5 ways to have a fun filled summer

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions are mine alone. #SummerIsForSavings #CollectiveBias #WFM2

My story to a better more fun filled summer with my Family has a new twist which centers around my wife and my decision to switch our phone plan to Walmart Family Mobile powered by TMobile.  Read with me as I tell you the wonderful difference it has made for my family this year.

What does summer mean to you?  To me, it stands for 3 months of sunny weather and fun filled summer family activities.  All summer long my wife and I try to keep our family entertained with several activities such as hiking, camping, fishing, boating, 4-wheeling, going to the movies, setting up our own movie projector for streaming movies, swimming, and simply just going for a fun drive.  We are always looking for new ideas that will get us out of the house and keep the kids active.

For the most part, the activities we choose involve travel, and sometimes traveling can be a chore for our kids as well as us.  Kids will be kids, which means they will argue, be impatient, ask “how much longer till we get there?” a hundred times, and complain about being bored.  I would prefer that my kids spend their time looking out the window during road trips to enjoy mother nature, but with all the wonderful technology that is now provided and available at our fingertips, I believe it’s important to let our kids enjoy it, which in turn keeps them entertained and allows us to enjoy our trip.

Each of my children has their own tablet, and my wife or I usually use one of our phones to tether with so that our kids can each watch something from VUDU◊.  Don’t get me wrong, we do limit the time they spend on their devices, but during trips, the movies or games they play on their tablets keeps me from going insane.  Anyone with children should be able to relate.

This brings me to my next important point, DATA.  By letting my children use my phone to tether with (or just use my phone), my DATA usage through my current cell phone provider is always gone quickly. POOF! No more data.  So, what have my options been in the past other than to continue to up my DATA plan, in turn upping my monthly payment?  For me, this is a lose-lose situation.  I quickly run out of DATA to let my kids use, and I don’t have any DATA for myself to use when I would like too unless I spend an arm and a leg uping my monthly rate.

For this, I am grateful to have found a new plan through Walmart Family Mobile, which is triple the amount of DATA that I had before and half the cost.  And I have no concerns with the coverage since Walmart Family Mobile is powered by T-Mobile using the same towers.  The best part of the plan is that it is contract free.  The bonus is that the PLUS plan is the best price at just $49.88 per month for the Unlimited Talk, Text, and 15GB of 4G LTE† DATA which then drops to 2G* of unlimited.  I also get a free VUDU◊ movie rental credit valued at $7.00 each month while on the $49.88 PLUS plan. I have been able to stock up on some great movies for my kids to watch while we travel.

The even better part for me is the phones that Walmart Family Mobile offers, which are many at great prices.  The one that I wish to highlight and which I bought is the new LG Grace 4G LTE† smartphone.  At just $94.00 at my local Walmart, this phone didn’t break the bank and comes with all the features that I was looking for in order to make my summer activities thrive with sanity through reliable service and tons of DATA. All prices for phones and plans included in this post are accurate as of the date of posting; however, these prices are subject to change. Please refer to this page or your local Walmart for current pricing.

The LG Grace is lightning fast with a 1.4GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.  It has a massive 5.3″ touchscreen.  The Battery talk time is up to 14 hours with up to 10 days of standby time.  It’s wifi capable and has 8GB of internal memory with a micro SD card slot which allows up to an extra 32GB of storage.  It has an 8 MP Camera with a 5 MP front facing camera.  That means wonderful pictures and video quality for what I need.

I plan on using my new phone mostly for the DATA. I still can’t believe that I get 15GB of DATA for only $49.88 per month.  And I thought that it would be difficult to switch over from my current carrier.  It was a breeze.  I simply bought the phone at Walmart, selected my Walmart Family Mobile Service plan that I wanted, and then I chose to activate my service by visiting MyFamilyMobile.com. You can also call 1-877-440-9758 for any help or questions with activation. They are very friendly and answered all of my questions.

By opting to switch, my wife and I have saved several hundred dollars per month with way lower monthly rates and now enough DATA that we don’t have to worry about going over and buying more.  And with that savings, our summer has already become more exciting with our trip to the Grand Canyon planned in July.  The Grand Canyon is far enough away from where I live that prior to the savings it was not cost effective for us to go, but now that we are saving that extra money, we can afford to spend a full week of camping, hiking, and finding fun new places to explore. I’m beyond excited to go to the Grand Canyon and thrilled to use my new LG Grace phone with the DATA to keep my kids entertained the entire trip.

To everyone that reads this, do yourself a favor and make the switch to Walmart Family Mobile.  You won’t regret the decision, and your summer can be filled with more DATA for fun filled activities or for plenty more GPS DATA to help you find those new and exciting locations to make new family memories. I want to share 5 ways to have a fun filled summer so that you can start making some plans to fill your summer with even more fun:

1. Go on a camping trip and watch a movie on a projector
2. Hike a new trail in your area
3. Visit a local water park or amusement park
4. Plan a road trip to the closest national park
5. Have a photography contest with your kids/spouse

Really, I could list so many different things. It is fun to just get out and be together. What are your favorite ways to spend time together and have a fun filled summer?

*Please always refer to the latest terms and conditions at myfamilymobile.com.
†To get 4G LTE speed, you must have a 4G LTE capable device and 4G LTE SIM Card. Actual availability, coverage and speed may vary. LTE is a trademark of ETSI.
◊Limited time offer. Available for lines active with the PLUS $49.88 plan only. VUDU enabled device and account required for digital viewing. Customers must be 18 years or older to open a VUDU account. Movie rental only available in the USA. Free movie rental provided in the form of a movie rental code to the value of a $7.00 VUDU credit. Movie rental code allows for selection from available movies for rent. May not be readily redeemable on all new releases. Code will be delivered within up to 24 hours of the effective account renewal date. Must be used within 30 days of receiving code. Offer is non-transferable. Limit 1 per customer. Additional terms and conditions on VUDU’s website: http://www.vudu.com/termsofservice.html