Matryoshka Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 (edited) So, my older two are heading off to high school next year. I think it might be time to get them phones (well, before the fall). Right now we have clamshell "dumb" phones from the stone age, with Sprint. Sprint does not get coverage most of where we need it, but we've got a grandfathered deal with them so it's cheap and we haven't switched. I don't even know how to text. What should we be switching to? Everyone's got smartphones now, but the data plans seem really expensive. The kids don't need smartphones, do they? Can you get a plan with one person with a smartphone but the others not? If we don't get smartphones, what do people get nowadays? If we did take the plunge, what does one get and how much does it cost and what would be the best plan for two adults and two kids? What kind of phones do your teens have? Help, I'm a clueless luddite. :blushing: Edited May 30, 2012 by matroyshka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 :lurk5: No one's even viewed this yet? I need a catchier title... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsbeth Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 We have our family plan with sprint, but if they don't offer good coverage in your area I'm not sure how helpful it is. Our older teens do have smart phones. For 5 lines (4 smart and 1 non) we pay about $250 a month. Most carrier still have a non smart phone option or two. More and more folks I know are going the pre-pay route with services like Straight Talk etc. Dave Ramsey had some reviews on different companies up on his site a while back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 We have our family plan with sprint, but if they don't offer good coverage in your area I'm not sure how helpful it is. Our older teens do have smart phones. For 5 lines (4 smart and 1 non) we pay about $250 a month. Most carrier still have a non smart phone option or two. Ouch! How do people afford this?? More and more folks I know are going the pre-pay route with services like Straight Talk etc. What are these, and how do they work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikin' Mama Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 We have Verizon with four phones. No smart phones, as we don't want to pay for data packages, nor do any of us need them. I don't know how many minutes we have, but it is minimal. However, we do still have a landline (without long distance) and most of the people we call with the cell phone are with Verizon. We also have unlimited texting, which was $30/month and includes all the phones. I have learned to like texting as an efficient way to stay in contact with my son in college and my son in the public high school. I think our total monthly cell bill is $120. We've had Verizon for many years and never had any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Dh and I are grandfathered in on AT&T's unlimited data plan. So, when we got a smart phone for eldest? We set her up with another carrier. Her bill actually went *down* when we added middle dd's phone plan. She doesn't have a smart phone, but both girls do a lot of texting. They share minutes on their plan and have unlimited texts. Plans are different according to area. You will have to check around and see who has the best deals in your area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 If you want to avoid switching, then you might look at Cricket just for the teens. It is $45 a month for unlimited talk and text. There is no contact, so if they are not responsible with them, then it is not a waste of money to keep them on. IMO teens do not need data plans if they have internet at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 We are also with Sprint which has great coverage where we live. We have 5 lines. Three are iphones and two are replenish phones (smartphones without the smartphone fee at the time we got them), so all 5 are smartphones. We pay $250/month. We do not have a landline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimtaxi234 Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 We have a Verizon family plan for $180 a month for 2 smart phones and 1 cell ($9'ish a month). All of our phones have unlimited texting. We barely touch our talk minutes since we text so much, but I'm thinking about getting rid of our landline when we move, so that will save a little money a month. ETA: I have a Thunderbolt droid and I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 IMO teens do not need data plans if they have internet at home. We move and travel a lot. Email and Facebook are primary means of communication with friends around the globe for my eldest dd. That is just one of the many reasons that we decided on a smart phone for our eldest. YOUR teen may not have a good reason to have a smart phone, but other teens do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
61Keys Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 We have Verizon. My husband and I have smartphones but the kids have a regular phone with texting. Verizon also gives us a huge discount because of DH's work. I don't know your household employment but you may want to check and see if they are on the list with Verizon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsbeth Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 To the OP who asked about budgeting, yes $250 is an ouch. When we switched to our current plans, we got rid of our land line and that saved $$. We used to talk a lot on it long distance. We also switched to slightly less expensive internet and tv services. Overall those other savings pay for about half of it. If our oldest two teens did not have smart phones, we'd only save $30/month (total). Each contributes $10 from their monthly allowance to help offset this charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 At least at one point (it might be grandfathered in), Verizon would let you have a family plan, with unlimited calling to other Verizon customers, an overall bunch of shared minutes, and unlimited texting, plus smartphone/internet package for just some of the people on the plan, so that might be an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvaleri Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 We've