Cell Phones

[pg0314]

I have a Straight Talk phone. 1000 minutes of talk, 1000 texts, don't remember what the data plan is because I rarely use it. I've never come close to using up all my minutes/texts and the service costs $30 a month. They also have an unlimited plan for $45 a month. My phone's pretty basic but it's fine for my needs and I LOVE that it's month to month. No cell phone contracts for me, thanks very much. Did that the first two years I had a cell phone and hated every second of it.

 

[hambirg]

That $25 plan is now $35. Those paying $25 were grandfathered in. It is only 300 minutes of talk, so if your DD likes to talk, this will not be a big enough plan. It was not enough for me.

You also do need to purchase a used iphone or a new iphone straight out, no discounts with a contract.

Dawn

We had the $35 plan on two LG Optimus Vs (300 minutes, unlimited text and data) but just switched to the $25 plan today. http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1217218/

Before I got my android phone I had a $30 PayLo plan with 1500 minutes, 1500 texts and 30MB data.

I've been very happy with Virgin Mobile and can't ever see going back to a contract.

 

[Pigeon]

If I were going to get an iPhone, I'd do the Virgin Mobile $35 plan. THere has been a $5 discount for that if you have the payment automatically made from a credit card (for the iPhone only, unfortunately), to bring it to $30/month.

Your present iPhone won't work, you need to buy one from VM and they are full price. But it will still be considerably cheaper in the long run.

DD15 has had VM for over a year, but not with an iPhone, and it's been just fine.

For the pp poster who "switched" to the $25 plan, I saw that on fatwallet, and I hope that really works for you. I suspect it was a fluke and VM will switch it back.

I don't understand the desire to have a smart phone with no data plan, especially for a kid with an iTouch. If you have wifi, you can use the iTouch. If you don't have wifi, you need to have the data plan to do the cool stuff. There are lots of dumb phones with decent keyboards unless I"m too old to understand what the problem is. My dd with the VM plan has one and she has no problem texting her little fingers off.

 

[disneysteve]

One tip for iPhone users - review your bills to see how much data you are actually using. My wife was on the $25 plan and after a while, I looked over her bills and realized she had never, not even once, exceeded the 200MB offered with the $15 plan, so we switched. That saved us $10/month plus tax. She mainly uses her phone at home, at work, at our synagogue, or in hotels when we travel, all of which have wifi.

The more iPhones you have on your plan, the more that savings will add up over the course of a year.

 

[angierae]

We're paying Verizon about $260 a month for two Android phones, one iPhone, and one old fashioned flip phone for my MIL. We still have the old unlimited data plan (that will change next spring when one of us upgrades) but no matter the cost, I will stick with Verizion because they have wonderful coverage, calls never drop. My coworker has Sprint and they had to send her a signal booster to keep in her house so that she could use her cell phones in her own house. Most of the people in my office with Sprint or AT&T can't get calls in our basement offices, etc.

We've never had any service/sales/billing problems with Verizion and I do think that at some point, it's okay to pay a little extra for quality, which is what we get with Verizion.

 

[MrsPete]

We're in your ballpark -- we're paying $143 for four basic phones -- and I think we're in the low rent district. I have the "old fashioned" $79/first phone, $10 for up to four additional lines plan. How they get from $79 + $10 + $10 + $10 to $143 is phone magic. Fees, taxes, etc., etc., etc.

Anyway, we just upgraded to new phones before school started, and the person who said it's getting harder to get nice basic phones is right. They want you to give up the old plan and move to a data plan and a smart phone. This is much more expensive than the basic phones, and they're steering people in that direction by not offering "nice" choices in the basic phones. I predict that it won't be long before basic phones aren't available anymore -- or, they'll only be available in indirect, cumbersome ways.

Anyway, the people at the store and the people to whom I spoke on the phone (Verizon) couldn't believe how little I'm paying for four phones. They say it's rare-rare-rare for a family of four to have a bill under $200. They were completely immovable on rates and had a bad attitude about too.

