Cell Phone Cost too high

**Brownsuga77** · 06-29-2010, 12:32 PM

Right now my cell phone runs me $186 a month. My son and I both have smart phones with internet and text etc......the "phone" plan itself is $69.99 for 800 minutes. The expensive part is the data plan and that's $36 per phone. By the time taxes and fees are applied I am left with $186 bill.

I really can't do it anymore!

I have a corporate job, so having the blackberry helps out a lot, but my job doesn't reimburse for the charges. I am looking at doing pre-paid, does anyone have any recommendations on a service or pre-paid plan? I am in the NY area.

**Russ** · 06-29-2010, 12:39 PM

Call your provider and ask them for a better plan although some phones the data package is required.
Is it safe to assume you have no home phone?

**Brownsuga77** · 06-29-2010, 12:47 PM

the trick to getting a lower plan, without the data package (which is really where the pain is) I would have to buy a new phone! I spoke with Tmobile and they are a mess! I have to get a new phone to get rid of the data plan. Pre-Paid just seem so much more appealing right now, than this bill I am getting.

**ladytoysdream** · 06-29-2010, 12:48 PM

My husband needed one for work. We both ended up with tracfones. I think they are like $ 30 each now. The one we got had a double minute promotion for life.
We buy a $ 20 card for 60 minutes, every 3 months for each of us. I go online and search for a promo code. Then I add the minutes online at tracfone...put in the code and get the bonus minutes. We end up with usually 150 minutes total.
Neither one of us uses text messaging. These phones get very good reception.

**frugal is fun** · 06-29-2010, 01:18 PM

I have a very basic pay as you go phone from Verizon. I got it at Walmart. I pay about $15 - $30 a month depending on how chatty I am. Verizon to Verizon is free.

**cheles2kids** · 06-29-2010, 01:40 PM

Originally Posted by ladytoysdream

My husband needed one for work. We both ended up with tracfones. I think they are like $ 30 each now. The one we got had a double minute promotion for life.
We buy a $ 20 card for 60 minutes, every 3 months for each of us. I go online and search for a promo code. Then I add the minutes online at tracfone...put in the code and get the bonus minutes. We end up with usually 150 minutes total.
Neither one of us uses text messaging. These phones get very good reception.

Yep I would 2nd the Tracphone recommendation as well.
It sounds like you need alot of the 'internet' things so this might not work for you if you need to do alot of web browsing, although mine does have that feature I've never tried to use it...but strictly speaking from a calling aspect of it, I really like my Tracphone.
I don't use it alot and it has saved us literally hundreds of dollars.

I recently bought both of my teens a Verizon phone at Wal-mart for $99.00 each with the actual keyboard (forgive me I'm not up on the cell phone lingo~lol) and for $10.00 a month they have unlimited texting...I also add a few extra dollars on there each month as well for those 'just in case' phone calls to me or my husband, I just like knowing that if they *needed* to make a phone call they would be able too.

I have a 15 dd. & a 17 ds. and they both love their phones because with teens it seems that texting is the 'in thing' now.
So they can text till their hearts are content and I don't have to worry about a crazy cell phone bill every month.

But a forewarning on the Tracphones, if you're looking for a hi- tech 'gadgety' phone, Tracphone may not work for you.
There are several styles to chose from though, so who knows, you might find one that you can live with.

As with anything else, just research the differnt styles and find out what you can live without, then go to the store and talk to someone who works in that depart.

Even at our little Wal-mart here we got a very informative girl who knew pretty much anything there is to know about the prepaid phones that they carried, so she was able to answer alot of questions for me & some that I hadn't even thought of until she asked me some questions about how the phones were to be used.

Also Wal-mart carries a 30 day money back return policy on their phones, so if you get one home and use it for a couple weeks and decide that it itsn't what you needed you always have the option to return it for a different one.

Hth some.

**frugalfranny** · 06-30-2010, 01:50 AM

I'm not in your area but would be curious to know what you decide to do........keep us posted.

Good luck in finding something!

**Brownsuga77** · 06-30-2010, 02:14 PM

Thanks for all the input, I've decided to either get a cheap tracphone for now and get the finances together or get an ATT Go Phone Prepaid unlimited Phone and Text. That's a $120 a month vs $186-200. It has email so as long as I can access work emails from the phone then I should be good. I will keep you posted thanks for the input

**lestrucker** · 06-30-2010, 06:25 PM

There is another prepaid phone service at Walmart. Its $45 a month..unlimited minutes,texts and internet. Its called Straight talk.

**mommynurse** · 07-03-2010, 10:13 PM

We've used Virgin Mobile prepaid for years. They've added a new plan in the last couple of months that costs $25/month for unlimited text and data along with 300 minuties. There are plans that include more minutes- they cost more though.

**mommynurse** · 07-03-2010, 10:14 PM

Oops! I meant 300 minutes of talk.

**Jeanna** · 07-04-2010, 01:47 PM

I know where you are coming from. We have 4 phones in the family and our bill runs us $220 a month. I have wanted to go to something cheaper but my husband uses it for work and so we have to have 1400 minutes a month. It doesn't help that my dd can't find a job and our son has some mental issues that have not gotten under control enough to go back to work so we are paying for everyones. Oh well I guess I was venting more than giving any advice but I would go to pay as you go if it would work for you.

**shoiji** · 07-04-2010, 02:35 PM

I have a tracfone which I can also get msn on to browse the web. Supposedly I can also check my e-mails with it. Haven't tried that yet. I purchased the phone when they were on special with live time double minutes. I rarely use the phone so it is worth it.

Try to figure out how much you use your current phone to see if the cost of the card would save you money.

**Learningtobefrugal** · 07-05-2010, 04:01 PM

I have a blackberry with Boost mobile..works great..50 bucks each month. Data, text and unlimited talk.

If you have good service with Sprint/Nextel in your area Virgin and Boost are great options. Virgin also has the blackberry.

Best Buy has an Android for boost out now if its the phone that are concerned with.

**RetiredVeryEarly** · 07-10-2010, 01:48 AM

I suppose they don't have Cricket in your area? They offer really cheap rates around the Milwaukee area. $30/month for unlimited text and talk, don't know how much adding data costs, but not too much,I think $15 or $20 more.

The 'have to get a new phone to change the plan' thing is bizarre. Either they are lying to you, or the person you talked to doesn't know much and wants you to buy a new phone. I have had texting turned off on my phones various times, it is just a simple matter for them to turn your data feature off, I can't imagine why you would need a new phone. If you want more advanced features one may need a new phone, but to stop using a feature it makes no sense. Your phone would work as a plain phone. (I used to work in computer networking for AT&T.)

Do you have a computer at home? It is generally much cheaper to read your email from your computer than on your phone. Do you really NEED to access the internet from your phone, or is it just handy? $186/month is insane for a cell phone bill.