I found a data only service for around 5000 sats per month and an annual subscription to a normie number for $2 per year. I figure that's sustainable, as long as I can make it work.

I’m with brisket on this one. I had a normie number that everyone had for about ten years then I retired that to a drawer and got a new number and barely told anyone. Great move :)

I guess I want to save money on a legacy mobile phone subscription whilst using a privacy phone to it's full extent so I can at least pretend to be normal to friends and family. Rather than having the discussion that all my relatives and friends need to download simplex to be able to communicate with me. 😂 I temporarily retired my phone number for 2 weeks and realised how many people and services relied on using it. Then I found a prepaid PAYG plan for $2 per year just to keep the number active. I figure, as long as it can receive calls and texts (and forward them to me over the internet) that's pretty cheap.