Data Diaries: When an expecting mom’s data usage took an unexpected turn  

Welcome to Data Diaries, where we discover how well our employees truly understand their own wireless data usage habits. In this series, we help Mint Mobile users understand how much data they actually need by tracking our own employees’ data usage for a full week. Since they work for a wireless company, they should be experts on their usage… right? Let’s get into it. 

Meet Annabel

This is Annabel, from Mint Mobile’s social media team.

Staying up-to-date on the latest internet business is Annabel’s business. As a senior manager on Mint’s busy social media team, Annabel needs a reliable wireless connection to do her job (which she’s very good at, BTW). Since she works from home, Annabel is connected to Wi-Fi most of the time. Her phone is always close by so she can check emails and manage her to-do lists. After hours, she tries to limit her scrolling to focus on her other job – being an expectant mother. On top of everything, she and her husband just moved to Miami, so she’s got her hands full getting the new place ready for the baby. 

“[Outside of work,] I try not to touch my phone. I really disconnect to the point where people even have a hard time reaching me. Maybe I’m a workaholic? I’m just kidding – I mean, aside from being a shopaholic. We’re in that stage of life where we’re now buying things for a house and baby stuff.” 

Annabel’s Predictions

Before we started tracking her week, we asked Annabel for some predictions for where she thinks most of her data goes:

“I think I’m on Wi-Fi a lot. I’m not out-and-about much, and I work from home. But I’ll use the hotspot from my phone to be on my laptop while I’m [a passenger] in the car because I like having the big screen.” 

And you might expect a social media manager to be online around the clock, but Annabel would disagree:

“It’s funny. Because my job is social media, I’m spending almost six to seven hours on the phone with social media for work. I don’t even want anything to do with it after work, not even for myself.”

That’s such a relatable feeling. After being exposed to so much screen time at work, taking a digital detox is one of the best things we can do for our mental health. But during working hours, she’ll use her phone’s mobile hotspot so she can catch up on work from the car. She also says that she’ll check on her Amazon orders regularly from the mobile app. Other than that, Annabel tries to stay off her phone.

Annabel’s Week of Data Usage

Key Findings from Annabel’s Data Diary

After recording her predictions, we tracked Annabel’s data usage for seven days straight. The results? In a week, Annabel used just under 6GB of mobile data, 5.825GB to be exact. At this rate, Annabel would have used around 23GB for the month. Here’s how her results shape up by category:

Shopping – Top Usage Category

62% of her wireless data usage (around 3.6GB) went towards online shopping – indicated by her usage of the Amazon app, Best Buy app and Safari search engine. Amazon used up 3.31GB, accounting for a whopping 56.82% of her total wireless data usage for the entire week. 

Work – 2nd

Next were work-related functions, accounting for 36% of wireless data usage (around 2.1GB). We measured this segment by tracking mobile hotspot, Apple Mail, Gmail, Slides, Notes and System Services usage. Mobile hotspot used up 0.45GB, accounting for 7.69% of her total wireless data usage for the entire week.

Entertainment – 3rd

Finally, 8% of the week’s wireless data usage (around 0.5 GB) was spent on personal entertainment, measured by her Spotify and Instagram usage. Instagram used up 0.354GB, accounting for 6.08% of her total wireless data usage for the entire week.

What Annabel had to say

“I had no idea Amazon was going to come up on top. I was like, ‘my god, maybe I have a shopping problem’.”
We’ve all been there, Annabel. We’ve all been there. Annabel’s Data Diary is an example of how something as routine as checking on online orders when not connected to Wi-Fi can quickly rack up gigabytes. Looking back on her week, she checked up on her baby registry every day. “That’s probably why Amazon is top of the list,” she stated.

“I’m a passenger princess. When I’m in the car, I’ll check on emails, slides and other things that we’re working on — or notes for my to-do list and stuff like that.”
Annabel works from home, but also on the go. Her Data Diary shows a spike in her mobile hotspot usage during the work week, consistent with her predictions. Surprisingly, her mobile hotspot usage didn’t use as much data as she expected.

“I honestly thought I would have more social stuff. Before I started being mindful about disconnecting from social media, I’d say that IG would probably be on the top of my list” It’s interesting that as a social media manager, entertainment comprised the smallest segment of Annabel’s mobile data usage—Instagram used up less than half of a gigabyte. Annabel says she tries to use social media only for work purposes.

Final Thoughts

After seeing her data deconstructed, Annabel was asked what kind of mobile data plan she would choose, a set data amount or unlimited?

“I actually think I would still stick with unlimited data just in case I go over. I like the peace of mind. I don’t think I’d like to be tracking [my usage], and I don’t want to have to think about it.”  
Even though she doesn’t necessarily need an unlimited plan, Annabel values the peace of mind that an unlimited plan can give an expectant mom like her. At such a busy time in her life, that assurance is invaluable, giving her the flexibility to live her best passenger-princess life.

Knowing where exactly your data goes can help you cut down on your usage, and with how accessible Wi-Fi is nowadays, a lot of users can get by with a set data amount. Want to read other Mint employees’ Data Diaries for more helpful insights? (Don’t worry, they said they’re cool with it). Check out how a graduate student used her wireless data to manage school work with her workouts or how a girl-dad used his data to make the most of his coffee addiction. Curious about how much data you actually use? You can track your data for a week using your phone’s app info in the settings menu. Or, you can start by checking out our blog, which will walk you through determining your data usage. Just click below.