.  However you will not get a lot from them but if you do enough survey’s you could bring in some extra revenue that way.  No more than maybe 100$ if you really just do as many survey’s as possible each month.

Find Freelancer Jobs — If you are good at computers then you should check out upwork and look into finding some freelance jobs that will pay you to do, either temporary or a rolling bases.   Each job can bring in some money per month and keep you from drowning in debt.   However you should consider how you approach the perspective jobs and make sure you show them that you have what they are looking for.  Depending on the jobs it could be just a few hours or a monthly type of part time jobs.

Ask friends and Family  —  Another way to make some money on the side while you are either working or looking for a job is tell your friends and family what you might be able to do for them and let them know you are available.   This won’t bring in much but depending on your skill set and what you are willing to do, it might help bring in that income you are probably needing for bills.

The Unusual Circumstances

As you can see I’ve talked about why the unemployment rate is no correct.   I’ve talked to several different friends on Facebook an some other places and we all agreed we are probably already in a recession and you should consider ways to bring in money while we weather the storm, as I would say.   I couldn’t fully attest to this idea but I hope to keep myself a float and bring in money to keep from having to worry about where I will live in the future.   I am sure the stress that people are experiencing is quite real among us around the world.    There are some good ways for your to make even more money, so I will link to Dave Ramsey’s website on other ways you could make money in case you are really interested in this type of side hustle or other ways to make money while you are unemployed.

Are you trying to make money?  Has it been good for you and what have you done to make money while you are looking for a job?   Any advice you can give others why not leave a comment and subscribe to my blog for more blog topics to help you survive while we are in the trying time.

Why the Unemployment rate is Wrong and why you should care!

Paul3 Replies

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The Unemployment is at 3.7% for January(2024)!

Now that isn’t bad for the economy if this was actually true. I know that there are even more people searching for a job than you can imagine. Is the unemployment rate wrong?  I suspect it is way higher than what the US government knows about due to the fact that most of the jobs that people got let go from were less than 6 months contracts or some probably even have money in their account to survive for a while unemployed. I am one of those who have enough money right now to have 3 or 4 months off and not have to worry about anything. I don’t have any major debt and I have no loans out that would be cause for me to have to make payments on those things. So the real question we need to ask is what is correct percentage of people who are unemployed. I think it would be more like 5 to 6% right now if everyone would file for unemployment. I think some worry that if the unemployment rate goes to high then it will cause problems in finding a job even more.

Understanding the Unemployment Rate

It can be quite difficult to figure out what the unemployment rate is actually but I do think we have to at least consider that it’s higher than we thought it is and we may be in a form of recession / Depression scenario.  I saw a video that I’ll share with you and you can see how this might be viable to what is happening now.   I encourage to watch all of it and decide for yourselves if this is even a possibility.  I however know that the ones I have talked to have not filled unemployed for one reason or another.

Now after watching this video, I am sure you have some questions that you might want to ask. One of the obvious questions I came up with myself is this relevant to what is happening now. I would say yes it is due to the fact that I am seeing this more and more the last few weeks with people struggling to keep a job and applying to jobs in general. We aren’t going to get out of this real quickly and I even think we will have more aggressive layoffs in the future just by looking at the spike of layoffs we’ve already had in the January.

chart from layoffs.fyi

Since most companies only worry about Quarterly earnings the next quarter starts in April and as such it would seem that companies will downsize even more either March or April. It would be a good guess that it would be likely in April after the earnings report for each company is looked at and examined by the stock holders and CEO. They will execute a decision to layoff more people to keep the projected earnings reports from impacting their bottom dollar. It will also keep the stock holders happy that they don’t see any layoffs that month before hand. It doesn’t look good to the stock when layoffs happen right when the earnings report becomes available to them.

Unemployed people are just burned out!

