I'll be buying my first cell-phone soon and would appreciate any advice on the most frugal choices that I could make. Any advice would be helpful, I'm really just looking to have a device that can call people and text fairly easily. If it's a smart-phone, I could probably pay for it but they're not my first choice.
Currently I am switching my cell phone service to Tracfone. I will be going from a $15 dollar a month plan with Verizon to a $7 dollar a month plan with Tracfone. I would also like to say that I only use my phone about 30 minutes a month and very very rarely text at all.
I would recommend starting out with a pre-paid plan. Pre-paid plans are usually much cheaper than contract plans. With pre-paid plans, if you don't like the service, you can stop using it whenever you want, rather than having to wait 1-2 years to cancel, as with contract plans. Two phone companies that I DO NOT recommend are Virgin Mobile and Cricket. I have used both and both are horrible, in my opinion. I barely got service anywhere with either one.
I would recommend that you go with a prepaid plan before you get a contract. You can actually get a great smartphone and in some cases the iPhone on a prepaid plan. Don't get suckered into a contract that will have you stuck to one phone.
Do you like touch screen phones? If you do then it will be very hard to use it for texting. But the Sony Ericsson W995 smartphone is quite cheap now on Ebay, and it has a keypad, so texting is easy if you use that phone. You can get it brand new for $110, just look for it on Ebay.
If you're looking for a cell phone, I would ask around to see what people have in storage. Many people just buy new cell phones all the time and never think to sell it or recycle it. You could likely find a iphone 4 out there and that is a pretty excellent phone for your purposes. As for cell plans, go online and look through a number of them. What do you plan on using it for? I've never signed a contract in my 13+ years of having a cell phone. I don't want to be stuck to something for 3 years. This allows me to move plans, whenever I find something cheaper with another provider.
I would definitely recommend that you shop around thoroughly before signing any sort of contract. There are always great deals available online for both phones and services for those phones. As a few other posters have stated, I would definitely recommend a pre paid phone for your first experience with a cell phone. Then when you're ready to upgrade (you may or may not want to) then go with T Mobile or Verizon or etc.
The best deal by far is with Metro PCS. You only have to pay $40 a month and you get unlimited minutes, texting, and internet. You are required to by a phone since there is no contract, but it is way better than getting screwed paying a high bill every month that is never the same. Word to the wise, don't ever mess with AT&T! They have the worse customer service I've ever come across in my entire life and the bill was always about $10 extra every month than what it should've been.
In my experience, service is the most important thing. But service isn't the same everywhere, I could get great service in Maryland, but not so great service in California. I'd ask people you know what carrier they have. If you're an international traveler, I've heard good things about T-Mobile. Verizon is the most expensive, but I think it's the overall the highest quality. I have Sprint.
I would say that Walmart has a great plans called straight talk, It affordable and the phones are very good there are some great choices, I think this plan would be great, My co worker just switched to this plan with unlimted everything for 40.00 a month cant beat that.
If you are not looking for a smart phone you will have some very cheap options. You can buy a Verizon Gusto 2 at Best Buy for $15. The Gusto is a standard flip phone with text, and voice call capabilities. You can set it up on the Verizon $50 unlimited talk, and text plan, or select their $2 a day plan. You will pay $10 extra a month if you sign up for $2 a day plan.