I investigated other options, but AT&T quality is bad up in the mountains where my daughter attends college. I've heard bad stories from people who do the pay-as-you-go about substandard service. I looked but just didn't find a better price for our needs.

I'm amazed at what people are willing to pay each month for cell phones, and it is definitely going up-up-up.

Different topic: They are also now charging a $30 upgrade fee, and their reasoning is absolutely ridiculous: They say it has to do with offering how-to-use-your-cell-phone seminars in stores on Saturdays (how many people do you think really attend those?) and online handbooks (which means one guy set up a website). The truth is they just see a place where they can charge a fee and make more profit.

 

[MINNIEmeetsTINK]

OP,

You could in theory have an Iphone with no data plan if you went pre-paid. Thats the case with AT&T at least. I have an Iphone 4 on a $25 a month unlimited text and 250min gophone plan and am only able to connect to the internet on Wi-fi. (I rarely used my data plan and was tired of a $90 cell bill Hope this helps.

 

[luvmy3]

I don't know anything about the internal workings of the iPhone, but one thing to consider is that Verizon works on a different type of network than the other major carriers, so your dd's iPhone won't work on them if its made for VZ's network only. Unfortunately with them you are stuck with a required data plan.

I just switched from to Page Plus (from Verizon pre-paid) and have the exact same coverage since they use the same network. You can use Verizon phones, but no 4G ones.Offically you aren't supposed to be able to use an iphone either, but I have seen where people were able to activate them on Page Plus. Its risky since at any time they can discontinue the service.A data plan is not required although its included in their monthly plans, which are $12. $30 or $55 a month. You can also just buy minutes, and they last 120 days.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

We're paying Verizon about $260 a month for two Android phones, one iPhone, and one old fashioned flip phone for my MIL. We still have the old unlimited data plan (that will change next spring when one of us upgrades) but no matter the cost, I will stick with Verizion ....

I was grandfathered into AT&Ts unlimited data plan, and even when I have upgraded, I keep the same (unlimited) data plan. Are you sure Verizon does not do the same?

 

[disneysteve]

I was grandfathered into AT&Ts unlimited data plan, and even when I have upgraded, I keep the same (unlimited) data plan.

I also still have unlimited data but I'm wondering how long that will last. I doubt that they'll let us keep it forever.

 

[angierae]

I was grandfathered into AT&Ts unlimited data plan, and even when I have upgraded, I keep the same (unlimited) data plan. Are you sure Verizon does not do the same?

They grandfathered us in last time when all they'd done is stop giving unlimited to new accounts. Now they are switching everyone over to this shared data plan, and you won't stay grandfathere'd in.

 

[princesspwrhr]

I was grandfathered into AT&Ts unlimited data plan, and even when I have upgraded, I keep the same (unlimited) data plan. Are you sure Verizon does not do the same?

I'm not the person you asked, but so far every time we've upgraded phones with Verizon (had them for 9 years now) we have NOT had to upgrade our plan unless we wanted too. I once had a salesperson tell me I needed too, told him no thanks, went to another Verizon store and had no problem. But Verizon has changed a lot of upgrade policies lately so I wouldn't be surprised if that is the case now. I don't forsee us upgrading for a while thankfully.

To the OP
We have Verizon also and we're paying $187 a month for 2 iPhone 4's (not 4s) and an old basic phone. We share 700 minutes between the three phones, unlimited text on all of them, the 2 $10 charges for the additional lines, and the 2 $30 grandfathered unlimited data, then all the various taxes.

I do think there's a plot to get rid of all the basic phones. Not only do they self destruct after two years so you HAVE to replace them, but now you can hardly find any.

 

[disneysteve]

Now they are switching everyone over to this shared data plan, and you won't stay grandfathere'd in.

How much are they charging for shared data, and how much do you get?

 

[angierae]

How much are they charging for shared data, and how much do you get?

