How little can you spend on a cell phone?

[mrchainsaw]

I've never really needed one until now. I wouldn't talk nearly enough for most plans and most are too expensive for me. Are there any basic, bare bones plans for cheap? Are those prepaid plans good deals?

 

[necrojustice]

$0.00

 

[pablo escobar]

go with the prepaid

 

[zensation]

you can get a prepaid phone for ~$15 on sale and then just put $20 on it every three months so the minutes dont expire. I think most phones come with $10 worth of minutes to start.

 

[robdees]

I'd recommend the Virgin Mobile prepaid. Flexible plans and cheaper than most (no daily charge, text packages, etc.). Be warned that most pay-go phones have fairly crappy coverage outside of decent sized cities and interstates.

 

[kaptinmorgan]

prepaid is kinda cool, i had a non-contract plan with a company before and it also made the phone pretty cheap.

 

[darthbudge]

I would get an AT&T prepaid.

 

[mrchainsaw]

After reading up a little on prepaid plans, it seems like I'd spend almost as much if I were to use the phone everyday because of their service charges.

Man, everything seems so expensive these days and it also seems like I need more junk than ever. I should get rid of everything and live Thoreau style.:lol:

 

[djkunai]

Go to FatWallet. Look for SERO.

$29.99 for unlimited nights weekends and text, and 500 anytime minutes. Free phone too (basic). And no activation fee.

 

[puternerd]

[quote name='mrchainsaw']After reading up a little on prepaid plans, it seems like I'd spend almost as much if I were to use the phone everyday because of their service charges.

Man, everything seems so expensive these days and it also seems like I need more junk than ever. I should get rid of everything and live Thoreau style.:lol:[/quote]
If you go with AT&T and get the 25¢ per minute plan, there are no service charges. They have phones for $20 at walmart that come with $10 of airtime that expires in 30 days. If you refill with $100, it's good for 365 days, $75/$50/$25 is good for 90 days and $15 is good for 30 days. Text messages run 15¢ each. Personally I picked up a refurb'd Nokia 6085 that has a mp3 player, camera, and bluetooth for $50 off of their website.

I just saw they have a nokia 2610 refurb for $10 with free 2 day shipping on the website, you can't get much cheaper than that for prepaid.

 

[whoknows]

I used this for awhile: http://www.net10.com/home_page.jsp

Not sure if it's nationwide or whatever, but it's 10 cents a minute and that's it. No service charges or anything.

 

[xGunCrazyx]

i picked up a $6 phone during black friday
i spend about $15 a month on airtime

edit: i do the att pay as you go with the simple plan. 25 cents a minute, no service charge

 

[necrojustice]

net 10 is the better deal, its what I use

 

[joshythegreat18]

If they're good in your area, I suggest T-Mobile prepaid. Phones can be found for relatively cheap (theres always a deal that pops up for a free/cheap phone from them), and the rates are very good (as low as 10 cents a minute). Once you add over $100 worth of airtime, your minutes are good for a year, and you get bonus minutes. I used to use them for prepaid (I'm now on a family plan), but I'd suggest just dropping down $100 to start. That'll get you 1000 minutes good for 365 days. Can't really beat it as far as I'm concerned.