cheap cell plan with minutes only

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PatSea
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:37 am

cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by PatSea »

I have a son who we carry on our Verizon Family Plan currently. I would like to help him find his own plan for two reasons:
1. He is financially able to pay for his own cell service.
2. I want to get out from under the 2 year Verizon plan and go with one of the second tier phone comapnies.
My son does not text or use data. He only uses voice, an estimated 1000 minutes per month.
What are some of the lower cost plans that meet his needs?
Thanks
centrifuge41
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Joined: Mon May 17, 2010 9:04 am

Re: cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by centrifuge41 »

1000 minutes a month is actually kind of a lot. If he is able to move some of those minutes onto an IP phone (Ooma, Obihai, MagicJack), he could save substantially.

If he cannot, then the right plan is probably this one: http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans/T ... 01200.aspx

It happens to come with 3000 texts and 250MB of data too. But since prepaid minutes don't seem to go cheaper than 4c/min, this plan will cost less than buying 1000 minutes, no text, and no data.
crowd79
Posts: 640
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:37 pm

Re: cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by crowd79 »

Prepaid phones are by far the best and cheapest option. No sign-up fees, no contracts, etc. I am in total control of my phone bills. I pay less than $20 per month on average for a Tracfone. Who needs a phone with all those bells and whistles? Certainly not kids....
MathWizard
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Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:35 pm

Re: cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by MathWizard »

1000 minutes/month is 1/2 hour a day every day.
I use my cell phone about 1/2 hour per month.

For me a tracphone is best. For higher minutes, you might want to go with straight talk pre-paid.
Comapre that with the $50 or $55 per month all everything plans, T-mobile or Virgin Mobile often has.


http://www.compare-prepaid-cell-phones. ... -talk.html

says there is a 1000 minue plan for $30

Coverage is pretty good with tracphone, almost the same as verizon.
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jeffyscott
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Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:12 am

Re: cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by jeffyscott »

It looks like this one would be $24 per month, if truly talk only and not more than 1000 minutes: https://ting.com/plans
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mike143
Posts: 1332
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:55 pm

Re: cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by mike143 »

centrifuge41 wrote:1000 minutes a month is actually kind of a lot. If he is able to move some of those minutes onto an IP phone (Ooma, Obihai, MagicJack), he could save substantially.

If he cannot, then the right plan is probably this one: http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans/T ... 01200.aspx

It happens to come with 3000 texts and 250MB of data too. But since prepaid minutes don't seem to go cheaper than 4c/min, this plan will cost less than buying 1000 minutes, no text, and no data.
+1 on Page Plus Cellular, its a Verizon MVNO (Mobile virtual network operator). If you go that route check out kittywireless.com and ebay for cheaper phones flashed to Page Plus.

Check out this for other options: howardforums.com Prepaid Rate Plan Comparison
Nothing is free, someone pays...You can't spend your way to financial freedom.
likegarden
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Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 4:33 pm

Re: cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by likegarden »

We have 2 tracphones with 1300 minutes each sitting there in our cars. We only use the phones for emergencies such as car broken down and ordering pizzas. Tell you son to kick that expensive habit.
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mike143
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Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:55 pm

Re: cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by mike143 »

Bernd wrote:We have 2 tracphones with 1300 minutes each sitting there in our cars. We only use the phones for emergencies such as car broken down and ordering pizzas. Tell you son to kick that expensive habit.
Not really a expensive habit, many from my generation (born 1982) and later never owned a land line. Cellular phones provides an all in one home phone and mobile solution. The wife and I pay less than $25 a month each for 300 minutes, unlimited text and data, each, with Virgin Mobile (Sprint MVNO). I stay under my 300, she goes over sometimes ($0.10 min). It not about removing the niceties of life but education yourself and having them at the greatest value.
Nothing is free, someone pays...You can't spend your way to financial freedom.
musicDax
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2013 8:38 pm

Re: cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by musicDax »

I recently found out about republicwireless http://www.republicwireless.com which say you get unlimited talk/text/data for $19.99 since they leverage wifi as much as possible. Disclaimer, I have not used them myself but sounds interesting. Also a catch that only a particular android phone works wit hthe plan, check it out at least as a reference, price is very attractive but do expect bad customer support (you do get what you pay for sometimes)

When my personal contract runs out i'll probably try it, i use google voice so my number can be ported wherever easily...
VGSailor
Posts: 155
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2011 4:48 pm

Re: cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by VGSailor »

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

I would try T-mobile monthly plan. I have my wife on the $30 1500 minutes text and talk. Cheapest option for us even though we don't necessarily use up all those minutes.
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DiscoBunny1979
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Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2007 10:59 am

Re: cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by DiscoBunny1979 »

I absolutely love my LG TracFone I got from one of the TV home shopping networks. If he doesn't need an Apple phone and just needs to talk to 'friends' or 'family' I think the TracPhone is the best way to go...well, it's for me. No contracts, excellent service. The Phone was $99 and came with 1 year service with 3x minutes for life. I use a different device for my MP3 music on the go anyway.
dandan14
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Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:32 am

Re: cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by dandan14 »

Page Plus has a 1200 minute + 250MB data + 3000 texts for $29.99. Hard to beat that deal.

Also worth noting is that Page Plus works on the verizon network and with most verizon phones. I bought a Droid X on ebay for $70 that I converted to page plus in about 5 minutes.
wander
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Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2008 9:10 am

Re: cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by wander »

dandan14 wrote:Page Plus has a 1200 minute + 250MB data + 3000 texts for $29.99. Hard to beat that deal.

Also worth noting is that Page Plus works on the verizon network and with most verizon phones. I bought a Droid X on ebay for $70 that I converted to page plus in about 5 minutes.
+1.
Note: Mostly all Verizone wireless 3G phones work with PagePlus.
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Taz
Posts: 566
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Location: NM

Re: cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by Taz »

wander wrote:
dandan14 wrote:Page Plus has a 1200 minute + 250MB data + 3000 texts for $29.99. Hard to beat that deal.

Also worth noting is that Page Plus works on the Verizon network and with most verizon phones. I bought a Droid X on ebay for $70 that I converted to page plus in about 5 minutes.
+1.
Note: Mostly all Verizone wireless 3G phones work with PagePlus.
Our family has been using Palm Pixi Plus phones (new ones ~ $45 from Amazon - old tech smartphones but wifi/internet capable) on Page Plus (PP) for 2 years. We buy an $80 card from an online dealer which extends the normal 120 day required refill cycle to a year. All balances roll from cycle to cycle. Our bills are easily 75% less than a year family plan with 4 "dumb" phones as we have set them up not to use OTA data. Try doing THAT on a major carrier!

Most Verizon CDMA phones will work, including iPhones, Android, or Windows based. My son recently bought a like-new Verizon iPhone 4 on EBay for $180 which works great on PP. Be careful that the phone has a clean ESN/MEID, was not a pre-paid phone, and you've searched the specific model to see if is on PP's banned list..

If you are cheap 8-) , ask your friends if they have an old/recently cast off phone.
Taz
The destination matters. | "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't don't stop and look around once in a while - you could miss it." -- Ferris Bueller
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sddiehard
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Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:29 pm
Location: San Diego, CA

Re: cheap cell plan with minutes only

Post by sddiehard »

Another option is Virgin Mobile's Paylo plan. 1500 minutes, 1500 texts, and 30MB web data for $30 per month. One has to use their phones, but they are inexpensive and simple. http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-pho ... /overview/. It runs on the Sprint network.

Paul
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