Budget cell phone plans

[DawnM]

Right now we have one child on a free plan through RingPlus. They offer free plans every 3 months or so and you need to get in within minutes of it opening. They also offer the same plan for $6.99/mo. I think it is 350 minutes and 500 texts and 10mb of data.

Another child has a Samsung Galaxy 2 on Freedom Pop, another free plan with about 350 minutes, but also includes 500mb of data. But you do need particular phones and an app to download for that plan.

I have Republic Wireless for $25/mo with unlimited everything and am very satisfied, but you do have to buy a phone from them. They also have $10 plans for unlimited talk/text and no data outside of wifi.

You can check out pre-paid plans at HowardForums.com.

 

[DawnM]

Interesting. Thanks.

That droid-life article is wrong; there was no contract.
http://support.sprint.com/support/a...am/5600ef1d-a21f-4de9-bfed-28a3258f154b#faq11

"Sprint will send the account holder a text message 30 days before the completion of free service on the student's line. Upon completion of free service, the student line will be charged regular price for service for Unlimited, My Way ($70/month for unlimited talk, text and 1GB of data on smartphones ($50/month on basic phones with blocked data); additional $10/month for unlimited data, if applicable). To avoid charges, the account holder can terminate the student line by calling Sprint or dialing *2 from their mobile phone before the end of 12 months."

 

[tink2dw]

Straight Talk always has great service!!

 

[DawnM]

Except for when they don't.

I got very frustrated. I was on vacation and MMS went out! I couldn't text any pictures of my trip back to my family. AND, I received no MMS messages coming in.

This went on for a couple of weeks for many with the ATT SIMs and an iPhone.

It was very frustrating.

And the APN settings needed to be changed out quite regularly. MMS and data would just quit and I would have to again look up how to change the APN settings. It was a pain.

I think if you are wiling to buy the Verizon based iPhone directly from ST you won't have those issues. But I didn't want to buy a brand new phone and pay the higher price.

Dawn

Straight Talk always has great service!!

 

[lisaross]

LOVE pageplus -- we have 4 phones with them

verizon iphone 4 - 29.99 month (phone purchased on ebay)
sprint samsung galaxy 2 - 29.99 month (purchased on ebay already flahsed)
verizon iphone 4 - pay as u go -- i add $25.00 everyother month for my son - its my old phone i had with verizon -- shut off data so only uses wifi
Droid - pay as u go - my youngest son - i add $10 every 4 months

Best Decision was to leave Verizon - don't think i'll ever sign a contract again - unless is unbelievable

 

[jackie101]

we use http://www.kajeet.com/kajeetStore/serviceplans.do
for the kids $14.99 per month, unlimited text and 60 talk min no internet and straight talk for hubby and I

 

[melifeld]

TING! TING! TING!

If you have good Sprint coverage in your area, I highly recommend Ting. DH and I used to have Verizon service for 2 smart phones that cost us $160/month. We now have 2 smart phones with Ting, no contract, great customer service, and in the past 1 1/2 years that we have had their service no monthly bill has exceeded $45 for 2 smart phones. That is right - $45. And that is the entire bill including taxes. And that is our worst case scenario. It is usually around $35/month.

Now you do have to buy your phone outright, but you don't have to do so through them. Most Sprint phones will work. Just double check with Ting for make and model before you purchase the phone. I bought our phones on eBay and had them activated on Ting.

 

[JB2K]

Talk to me about budget cell phone plans/phones. Prepaid?? Looking to spend around $10/month. No smartphone, data package, etc. Just bare bones. I have a landline. Thanks!!

Tracfone is now in the business of selling Android smartphones, which average at about $7 a month. If you're not using the phone a whole lot, this could be a potentially good deal (as it uses Verizon towers to carry calls).

 

[S. C.]

www.howardforums.com Cell phone forum.

 

[Brewersprts]

If you buy a T-mobile plan at Walmart you can get unlimited everything for $35/month. The phones are full price but you could just buy a used AT&T or tmobile phone and use it if you wanted a smart phone. If you just wanted a cheap phone just buy one of the $20 prepaid phones and use it for your account.

 

[lisaross]

TING! TING! TING!

If you have good Sprint coverage in your area, I highly recommend Ting. DH and I used to have Verizon service for 2 smart phones that cost us $160/month. We now have 2 smart phones with Ting, no contract, great customer service, and in the past 1 1/2 years that we have had their service no monthly bill has exceeded $45 for 2 smart phones. That is right - $45. And that is the entire bill including taxes. And that is our worst case scenario. It is usually around $35/month.

Now you do have to buy your phone outright, but you don't have to do so through them. Most Sprint phones will work. Just double check with Ting for make and model before you purchase the phone. I bought our phones on eBay and had them activated on Ting.

Does iphone work?

 

[newtodcl]

Just bumping this up to let everyone know ringPlus (Sprint only) is having a promo tomorrow.....I have been using it for over a year and have been pleased with it. I cant beat free : ) No referral or anything, just passing it along.

New Promo Thursday, August 27, 3-9pm PDT

For New Member Sign Ups:

New subscribers to each Unlimited Talk and Text paid plan get an added 1 GIG each month
New subscribers to each Free Pepper plan get additional 250 MB added each month.
New subscribers to any other paid plan get an additional 250 MB each month
New Subscribers to the Free Plan get 100 MB added each month.

In addition a new Free Plan will be offered:

Diversity – Requires a one-time $5.00 Minimum Top Up. (This means you get your money’s worth in usage. It’s not flat activation fee.)

Includes:

A monthly base of 300 Min, 500 Text, 300MB. If you go over in minutes, data, or text, you are charged $4.99. Then you get a bonus package added in whichever category you went over in. These packages consist of 300 Min, 500Texts, or 300MB and they are valid for two months. It’s a bit like rollover.

For example, if you go over your monthly base of 300 Min, you would be charged $4.99 and instantly receive a bonus of 300 Minutes which would not expire for 2 months. And of course the following month you’ll still receive your base allowance.