no contract phone

[Mimmy Mouse]

My granddaughter wants a cell phone for Christmas. Anyone have any suggestions/advice. I see that in the NJ area there is one from Tracfone that gives double minutes for life. But it just seems too good when they offer something for nothing. We think it will be used mostly for texting so she is looking for one with a qwerty keypad. Would appreciate any advise. Thank you

 

[TaraPA]

We have our son's phone from Kajeet (www.kajeet.com) - the phones are pricey - but they have a no-contract plan for $4.99 a month where you add money to the account as needed. We did go with the unlimited text & 150 phone minutes for $19.99 a month - it was still cheaper than adding him to my existing plan or getting him his own plan with a major carrier. Kajeet does usually have a basic phone for $16.99 - but if she wants the key pad you're looking at $150 minimum for the phone. We told DS we'd contribute $25 towards the phone of his choice, he had to pay the rest (he chose a Sanyo non-keypad model for about $60). Kajeet has account tracking & parental controls as well which is great for me to see who he's texting & when, and if he breaks the rules about phone usgae we can turn it off on our end, or limit the hours he can use it.

 

[Princess April]

Just to put your mind at rest the Tracfone double minutes for life is real. My DH and I both have this.

 

[Chicago526]

DH and I use T-Moblie and love it. I don't know if they have the full keyboard phones and if so how much, but the plan itself is very simple. It's 10 cents a minute (includes long distance and roaming) and 10 cents a text. I've never had a problem with coverage.

We went from spending $150 a month to less than that PER YEAR. It's got to have saved us over $1000 in the last year alone!

 

[StephMK]

DD15 has a go-phone through AT&T. We have to add $25 every 3 months I think but it has 3 texting plans you can buy from that $25. It's $20 for unlimited texting each month. They have an LG phone for about $100 that has the full keyboard.

I think Verizon has a pay as you go plan that is just texting for $15 a month and talk minutes are .10 each.

 

[rstamm]

DW and I both have tracphones for a few years and have had no problem.
Once a year we buy a one year card and were done.

Very easy to do and the minutes and exp are right on the phone screen to remind us when to add another year.

 

[salleys]

With your Trac phone what is the minimum you can add for a year. My dh hates cell phones but there are a few occasions a year when I wish he had one.
Salley

 

[HM]

Look into Kajeet phones (for kids). We love ours. DD gets unlimited text and 150 phone each month for $19.99. DS doesn't use his as much so is on a pay-as-you go plan that's been about $15.00 a month or less each time.

 

[rstamm]

With your Trac phone what is the minimum you can add for a year. My dh hates cell phones but there are a few occasions a year when I wish he had one.
Salley

It costs about $100 a year for the card, which adds at least 400 minutes. A lot of times, the company runs promotions where you get bonus minutes or double minutes for life.

 

[salleys]

Thanks.
Salley

 

[Pigeon]

It costs about $100 a year for the card, which adds at least 400 minutes. A lot of times, the company runs promotions where you get bonus minutes or double minutes for life.

The double minutes is based on buying a phone with double minutes for life. In addition, there are often promotional codes (search tracfone codes) that you can find that add extra minutes on top of the airtime card when you add the card on the web site. So, for the $100 card on a double minutes for life phone, you can often get about 1000 minutes total.

You can find the double minutes for life phones pretty cheaply if you just want a basic phone. I got one at Dollar Tree for $15.

 

[Robinrs]

I had Tracfone for years and recently changed to Virgin Mobile because my son said their phones were not "cool"....

Love them!! The phone I got him is the X-TC and he is now VERY coool...

Me, I don't give a patootie about cool so I stick with my cheapie Tracfone.