Many people spend a lot of money on their cellphone service. I am sure for many of them it is worth the money they pay as well. I am writing mostly for people like myself who do not talk on the phone much at all and have no need to have the whole internet at their finger tips wherever they go. If this sounds like you and you're paying $30-$50 a month for your cellphone service, you are paying much more then you need to. A little known secret is how cheap a pre-paid phone can be. You can pick these up at K-mart, Walmart, and Best Buy. Many times you can get the phone for the cost of your minutes. Depending on the company you choose, the cost can be as little as $15-$20 a month. For example with the company I use, I pay $30 for 300 minutes and 2 months of service. Now because I use my phone so little, I normally use less minutes then that and tend to buy a new card just for time. If you work this out, it means I am paying $15 a month for a cellphone. Talk about a way to save!
That's a good idea. The downside is that if you want to do any texting, it's not possible, which is what a lot of people tend to use their phones for now. If you don't make many calls, though, then it's a great way to save some cash.
This is a good idea. I use that system several years ago and gave me results. That way you can control your spending on calls and not waste the extra money. Many times we don't have the possibility to use the remaining credit. This is an effective way to use the money wisely and use the amount of calls required. There is also the possibility to load prepaid phones with "virtual load" which is achieved at any general store. Every day there are new alternatives, it is important to use them.
I used a pre-paid phone for a while, and found it to be a waste. I don't think I used it enough, quite frankly. You pay $15.00 and get a certain amount of minutes on the phone. If you don't use them, you wasted money, as most pre-paid minutes I found don't roll over to the next month. Maybe things have changed.
I have a similar deal. I still have the 300 minutes with unlimited testing and data for $25/month with Virgin Mobile. I almost never use up my minutes and I don't use my phone for the web. I prefer my laptop for that.
I always use prepaid, it's a brilliant way to save money. I am currently with an Australian company called Amaysim. They're great, there's packages for people who use less data, and some for people who text HEAPS, and use a lot of internet and calling. They also have the Pay as you go option, which I use, and only spend about $10 a month. It's pretty good.
What about text and data? Nearly everyone uses it now. In fact, talking on a cell phone is much less common in today's technological world.
Well I am one those people who talks and texts completely too much. I am on the Boost Mobile plan, and I pay $55 a month for unlimited. It's great for me because I also love to surf the web while I am away from my laptop. Like when I am taking long trips in the car.
Thank you for sharing this information. One of the downsides to prepaid phones/plans is the internet can be very slow. However, the cost is very low compared to major cellphone service providers.
The thing to remember about these phones is that, in the United States, you're still using one of the large cell company's networks. AT&T and Verizon etc just lease access to their networks to these third party providers.
This is an excellent tip. I have often thought about getting these cheap plans. The only problem is; I only have a cell phone for communication as I do not have a landline phone, so everyone calls the cell phone. I would burn through too many minutes. This would be a good idea for someone like my daughter though. I have thought about getting her a cheap cell phone for emergency purposes only. It would be a great idea as she would only use it to contact us. Thanks for letting us know of this offer!
Thats great! For me that would not work. I need my cell phone for all my business and personal needs because I do not have a home phone. I use Straight Talk from Wal-mart and get unlimited everything for only $45 a month. I have a smart phone too!
I worked for a telecommunications company as a customer support representative. I have one tips for you: if you have a contract for 1 year, two years, etc. and it's about to expire, call customer support and tell them you want to close the contract when it ends (so it doesn't go on a monthly basis - as almost all contracts do), cause you found better offers at a rival company. They will be forced to schedule you for a call with the retention department, department where they must do anything not to lose you as a client. The retention dept. will call you, you can tell them exactly what you need: how many text messages, minutes, MMS, internet traffic, etc, and they will make you an offer. The trick here is to never accept the first offer, tell them you would like something cheaper, up to 15$ at most; if the second offer is 15$ and fits your needs take it, if not tell them you need more text messages or whatever you need. The third offer will be most likely the one you will take, and it will offer exactly what you need at low prices. Many people don't know that the retention departments have the possibility to offer you flexible plans at lower prices, depending on what you need, and most times are forced to do so, if you negotiate. PS: I done this a month ago and got more minutes for calls (and the same number of text messages and internet traffic) at 15$ than I had at 27$ during my two years contract.
If you're going to get a Straight Talk phone or something like that, you might want to set up a Google Voice account and get a phone number through them first. Then, you can forward that number to any cell phone that you're using. That way, if you decide to dump Straight Talk for something else, you can still use the Google Voice number, just forward to your new cell.
I used Virgin Mobile for years on a pre-paid basis. I found that I do not make enough calls to justify the monthly bill. I can get a top-up card when I need to add additional minutes to the phone, the top-up card is good of 90 days. I tried a contract for 2 years, it was a waste of money for me.
