cheap cell phone... jitterbug?

[frugal-one]

My DH saw an ad for $15/mo (phone $99)... anybody have this or better idea for a "cheap" cell phone. We have MagicJack and would use this very little so the minimal number of minutes could be obtained. Thanks!

[herbgeek]

Note: the following applies to Verizon only, not sure if other carriers have something similar.

I bought a prepaid phone at Target for $15 (half the price Verizon wanted for it at the Verizon store). Then I bought $100 worth of minutes, these are good for 1 year. I'm not sure exactly how many minutes this equates to, but it took me about 9 months to use them up (I'd been making a bunch of calls, and usually I have a balance). If you buy the next year's minutes prior to the current year's expiring, you keep them all.

So it typically costs me less than $10/month for my cell phone. No contracts, no hassles, no monthly payments to make. If you are like me and only use your cell phone for emergencies or to reach people once you get to a destination you'll be meeting them at, its perfect. Note that you can buy lesser amounts of minutes, but they expire quicker. Might be a good way to start if you aren't sure that the coverage will work in your area.

I also have it set up to automatically buy the next year's minutes before the expiration date, so I have one less thing to remember to do.

[Marianne]

I hope other people chime in here with their experiences. Our cell phone plan has been the bane of my existance. Currently $87 a month, it goes up about $0.15 every month. DH uses his a lot because of business, I rarely use mine. I sure don't need all the bells and whistles, but coverage is an issue for where we live and the areas that DH travels. So far, Verizon is the only carrier that takes care of both. Plus we still have to have a land line for faxes and a business 800#.

Herbgeek, do you remember how many minutes you got for your $100?
Frugal-one, are you happy with the MagicJack? A friend of mine in Denver, CO has to step outside to use her phone since she got MagicJack.

[Blackdog Lin]

We purchased cheap $10.00 TracFones 2 years ago and I am thrilled with how they've worked out. We are also the type that seldom use the phones, mostly only when we're out on the road and for emergency use, and the occasional text etc. And we pay what works out to be about $7.50/month/per phone. Texts "cost" 30 seconds airtime per text, so these phones wouldn't work for teens or young adults. :)

You purchase "days" along with minutes/airtime. I do it every 90 days online, it's too easy, but I could also do it direct from the phone, just haven't gone to the trouble to figure out how to do so. I can also purchase days/minutes cards at Wal-Mart etc. The airtime doesn't expire, just the days do, so our minutes keep building up - so TracFone's 90 day/30 minute package works out the thriftiest for us, but they have lots of different packages. And no contracts.

And I have no idea who the carrier might be - I just know that we always have coverage wherever we are: all the area towns around us where we shop or doctor, the "big city" 100 miles south of us, the other big city 70 miles east of us, the Black Hills of South Dakota (last year's vacation) - we turn the phones on and get good reception 95% of the time.

[herbgeek]

@Marianne- I looked it up- its 25 cents a minute and 20 cents a text message. Not the best deal on a per minute basis, to be sure, but it works for me since I don't use many. So my $100/year is about 400 minutes or about 33 minutes a month.

Verizon has cheaper per minute plans, but these require a daily fee on the days that you make calls. When I did the math, it came out more favorable to just pay the higher per minute charge, as my phone calls tend to be short. If you make few, but longer, phone calls, then another plan might be better for you.

Google "Verizon per paid" and it will get you right to the page with the plans, if you are interested.

[JaneV2.0]

I have a similar deal to herbgeek, a Go Phone from AT&T. I never come close to using up my minutes, and it averages around $8 a month.

[Marianne]

Good info, thanks everyone!

[pony mom]

I have a Virgin PayLo no contract phone. Phone was $20, and I get 300 minutes for $20 a month. I'm not a heavy user but do use it for more than just emergencies. Usually under 300 minutes but this month I used almost all of them. Our landline seems to charge us long distance fees for calls to the next town so my cellphone is good for anything out of our area.

I looked into Tracfone but choosing the best minutes/airtime package was so confusing to me. Now I just have to be sure to get a new minutes card every month.

[DonkaDoo]

I really like my service here in CHicago so far w/ Virgin (no contract). I've had it since May.

I have Unlimited Data/texting and 300 mins a month for $25 - 27.44 after tax. Although. I believe they raised their prices recently to 35/mo - bummer. However, I guess I was grandfathered in at the $25. I never use anywhere close to 35. Plus I use a fring app which cuts down on minutes as well.

[frugal-one]

Just to let you all know we did get a TracPhone. It was on sale at Shopko for $9.99 and bought 1 year of minutes. The minutes doubled because of the phone. Then Shopko gave me 10% back because it was my birthday. The phone works great. The sound is great too! Thanks for all the help in this decision.

Also, I realize I didn't answer about MagicJack (sorry)! We have had it for a few years and it has worked really well. The price sure can't be beat! Occasionally, it does shut off??? Rare but it does happen. We then call the party back and it works fine???

[nocar]

I've used virginmobile and T-mobile for prepaid phones. I honestly use my phone so infrequently that even prepaid turns out to be not-so-frugal. I've been using magicjack for about a year & am perfectly happy with it($20/year). Just discovered google voice also & I use that to text for free.

[ToomuchStuff]

Thread Resurrection eh? T mobile prepaid for me. $50 this year. I looked at the Jitterbug phones, when I heard about them (designed for older people and I know younger ones that fit that category). They don't have sim cards (won't work for me) and are locked into that service. That sucks (would have bought several).

[Spartana]

Pay as you go Tracfone with wi-fi, texting, and camera for about $100/year. I have a double minutes phone which means that I get double the minutes from whatever minutes I buy. I.e. one year card comes with 400 minutes but I get 800 minutes posted to my account. I generally use it for emergencies, toi check in quickly with sis everyday when travelling ("I'm alive and in ..."), and to check my e-mail - although responding back via e-mail or texting are both a pain so rarely do that.