I use a combination of categories for my numbers.
The low priority number is for anything that I would short term access to such as shopping rewards, sign ups that require text verification and rewards programs. Basically anything that I don’t care about contact from and something I would use an alias name fore. Unless I have a reason to cycle numbers immediately, I usually don’t pay attention to incoming voice calls or text messages from this number. I never use my real name or any contact information that could be directly connected to myself.
The long term number is for services/people I may need to keep longer contact with but are not close friends or family. Most of the time I set this burner to go straight to voicemail for voice calls and not to alert for text messages unless I am actively using it. I manually check this when I get time or when needed. The longer term is great for accounts you have a subscription to such as Netflix or my car dealership. Basically anything that you may want to contact you and semi-trust but don’t necessarily need/want to give your phone number to. The long term burner is just another layer to shield yourself. I usually don’t keep my long term number for more than a year and transition what I deem important to the next long term number.
My Friends and Family number is for close friends and family that won’t or can’t use a more secure method for contact. I usually use multiple phone numbers to different groups to prevent the exposure. I have some friends and family that are more privacy focused than others and group them by that assessment (You know who you are). I change these numbers as needed on my annual exposure search. You never know if your contact information will be accessed by Google, Apple, Facebook or other application.
Banking and Government related phone number. This is a phone number I guard and never give out unless required by law or legal reasons. I consider this phone number a long term asset and will never provide it unless I determine there is no other choice.
My real cell phone number. This is the phone number associated with my cell phone. I never ever use this number for anything. This is the number someone could track my location through cell phone or data usage, the goal is to have no information directly tied to myself. To increase my privacy I always use a VPN, services and any payment associated with this number using an alias.
