But not compared to regular Telstra its not, no. Show me a network with comparable coverage AND value to Boost and I'll concede. But Boost is almost always the best option unless your budget extends to one of the JB Telstra plans.

I buy the 365 day expiry for $250 whenever its on special, and that's my years mobile plan covered for $21 a month.

I've been on Vodafone and Optus too. Mostly out of spite from having to deal with Telstra's billing which is a disaster.

Vodafone surprisingly good, Optus terrible. Vodafones main issue was coverage... any time I headed out west for work it would die anywhere outside of civilisation. And I have never received so much spam SMS as I did in the 3 months I was with Optus. Also missed calls come through in oddly formatted numbers so they don't appear to be from your contact... i.e. the missed call SMS shows "you missed a call from 1234567890" and the SMS shows it came from 6112345690 instead of John Smith, even if John Smith is saved with the correct +6112345690 formatting (or 'wrong' 1234567890 formatting).

The only Boost I've ever repped was boostcruising.com, RIP that place. If Boost Mobile want to flick us some bucks I'll take it though!

I thought you "maintained a certain lifestyle"? Maybe you should ask you're wife how you could save a little more cash around the house