The reason why the unemployment numbers a re wrong is that most of those who have been trying to find a job ever since they have been laid off is they are just burned out and are tired of getting those rejection letters and companies that say they are hiring but looks to just be phishing for the right person and not really looking to hire people that could fill the spot they are advertising about.  So that being said, they haven’t even filed for unemployment and that is why you haven’t seen the unemployment rate getting higher and people thinking we aren’t in a recession or even a Depression due to that the Government doesn’t know they are looking for a job.  I know that most of the people want a job but they either pivoted to work where ever they can or created other ways to earn income right now without having to file for unemployment benefits.  I would bet they either took part time jobs or they have other ways to bring in the money to help them survive.

Did you apply for unemployment or did you find ways to bring in income without having to work at an office job for the time?  why not leave a comment and let people know what you’ve done to keep bringing money in so you can let others know how they can earn money even in this trying time.

Remember to subscribe to my blog for more articles like this and other technology information.

The Real Struggle to Finding a Job in 2024

Paul3 Replies

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from PxHere 

Why is Finding a Job in the US Really Hard?

I don’t say this lightly because I’ve come across so many people talking about this that isn’t even funny. Most of these people are just trying to find a job and it seems that they aren’t even able to land any real interviews. I’ve had that same problem as of late, no one wants to interview they just go to another qualified applicant and either Ghost me or tell me that I wasn’t selected for the interview.

I’ve personally been dealing with the Stress of looking for a job for over 2 weeks. It can be quite hard not to worry and think about what may come but this is just another example of what it is like to find a job in the year 2024. Even if the US Government says we have all these Jobs that were created, I seriously doubt this is going to help those who have been laid off and the one that may be lay off in the future.

Few Examples:

User from Glassdoor job hunting.
Linkedin Layoffs Trends By Nicole Roundy

Why Can’t People find a job?

Why Can’t I find a job – Google Trends

More and More people are asking the same thing. “Why can’t I find a Job?” on Google. That seems more than plausible, if the US economy was so robust and we had all these jobs than it should be easy for everyone who was laid off to find a new job. It however isn’t that way and I hate to say it doesn’t look promising for the future. As I have been doing my research more and more people are having the same issues as I am and if people are not finding jobs and they have more qualifications than me then It just can’t be how I am applying and that I am applying. It has to be deeper than that and I believe it is.

Even now it isn’t clear on what people should do, because more and more people are asking the same thing.  Even more “experts” try to give advice.   I put quotations around the word to make sure you know that I don’t know if they are right or wrong or if they are actually experts or just people who know how to get a job easier.

I’m not here to tell you who I believe is or isn’t a expert in this field but to at least tell you that even if you do some of the things these people tell you to do to get a job may or may not work in your situation.   I’m going to at least talk about what I am doing to try to get a job that may help you in your job search.

My Job Search Activities

What I am about to tell you is what I’ve been going through trying to do to hunt for a  Job.  However, This doesn’t that this is how you should do it but it is something to consider while you are looking for a job.

  • Setup Email Alerts on Job openings — This can be quite helpful.  I’ve done this for sites like Indeed, Monster, Linkedin, Google, and even Bing to find new jobs around me that I can apply for it and it helps to keep me from spending to much time each day to look for jobs.   Each of these are easy to do and you can have each site email you daily or when there is a new job that pops up that you are looking for.
  •  Spend a Maximum of 2 or 3 hours and No more looking for Jobs —  I say this because I’ve heard people say they were looking for job as if they have a job Full time and that can’t be good or healthy to the individual.   There is no way you can find jobs and apply to them all day.  You should spend only a limited amount of time finding jobs.  That is the best approach.
  • Get Resume Help — This can be quite easy for some of you but others might need to search their  local community to see if you can get someone to help you write your resume even better.   It never hurts to get someone to check it out and give you some advice on how to get the employer to see your resume.
  • Apply for Jobs that you have excellent Soft Skills for —  This is something that seems to be overlooked but you should always apply to jobs that match your soft skills even more.  This will get employers more interested in your application.  If you can show them you have the soft skills they are searching for they may want to get an interview with you.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask for help with Friends And Family — This can be really helpful to be able to talk to your friends and family.  It can help with your stress also but they may know of jobs that may be able to get your foot in the door.  It’s what they call networking which has helped me in the past and this is something I am constantly doing now but still haven’t gotten past the interview stage.

