Homeschooling Again Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 We're trying to cut down on costs and I know there are some very smart and frugal people on this board. Anyone use pay as you go cell phone plans? If so, can you tell me about them? My dh and I are paying a little over $150/month for our two cell phones and I'd like to drastically cut that if possible. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 They are ideal. If you use a cell phone a lot for any reason, they're not so good. DH and I use them for situations like "I'm stuck in traffic" and "do you need anything while I'm out." Our oldest has one that he takes when he's with friends so he can call or text for a ride or something he's forgotten. When we give that number out, we tell people that we pay for every call and text. All total, the three of use maybe $20 a month of air time. If the $$$ build up on one, I use it to make personal phone calls when I'm waiting for the kids somewhere or at an appointment. We buy a $30 for each one every three months, so it averages out to around $30/month for three phones. For us, it works fine. I'm a techie, but I'm not one that wants my life run by technology. Odd, I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onceuponatime Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Check out the pay as you go plans on Virgin Mobile. That's what we use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in PA Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Check out the pay as you go plans on Virgin Mobile. That's what we use. :iagree: I used them for several years and was very happy with the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberia Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 We use T-Mobile prepay. It costs 10 cents per minute and 10 cents per text, with no daily use charge. We rarely use our phones, maybe one or two calls a day, so even though the per minute rate is high, we only pay $5-10 per month for two phones. We use them as phones and to text only, no internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpidarkomama Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 We use Tracfone and got 18 months of service for $150 (so $8+/month). I think this includes 700-800 minutes. We just use it when we travel, or if we have an urgent need. We never use all of our minutes. I think next time I'll check out T-mobile, though. That sounds like a GREAT deal! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 They are ideal. If you use a cell phone a lot for any reason, they're not so good. DH and I use them for situations like "I'm stuck in traffic" and "do you need anything while I'm out." Our oldest has one that he takes when he's with friends so he can call or text for a ride or something he's forgotten. When we give that number out, we tell people that we pay for every call and text. All total, the three of use maybe $20 a month of air time. If the $$$ build up on one, I use it to make personal phone calls when I'm waiting for the kids somewhere or at an appointment. We buy a $30 for each one every three months, so it averages out to around $30/month for three phones. For us, it works fine. I'm a techie, but I'm not one that wants my life run by technology. Odd, I know. My husband and I use our phones similarly. It comes out to about $14/month for two Tracfones with this sort of use. We always have a surplus of minutes because our phones get double minutes for life. We paid about $12 for each phone and they actually have a serviceable camera and internet access. It works for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beans Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Our cell phones are our only phones, so we use them a lot. We go with Boost Mobile's unlimited plan. It's $50 a month per line, unlimited talk text and data, but that can be reduced to $35 by on time payments, etc. I know $100 bucks a month for phones may seem high, but our plans with other carriers (ATT & Verizon) were at least $150 per month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abreakfromlife Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I have Virgin Mobile and love it. I bought the new LG smartphone they have, and I only pay $25 a month. I get unlimited text and web, and 300 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Check the coverage maps for Virgin Mobile very carefully. Our zip looked covered but when we got the phone, paid the first month and activated, we discovered our neighborhood has ZERO bars and the phone could not be used at home. Use the map that allows you to plug in your actual address, and any other important areas to you. Returned it, and am waiting for the credit to show up on my cc. Glad we didn't cancel ds's Verizon acct. Paying more but it's reliable. And this is not out in the boonies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracieT Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 T-Mobile here, too. I've had it for years and love it. Great coverage and inexpensive. We always put on $100 at a time so the minutes don't expire.But I think you actually only have to do that once and as long as you add minutes before you run out, the new minutes don't expire either. Or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 We also have use TMobile Pay As You Go. We used TracFone for a while until we dropped one in some water and they wouldn't transfer the minutes for us. I switched to TMobile and they have switched minutes for me to new phones twice. We usually pay around $25 per month between our two phones. Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I use Tracfone and pay about $175 every 6 mos for 1,000 minutes and 365 days of service (my phone automatically doubles the minutes, so I end up with 2,000 when I buy 1,000). I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 T-Mobile here, too. I've had it for years and love it. Great coverage and inexpensive. We always put on $100 at a time so the minutes don't expire.But I think you actually only have to do that once and as long as you add minutes before you run out, the new minutes don't expire either. Or something like that. With T-Mobile, you can initially buy 1000 minutes for $100 and they don't expire for a year. If you add ANY minutes before the end of that year, the new balance (original remaining minutes + new minutes) expire a year from the date of the purchase of the new minutes. I don't use my phone much, and my original 1000 minutes lasted two years. At the end of the first year I bought $10 more minutes to roll over the whole balance. So $110 for two years' worth of cell service; I think that's a deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioMom66 Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 (edited) I have Virgin Mobile and love it. I bought the new LG smartphone they have, and I only pay $25 a month. I get unlimited text and web, and 300 minutes. This is what we have for our daughter. I have their $40 plan which includes unlimited text and internet with 1200 minutes. We don't have a home phone so I needed more minutes. We both have the LG Optimus V, which is an Android phone. We purchased our phones at Best Buy on sale, and the Best Buy staff set up the phones for us. I love my new phone. Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint network, which I had before. If you happen to know if Sprint works or not in your neighborhood that can save you the trouble another poster spoke about. :) Edited July 23, 2011 by OhioMom66 Forgot to mention something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I have a tracphone. It's not fancy, no texting or camera. I am fine with that. We don't really need a cell unless we are traveling. I only carry it occasionally. DH takes it when he goes on a business trip. Half the time, I don't know where it is, lol. We've never had cellphones for every day use, just the trackphone for emergencies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint network, which I had before. If you happen to know if Sprint works or not in your neighborhood that can save you the trouble another poster spoke about. :) That was me... the VM site showed us the coverage area.... did not know I needed to go to the Sprint site for a more detailed map until it was too late. We are literally 1/2 mile away from "coverage" with VM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncmom2dawters Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 We just switched from Verizon to StraightTalk. ST uses AT&T and Verizon networks. Phone models ending in "G" and that have a blue map on the box are AT&T. Phone models ending in "C" and with a red map work on the Verizon network. There are two plans. $30 a month includes 1000 minutes, 1000 texts, 30 mb web time. $45 a month includes unlimited text, talk and web. We bought a Samsung phone that also has a wifi feature. We are using it with the $30 a month plan. A plan like that with Verizon would be $80+ a month. You can opt to have your plan automatically renewed each month. There is NO contract. www.straighttalk.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 my husband and i use straight talk. it uses verizon towers so the coverage is excellent. we get the $45 plan, which is unlimited talk, text, and internet. they have a $30 plan too, which is 1000 minutes, 1000 texts, and limited internet time. we love it and never drop calls. we get email reminders when it's time to refill. hth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 We just switched from Verizon to StraightTalk. ST uses AT&T and Verizon networks. Phone models ending in "G" and that have a blue map on the box are AT&T. Phone models ending in "C" and with a red map work on the Verizon network. There are two plans. $30 a month includes 1000 minutes, 1000 texts, 30 mb web time. $45 a month includes unlimited text, talk and web. We bought a Samsung phone that also has a wifi feature. We are using it with the $30 a month plan. A plan like that with Verizon would be $80+ a month. You can opt to have your plan automatically renewed each month. There is NO contract.www.straighttalk.com sorry. i must have been typing at the same time as you :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncmom2dawters Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 sorry. i must have been typing at the same time as you :) :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 We have a Net 10 prepaid cell phone. We get the card that is 30 dollars for 60 days of service. I think it is like 10 cents a minutes and 5 cents per text. Also if you add more minutes before the due date you can roll over unused minutes. We also have a land line, so we don't need that many minutes. We have had Net 10 for over a year and have had absolutely no problems with it at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtroad Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I use one. Pay $29.99 every 2-3 months for ~400 minutes (I bought a double card from beginning). I don' t use the phone casually. It is for staying connected to people on our field trips, for safety in traveling, and for kids to find me when I am away from home. No real conversations or chatting... no internet surfing (but it can be done). It is a phone for needs... not pleasure or routine use. Super cheap too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 We use Net10. For $50, we get a month of unlimited talk, text, and internet. The internet is sort of hard to use on the phone model I have- I can look but not post- but they have smartphones you can buy, too. I think I've gone through just about every cell phone company out there, and this is the best one I've found so far. I love not having a contract and being able to wait a week or so to pay my fifty bucks if I need to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 We use Straight Talk from Walmart. Unlimited texts, internet and talk time costs us $90 a month for two phones. No complaints whatsoever. Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling Again Posted July 25, 2011 Author Share Posted July 25, 2011 I went with Virgin Mobile. Bought a $50 phone that allows me to check my email (I work part-time) and chose the $30/month plan for 1500 min., 1500 texts, and 30 mg data (or something like that). My old cell phone number transferred as well, so I'm happy! This will save me $50/month. DH is trying to get a cell phone through work. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Thanks so much for everyone's input. Very, very helpful board!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abdesigns Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 I have a Virgin Mobile Droid, $40.00 a month, I get unlimited net, texting and 1200 minutes talk. My husband has straight talk, $45, unlimited everything, he's switching to Virgin shortly, he wants a droid. We love it. In fact, we got rid of our house phone, and use our cells. No problems, and so much cheaper. We will never use a contract cell provider again. GO FOR IT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 I agree with a pp that they're great if you don't use it a lot. We have a plan with AT&T. It's pre-paid with a minumum $25 every three months. If you use your phone you pay $1/day plus 10 cents a minute if they aren't AT&T users. Once you pay your $1 you don't have to pay it again that day no matter how much you use your phone. Just the minute charges. It works great for us because we rarely use our phones. I don't call people just to chat on my cell phone. (Well, I don't ever call people just to chat, but that's a completely different issue ;)). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgrubbs Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Anyone who has Straight Talk - do you have to get one of their phones or can you use the one you already have? I have a blackberry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in KY Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Virgin Mobile, $25/mo unlimited web and text, plus 300 minutes any time use. If you skype, you can use skype to talk instead of your minutes because you have unlimited web. It's great! For unlimited everything, including talk, it's $40/mo. Coverage is through Sprint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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