Prepaid Phone or Contract?

[happyscooter]

We have trac-phones, ours are basic. You can make calls and texts. They might have the new ones now that have cameras. We have never had a problem getting service or dropped calls. You can get deals each time you buy a card if you buy so many minutes, you get bonus minutes.
Of course we have to listen to family members who pay $100 a month so they can send emails, pictures, look up addresses, restaurants menus, movie times, etc...

[Deleted]

In that situation, I'd go with Sprint. You can share 1500 minutes and have unlimited text/pic and video for $119/month for 4 lines. Less if you go with an employee referral plan. (I think that's $99/month)

delivery.sprint.com/m/p/nxt/epc/epclanding.asp

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[Deleted]

The trac phones are going to charge you minutes for text messages.

[happyscooter]

We get charged 1/2 minute for a text. We don't send that many.

[schildi]

500 texts per month might kill the tracfone savings.
We have tracfones, they are great. You need to do some research with them though before going that route. With trac, you can get service through ATT, Verizon or T-Mobile, just need to research how, but it's up to you.
We have two Verizon tracs, and one on ATT. I paid $400 total for all three phones in December of 2008, and we have service through next summer on two of them, and through 2015 on the third. That's < $8 per month for all three phones.
And an added bonus is that they don't track you, like iphones.

[Cookies Galore]

Apr 22, 2011 7:39:01 GMT -5 happyscooter said:

We get charged 1/2 minute for a text. We don't send that many.

But if you read the OP, they do text.

Snerd, the VM plan seems up your alley.

[gsbrq]

I love Virgin Mobile. Both my nieces have the $25 plan; it is the best deal out there for heavy text-users, IMO.

I am a very infrequent phone user, so I have an even cheaper plan; costs me around $60/year.

I have had no reception problems. I live in a big city, but I've used the phone when visiting folks in more rural areas without any problems.

[schildi]

Apr 22, 2011 21:52:16 GMT -5 @gsbrq said:

I love Virgin Mobile. Both my nieces have the $25 plan; it is the best deal out there for heavy text-users, IMO.

I am a very infrequent phone user, so I have an even cheaper plan; costs me around $60/year.

I have had no reception problems. I live in a big city, but I've used the phone when visiting folks in more rural areas without any problems.

Virgin Mobile uses Sprint as carrier. So if you have Sprint coverage in your area (and where you want to use the phone), VM will work.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

I know you said you only need 100 minutes per month, but I LOVE SPRINT!!!
In the last seven years, I've only had one customer service problem with them--which if you want I can explain.
The rest of the time, SPRINT IS MAGNIFICANT!!!
We have five lines on the afore mentioned 1500 minutes per month plan--unlimited text, unlimited internet usage.
With $7 per month per phone for insurance, the bill is $233.17 per month.

[schildi]

Apr 22, 2011 23:40:14 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

With $7 per month per phone for insurance, the bill is $233.17 per month.

Only $233 per month?

[runewell]

I like T-mobile. I pay $100 and get 1,000 minutes good for one year, and that is about right for my amount of use - that's about 3 min / day. That works out to just over $8/mo.
You could get 4 separate phones and pay only $400/yr or about $33/mo but if you have teenagers that want unlimited use talking and texting forever this would not be the way to go.

[txbo]

I use a Tracfone and get 1000 minutes per year for $100.

[Bluerobin]

Snerd, I went to Net 10 (Tracfone) after having Verizon. Much cheaper for the two of us. $30 a month vs the approximate $60 we had with the contract. We can use our 150 or 200 minutes for either talk or text. The only problem I see with a family is keeping trac of everyone's minutes. One good thing with the kids, you could always buy more minutes at the store if needed. They may also have some plans with more minutes per month.
We signed up so a credit card is charged monthly.
One word of caution their customer service folks are in "that" country, and they barely speak English.

[973beachbum]

Apr 22, 2011 7:06:50 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

We really only need about 100 minutes. I hate buying more than i really need.

Snerd, but you did say that you need 500+ texts on at least two phones. Most prepaid phones charge between .5 to 1 minute a text. Trust me it adds up fast.

We have T-mobile family plan with 3 phones on it. We don't text very often so we don't have a texting plan. We have 1500 shared minutes a month and free mobil to mobil calls which makes calling each other free. It costs $100 a month. DH used it for his work so it is a good deal to usc considering the other 2 lines only cost an extra $20 a month for both.

[gsbrq]

Do you have to make the decision right away, or would it be possible for one of the kids to try out a VM phone/plan for a month to see how it works? They have some very inexpensive phones, so you could try it out and probably return the phone for a refund if coverage isn't robust enough for you...you'd only be out the $25 for that trial month if it doesn't work out.

[gsbrq]

Also, in my experience texting often works even when calls are getting dropped.

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

...tracfone doesn't charge you to receive texts...

[sbcalimom]

We just bought a prepaid yesterday for DH from T-Mobile since I'm sooo tired of paying for a phone DH never uses. I'm hoping this will end up being cheaper in the long run since I'm guessing he'll barely ever use it. If I wasn't pregnant and we didn't have a little one, I doubt he'd even need a cell phone since he usually has email access but I need to be able to contact him right away in an emergency. Now I just need to figure out how many minutes I need .

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

...then I must be grandfathered or something... I'm only charged for texts I send...

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Apr 22, 2011 23:43:17 GMT -5 schildi said:

Apr 22, 2011 23:40:14 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

With $7 per month per phone for insurance, the bill is $233.17 per month.

Only $233 per month?

;D
Did you read the part about having five lines? Having four kids is expensive.
We don't have a land line, if that makes you feel any better.
My husband gets a $60 per month cell phone stipend, too ;D

[schildi]

Apr 24, 2011 18:29:44 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Apr 22, 2011 23:43:17 GMT -5 schildi said:

Only $233 per month?

;D
Did you read the part about having five lines? Having four kids is expensive.
We don't have a land line, if that makes you feel any better.
My husband gets a $60 per month cell phone stipend, too ;D

LOL, even at 5 lines, that's a lot. No, you not having a landline does not really make me feel any better, it's not my money, so it's all good.