As you can see these are just a few tips that I can give you to better keep you in the know of new jobs and how to deal with the rejections you may get.   I’ve seen more and more of those rejections come my way but with all this it helps to keep me from getting depressed and discouraged.   You should consider how you can better help yourself from getting that way too.

Are you looking for a Job?  If so, we are both in the same boat but you can always subscribe and find out even more tips on Job hunting and just technology industry in general.   Remember you’re not alone in this and we are all in this together.

 

In Depth Investigation of the Job Market and How it looks

Paul4 Replies

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The Job Market

First and foremost we will at least talk about what I mean by Investigation of the job market.   According Websters dictionary, the meaning of investigation is “to observe or study by close examination and systematic inquiry“.  Now since we will study this and look into other aspects of this to see how the Job market is looking you can see this will be quite enlightening.  First we need to look at the DATA of the whole situation of the Job Market for 2024.   Let’s start with looking at trends and see if we see anything that shows us what it’s look like.   I am going to look at what people are searching for in Google using the Google Trends that is quite useful for this data.

 

2004 to Present – Job Market

Recession in 2007 and 2009

According to the Federal Reserve History:

The Great Recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, which makes it the longest recession since World War II.

In history we are most likely going to start looking back and saying yes we are in a recession.   If you look at the graph from Google Trends you can tell people stopped searching for the job market after 2009 and it started to decline.   We really need to stop denying this and just buckle up and be ready to slow our spending and slow down trying to spend.   If you have any debts, it is best to pay them off as quickly as possible and try to not spend to much right now.  Here’s another indicator that people are starting to ask the important questions.

Is the Job Market Bad? 2004 to Present

Understanding that people are searching for stuff like this can help you see how many people are actually asking these questions.   If the Economy is so strong and working properly, then why are people asking these questions, should be your first question?

As you can see people are asking “is the job market Bad” and that is something you should consider when you look at the stats.  Why are a lot of people asking the same exact question.   I drilled down and looked and I see people are searching for Remote Work, WFH, Work From Home,  Job Fairs, and other things that seem to indicate how many are actually looking for a job.

I am sure there are some people who will say this doesn’t mean that we will be in recession but I honestly think we will or we are in a recession right now due to how hard it is for people to find a job.   This could also be considering us into a Depression that looks like a recession.   I can’t tell right now but I do know Something isn’t quite right.

Biden Economics as some would say would refute this because it’s being the year of the presidential elections and they don’t want you to know this.  If you haven’t looked at how it is going down then you should check it out how many people are starting to doubt that this will help them in finding work.  Just to clarify what it is:

Biden described his economic philosophy via Twitter in June 2023: “Bidenomics is about growing the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down.  Wikipedia

Conclusion and Thoughts

Google trends Past 12 months

Finally we come to the conclusion of this because it really looks like we are not at stable as the Government is actually telling us and we should be careful to, not repeat their comments, because until you actually do your own research you will not truly understand.  I’ve been researching this for the past three weeks due to my layoff.  I’ve even researched, what others are saying on video.  You should check out the Friday Video Posts to help you see what others are saying.  I honestly think we should tighten our belts and stop spending as much as possible and try to find ways to buy food cheaper.  You should try to find a job anyway you can, I have yet to find a way to do it but I have been trying and get the dreaded letter that they haven’t selected you for the next step.  It can be quite depressing but it is just a matter before I find a job.

Are you jobless and have similar experiences why not leave a comment and tell people your experience so they know they aren’t alone?  We are all in this together.   We just need to keep encouraging people that are having the same situation and tell them you’re not alone.

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