Tuesday, December 20, 2011
My cell phone plan
Last February I was able to drop my contract cell phone plan and get on a pay as you go plan. I choose T-Mobile. I rarely use a cell phone, I basically have it for emergencies and occasional quick phone calls or texts. I purchased a cheap basic phone at Walmart (I think it was $30) and bought a $100 airtime card with 1000 minutes. From what I read online and what my cousin told me, this was the cheapest way to go, especially going into the next year. The $100 card gave me "gold" status where I got 15% more minutes on my next card uprchase and whatever unused minutes I had could be rolled forward into the next year, as long as I purchased another card before a year was up. From what I garnered, before my year comes up, I could just buy a $10 card, my unused minutes will roll forward now into the next year. I guess we'll see. I am hoping that is the case and that I do not have to purchase another $100 card. I still have over 400 minutes left, which based on my average usage, should get me though most of next year....and if I can spend $10 to add 100 more minutes and this all lasts another year - I will have only spent $10 to use my cell phone in 2012. But, hey, even if I have to buy another $100 card - that's still only working out to $8.33 per month to have a cell phone - pretty cheap. Of course, this wouldn't work for those who use their phone a lot, but for me, it's working out great and saving me quite a bit of money! I have a reminder on my outlook calendar to purchase the new card by the end of January, so I will know soon after, when my 1 year is up, if this method works or not.
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I use minutes on my phone very seldom, maybe 20min/mo? However, I use the data plan on my phone like there is no tomorrow. However, the minutes do not go wasted, as we're on a family plan and my mother uses 85-90% of all the minutes (I know, I calculated it once). The rest of us text or use chats.
ReplyDeleteOur cell phone bill was the biggest pain each month when it came to paying bills. With 6 people on the family plan, the bill was just a little south of $400 each month. About 2 months ago, I told my kids that each of them had to be responsible for their own phones from now on. Even though they're in college, they all work except for the youngest. I also bought a $10 Tracfone with 200 minutes to be used as an emergency phone for anyone who is out and about on a long drive and wants to ditch their ATT phone. This month, my cell phone bill is $60 :)
ReplyDeleteQuest, that is an awesome you were able to reduce you phone bill so much. I'm paying $45 a month for dh through Sprint and can't wait to get done with that - he hardly gets anything out of it either - 200 minutes and 300 texts, with just a basic phone. Dd now has Virgin Mobile that has unlimited internet and texts for $38(with tax) a month. She is paying half of it, out of her allowance and will pay all of it when she gets a job. Ds has an iphone (he's a computer geek, so loves that kind of tech-y stuff)but he is on his girlfriends family plan so just has to pay her dad $40/mo. Plus now he has a blackberry through his job.
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