If you live outside the US, a reliable US mobile number is still necessary for banking, credit cards, and account verification.

Mint can work well for this, but only if you understand the timing. The first year is mostly paid in cash and feels inefficient. The second year is when things finally settle down, costs drop sharply, and the number stays alive with very little ongoing effort.

This isn’t about getting something “free.” It’s about ending up with a stable US number at a predictable cost once the setup year is behind you.

If you live outside the US, a working US mobile number stops being optional faster than most people expect.

Banks, brokerages, credit card issuers, and government logins still lean heavily on SMS-based verification. VOIP numbers are often flagged or quietly rejected. App-based authenticators help, but they don’t fully replace SMS in practice.

This setup exists to solve that problem cleanly, not to chase savings for their own sake.

After repeated reliability issues with VOIP-style services, I wanted a real US mobile number that worked reliably for banking and verification, didn’t lock me into a postpaid contract, and could be kept alive cheaply using credits I already had.

Mint Mobile fit that brief. Not because it’s “cheap,” but because once the timing is understood, the economics stop moving around.

I sourced the phone independently, unlocked, via Best Buy.

Per phone (device plus case):

Points earned on the purchase:

That’s 472 transferable points generated on a purchase that netted to zero cash.

The point isn’t that the phone was inexpensive. It’s that unlocked hardware keeps the device independent of the carrier, which matters if you ever change plans or providers later.

Mint strongly rewards commitment.

Shorter plans price higher per month, and promotional pricing does not reliably repeat. I initially started on a short plan; when it expired, pricing stepped up and effectively pushed the decision into a 12-month plan anyway.

If you are starting today and want:

you should assume a 12-month plan from the outset. There is no clean way to “ease in” without risking a higher total cost.

Mint bills once a year, while most wireless credits arrive monthly.

That mismatch means:

That means the first year is largely paid in cash. The math only improves after you’ve lived with the plan for a while.

This is not a Mint quirk. It’s a structural feature of prepaid pricing.

Mint allows wallet funding, which is where monthly credits become useful.

Using an Amex Business card with a $10 monthly wireless credit:

Each load also earns points on the full charge.

Per monthly load:

Over 12 months:

With one Business card

With two Business cards

None of this offsets Year 1. All of it sets up Year 2.

Cash:

Points earned in Year 1:

Total: just over 3700 transferable points in Year 1.

At renewal, the wallet balance applies automatically. This is the first point where monthly credits and prepaid billing finally line up.

Year 2 with one Amex Business Platinum card:

Year 2 with two Amex Business Platinum cards:

At this point, the line is effectively prepaid one year ahead.

Mint isn’t the only workable option.

US Mobile, particularly on Verizon, and Visible are often cited for strong SMS reliability and clean month-to-month billing. They typically cost more over time but avoid the annual prepay structure entirely.

If Mint ever became unreliable for me, US Mobile would be the obvious fallback. The mechanics discussed here still apply; only the billing cadence changes.

The brand matters less than the billing structure.

Year 1 carries the cost.

Year 2 carries the benefit.

If you plan for that, the setup is predictable. If you don’t, it’s just more expensive than you thought.