Our current contract will be up in about a month and a half. I don't want to keep paying for a plan that is more than we need and use. we are paying close to 80 a month for a family plan but not making the needed calls to justify such a plan.

I would like to go with a pay as you go plan. When we were overseas we used phone service that required you to purchase mintues as you needed them. WE NEVER spent as much as we do now a month and that was calling back to the states even!

Can anyone suggest a plan that has work for them or of course ones that I should stay away from?

My mom looked into the pay as you go plans and told me there was all kinds of 'extra' fees in the ones she found. I basically would like to only be required to pay for what we use and no extras.

Thanks.

I use Tracfone, between me, hubby, my parents and my uncle we've got 4 phones with them. I've found their customer service to be wonderful (despite usually being english as a second language), and generally I've been very happy with them.

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I've had a Tracfone for about 3 years with no trouble at all. Much more economical for me than a monthly plan.

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Another Tracfone user here. I buy the yearly plan and pay less than $10 a month. No bells and whistles, but it works for me.

I also have a Tracfone and there's no hidden costs. Very inexpensive but like KellyJef said, it's no bells and whistles. It works perfectly for me because the cheapest plan I could find in my area was over $50 a month. I use my phone very little and would never use enough minutes to justify $50 a month. I pay per month, signed up online with the family plan. I get 50 minutes a month for $9.99 and my mom and 2 kids get 30 minutes a month for $5.99 a month. Not bad! It works well for us, plenty of minutes for all of us too.

I use Virgin Mobile. I have had phone service with them for almost 4 years.

Never had any problems with the phone, reception, or customer service.

In fact, I finally just got a new phone - even the c.s. agent was laughing when I said I still had a K-9, LOL.

When my son goes to Middle School, I plan on getting him a phone with VM also.

We pay $20 (+ tax) every 90 days. Our calls are $.18/minute. And you never lose the $ you have put into the account. The minutes carry as long as you add the $20 every 90 days.

We don't use our phone very often, so it is wonderful for us.

However, when we went to Disneyland, I was calling home A LOT to check on the animals (my mother was pet sitting for us). I ended up using a ton of minutes! I was so glad that I had that stocked up.

I highly recommend Virgin Mobile. Many styles of phones, good reception, good customer service.

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Tracfone user here, too.

Right now they have a good deal on their website - a Motorola W370 for $19.99. Google around and you'll find a $3 off coupon code. It's a little bit RAZR-like, but not exactly like a RAZR at all... it just looks enough like one that a teen won't be completely 'uncool' carrying it around.

It comes with the "Double Minutes for Life" feature, which means any airtime card you purchase will double in value when you add it to your phone. If you add a 60 minute card/PIN to the phone, you will actually receive 120 minutes. The activation time won't extend, however.

Also, there are always codes floating around out there for free minutes when you add an airtime card. The "60 Free Minutes" ones are pretty common, so for your 60-minute card purchase, you get 180 minutes (the 60 doubles, and then you get a bonus 60 for the code).

I think the best value out there is the 120 minute code for $29ish (you can buy minutes online through Pinzoo rather than at the store or through Tracfone, and you won't be charged sales tax and the price for the minutes will be just a little bit less than anywhere else.... usually!) The 120 minutes will double to 240, and then you can add a bonus code and get 300 minutes for your $29. That will give you 90 days of activation as well.

There are Yahoo groups (and others I'm sure) dedicated to collecting and sharing the available minutes codes, as well as sales on the phones themselves.

Virgin mobile here too. No problems, we just upgraded phones too since they no longer make the battery for our old ones...lol I got a $10 cheapie (cute, hot pink ) and DH got a bit more fancy type phone but I think it was $35 or less.

I have ours set up to automatically "top up" ( add minutes/$) every 90 days or when we hit under $5 balance. This works out well since I rarely if ever use all my $ but DH does sometimes need more minutes before his 90 days would be up. I don't have to remember anymore , one less silly thing to do ! Oh, and this way it only adds $15 not $20. We pay on average under $10 per month total for both.

We do Virgin mobile, too.