been with Verizon for over twenty years. Have five dumb phones =) Dd pays for extra texting. Bill is about $170 for all with dh and me paying $5 each line for minimal texting. Everyone is eligible for renewal/upgrade. Went to order new phone for dh; Verizon now charges $30 activation fee per phone to renew. Dh called Verizon support, but got no help. Very disappointing. Not sure what we're going to do now......:mad: Teresa in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 (edited) To the OP who asked about budgeting, yes $250 is an ouch. When we switched to our current plans, we got rid of our land line and that saved $$. We used to talk a lot on it long distance. We also switched to slightly less expensive internet and tv services. Overall those other savings pay for about half of it. Well, we can't get rid of the landline because we don't get cell service in our house (or yard for that matter). I think some plans might be slightly better than Sprint because I've had friends make calls from our house, but others have had problems - not reliable enough to not have phone service at home. But maybe I should ask those friends that seem to manage it more often what they're using. We already don't have any cable or tv service other than Netflix streaming (which is new for us). Sigh. I think we have Verizon for internet/landline (which are FiOS)... maybe they'd give us a break?? Edited May 30, 2012 by matroyshka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 The Tracfones are about $100 per year-- phone plus 800+ minutes (and double minute card if they need to add more). You can text with Tracfones--I think they have an unlimited option... Our girls use their phones for 'important' stuff-- they only text when they need to-- not for 'social fluff'. They always have time left over that 'rolls over' to the next years minutes. I currently have an I-phone, but will be getting rid of it when my contract runs out this fall. I can't justify $70 per month when I'm at home 99% of the time-- and when I'm out I use my I-pad (data plan is $15 per month on as-needed basis). I will probably switch to a Tracfone too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaBirdX7 Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 (edited) This isn't spam and your mileage may vary, but we are very happy with Page Plus. The best distributor is kittywireless.com. It is a prepaid program similiar to both tracfone and straight talk but has a variety of plans. You can use any Verizon phone except blackberry, iphone, and 4g phones. My teens have droid smart phones. Here is how we run our kid phones: They don't really talk one the phone, only text. I buy pay as you go minutes, then call in and have the data shut off (data is expensive on pay as you go). With the data shut off, they can still connect to the internet anywhere they have access to a wireless network. Then for texting, they use the textfree app from pinger.com. If you child isn't around wireless service as much, they also have a power text plan. We don't use that so you have to read at Kitty the ins and outs of that but you buy pay as you go minutes and then add a power text card on top of that. Unlimited Power Texting is $15 per month. I buy an $80 card which is 4 Cents per Minute: $80.00 / 2000 Minute Refill Card (Good for 1 YEAR/365 Days). I barely talk on the phone so this really is a one year plan for me. DH pays $29.95 for a monthly plan which gives him 1200 minutes, 3000 texts, and 100 mb data. There is also an unlimited plan with 100 mb data $40 and unlimited with 100 mb data for $55. He is on auto pay. If someone uses a lot of talk time, it's best to gets one of the monthly plans. Kitty offers some perks that the main website doesn't, but even one uses kitty as their distributor, you can still register the phones at the main website. When the phones are registered, you can see the call records and check balances. There are other similiar prepaid mnvos (run over someone else's network) that might be a better deal in your area. We live at the ends of the earth and Page Plus was the first to offer bring your own phone in our area. Edited May 30, 2012 by ceecee75 grammar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 We spend about $35-$40 a month for 3 phones. My phone is a tracfone, I pay $100/yr to get about 1000 minutes (I put a minute doubler on it when I bought it). I think you get 3 texts that cost a minute, this is a pay as you go, you load it with minutes, and they subtract when you talk or text. One way of texting is free, I think it is reading one sent to you. Ds has Net 10 (same company as tracfone). $30 to load 300 min. for two months. He used a $30 phone for four years of college! Dd has a pay as you go Verizon because there are a lot of areas here that don't get any other service, so I wanted one of our phones that would work everywhere. I put $30 on her phone every 90 days, sometimes it runs out at 60 days. We do not live on our cell phones, or text a lot. They are very basic phones. Ds has tons of extra minutes on his phone, he doesn't even use 150 a month. I don't use all of my minutes either, so not even 100 a month. Tracfone and Net 10 allow you to carry unused minutes if you load new ones before expiration date (you pay for minutes and time, so that means your time has run out). We have a land line that I use for all calling. The cells are for keeping in touch briefly while each of us are away from home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 We have our family plan with sprint, but if they don't offer good coverage in your area I'm not sure how helpful it is. Our older teens do have smart phones. For 5 lines (4 smart and 1 non) we pay about $250 a month. Most carrier still have a non smart phone option or two. More and more folks I know are going the pre-pay route with services like Straight Talk etc. Dave Ramsey had some reviews on different companies up on his site a while back. We pay around this every month. But, dh's work covers his part of it. My boys pay for their own internet access on their smart phones. I figured I'd pay for the phone part of it, but they could pay for the rest. Maybe you could arrange for something like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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