Here's their caculator: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/shareEverythingCalculator.jsp

I'd be happy to be wrong about having to change our plan, but everything I've heard says that we will have to change. I won't know for sure til April, when one of us is due for a new phone.

(According to that calculator, we'd pay $230 for 6G of shared data or $220 for 4G or $210 for 2G. Might as well go for the 6G just to be sure, since it's only another $20. Heck, it's only $250 for 10G.)

I'd still rather pay the $260 or whatever we're paying for unlimited everyhting, and not have to worry about it. We like streaming music and watching Netflix on our phones, and we'll have to be very careful about that if we're not unlimited. (Honestly, I'll probably just stop doing it altogether.)

For comparison's sake, I just look. Our "month" just began on 8/22 and I've already used 1/2 GB of data. (And I was home for a 3 day weekend over most of that, I use most of my data at work since we're not allowed to hook into our office wireless with any personal devices.) So I'm likely to use 2GB just myself over the case of a normal month. And there are two other smartphones in my household.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

OP, is that $144 before or after taxes and fees?

 

[westjones]

OP, is that $144 before or after taxes and fees?

That is total with taxes and fees.

 

[westjones]

I do think there's a plot to get rid of all the basic phones. Not only do they self destruct after two years so you HAVE to replace them, but now you can hardly find any.

This is how I feel too! I don't want the fancy phones, and yes my kids want them but they don't need them. But they are making the options for the basic phones really limited and they aren't as nice as they used to be.

We just ordered a Kin One from Amazon to replace our DD's phone that broke. She likes the Kin and thinks it is cute, and it doesn't need a data plan. The ones they offer in their 'basic phone' section are just not that nice anymore.

If it were not for my kids, we would just use our $5 a month Virgin Mobile for emergencies and forget having a cell phone.

 

[disneysteve]

If it were not for my kids, we would just use our $5 a month Virgin Mobile for emergencies and forget having a cell phone.

Overall, smart phone use is up dramatically not because of making phone calls but because of everything else they can do. I hardly ever make a phone call but I use my iPhone every single day, multiple times per day. I send and receive e-mail, go online, send texts, use the calculator, take photos and video, check facebook, play games, use the maps/GPS, get coupons, all kinds of things. The fact that it happens to also be a telephone is almost irrelevant to me.

As the population gets more and more accustomed (and dependent) on having endless knowledge at their fingertips 24/7, the trend toward smart phones will only escalate.

 

[BrookeTx]

We had Sprint pre smartphones and it was so cheap, but horrible reception.

We are on Verizon and yes it is expensive. We have 2 smartphones and a regular phone. Insurance on all 3 phones. 1400 minutes and unlimited text and just went from unlimited data to a fixed plan.

We pay close to $200 a month and that is with an employee discount.

 

[princesspwrhr]

Overall, smart phone use is up dramatically not because of making phone calls but because of everything else they can do. I hardly ever make a phone call but I use my iPhone every single day, multiple times per day. I send and receive e-mail, go online, send texts, use the calculator, take photos and video, check facebook, play games, use the maps/GPS, get coupons, all kinds of things. The fact that it happens to also be a telephone is almost irrelevant to me.

As the population gets more and more accustomed (and dependent) on having endless knowledge at their fingertips 24/7, the trend toward smart phones will only escalate.

To be honest, this is me too. My iPhone is used constantly throughout the day- but not often as a phone. Usually for texting, email, camera and games. I love my GPS app. Both my daughter and husband are the same with theirs. We have never EVER come close to the 700 minutes we share, never came close to the 500 before that. We don't have a home phone, the cell phones are our only point of contact and even then we barely hit 200-250 minutes a month.

We do use a bit of data- my daughter and I use an app everyday to track our runs and see improvement and compare. The GPS when used sucks data up. My daughter streams Pandora any chance she gets- even in the car to the store, and I like having that option too. Add in random email and FB checks and, well, I've never looked at it but I'm probably really glad we're unlimited.