I get 200 texts per month for $4.99. They also offer "Sugar Mama", where you go to the website, view ads that run about a minute, and can earn up to 5 minutes a day doing that (one bonus minute per ad).

$20.00 every three months does it for me.

My 16yo buys the $20.00 unlimited texting every month, then uses Sugar Mama for minutes (he texts MUCH more than he calls...)

They also will occasionally offer "Random Acts of Top Up". I got $10.00 worth of airtime from them for free last month.

We've used them for at least 3 years, and are very satisfied.

Sandy

Another Tacfone user here. I don't really use my phone for more than a few minutes a day so it's really the best deal for my needs. I've had it for years and have no complaints.

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Can you tell me how to find this on their website? I see a $20/200 option, but it appears to only keep the phone going for 30 days, not three months.

Tracfone user as well.
I always get additional minutes when I buy a card by looking for a code on the internet.
I have NEVER had a problem using the phone. Funny thing is that friends with the latest phones/services cannot make calls in areas that I can!!
My husband has Virgin and it does not get as good as reception. He cannot use it at the Pentagon, however, one day when I went there I had no problem using my phone inside the place. :-) We both agree that Tracfone wins hands down.

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wow, sorry folks, looks like Virgin has changed their plans, and the $20 every three months is no longer an option. In that case, I don't know if it's worth it. I guess it would depend on how much you'd be using the phone.

Virgin Mobile Help for Prepaid Cell Phone and Plans
"How does it work?
Add airtime to your account, then talk all you want. When you run low, add some more. Just make sure to add at least $20 every 90 days to keep your service working... even if you have money in your balance. No long-term commitments, no monthly bills. It's just that simple.

Starting May 28, 2008, you will no longer be able to activate with-or switch your service to 18¢ TALK. If you're currently using 18¢ TALK, you can continue talking with that plan until your account expires or you switch to one of our other plans. After that, you won't be able to switch back 18¢ TA"

Sandy

Gee, I hope this isn't true because DH and I have been very pleased with our Virgin Mobile service. We just buy the $20 top up cards (available at most stores) and add them every 90 days. Target sometimes puts them on sale for $15 and that cuts the cost even more.

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deerekid,

If I'm reading the information on the VMobile site correctly, folks (like you and me) who are already using the .18 a minute/top up every 90 days plan can continue until either the account expires or you switch to a different Virgin Mobile plan.

If the time comes that I have to pay $20 a month for pre-paid service, that's when I'll find another carrier.

Sandy

No doubt I'd switch carriers, too. I'm just wondering why the OP wouldn't be able to buy a VM phone at Target or Walmart, along with a $20 top up card to start and then keep adding from there. Am I missing something?

After I incorrectly spelled "Ed" today in an e-mail, I suspect I'm missing a lot.

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I want to keep ALL of my paycheck and eliminate the pyramid scheme known as Social Security (there is no lockbox ). Do you want the same thing? www.fairtax.org

Oldest dd and I have TMobile pay as you go. I bought the 1,000 minute/1 year exp. refill card. The cost for the card is $100.00 but Target puts them on sale a couple of times a year for $80.00. The best part about it is, this card qualifies you for their "Gold" level which means that every time I buy more minutes, no matter what the $ denomination, the expiration resets for another full year from the day I enter the minutes. Since I don't use my minutes very quickly, I can buy a $10.00 card a day or two before the 1,000 minute card expires and all of my minutes wil roll over for full another year.

I found that TMobile offered a larger selection of pay as you go phones than some of the other companies, but dd still wanted one with all the bells and whistles. She ended up buying a TMobile non-pay as you go phone and just swapping out the sim card with the Tmobile phone that I paid for.

I have Virgin mobile and have used them for several years.

I'm still under the .18 plan but if the time comes that it is no longer available, I'll shop around for another pay as you go.

I rarely use my cell, in fact NOBODY has the number to it. I have it just in case of emergencies or to use when I'm traveling.

The thing to remember with pay as you go is that they are served by the same companies as contract phones. The same towers provide service to all phones, I think Virgin Mobile was and maybe still is, served by Sprint.

Decide just how much you use your cells and then do a little shopping around to find the best deal in a pay as you go.

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