Help with pay-as-you-go cell phones

[american_mama]

I know little about cell phones, but DH and I are looking for a pay-as-you-go option. We bought Samsung cell phones a year or so ago during a super sale and used them with a pay-as-you-go option from cheapphonecards.com, but that got expensive. It charged you even on days you didn't use the phone, plus cost 25 cents a minute when you did, so our balances dwindled quickly.

We will use the phones very rarely, probably just to talk to each other for quick calls 3 times a week or so. We don't need the phones to do anything other than call another phone.

I just looked at Virgin Mobile and it looks good, but I can't figure out if we can use our existing phones. Anyone know? I'd love to use the phones we have: they're nice flip phones with color screens and seem very cool to my admittedly naive eye. If I have to get a new phone, is there a market to re-sell these Samsungs? It seem ridiculous for them to just gather dust.

[Rainbows&Roses]

I have been using virgin mobile for about 5 years now and love it. I don't talk on the phone much and never have to pay more than $80 a year. I got one for my mom and she likes it (esp. the free voice mail) and my DH, sister and BIL also use and like it. I don't think you can use any other phone but theirs. I lost mine and just replaced it a few months ago with their $20 phone and am very happy with it! You can sell your old phones on ebay!

[tarahsolazy]

I use and like Tracfone. I've had it for 2.5 years now. The phone was $17, and the service is about $90 a year or so, including 600 or so minutes. Ususally, that's plenty, but if we're traveling a lot, we might use a few more.

Way more economical for us than a traditional cell phone plan.

[lisams]

I use and like Tracfone. I've had it for 2.5 years now. The phone was $17, and the service is about $90 a year or so, including 600 or so minutes. Ususally, that's plenty, but if we're traveling a lot, we might use a few more.

Way more economical for us than a traditional cell phone plan.

That's what I have. So much cheaper than paying for monthly service. I don't use my phone that much, so it works out great.

[galvjen]

We've used Virgin Mobile for 3+ years. Costs are low (~$200/year for two phones). I think coverge is via the Sprint network. I buy the pre-paid cards at Sam's where they're sold a bit less than face value.

[Pennylane]

My dh bought me a Virgin Mobile cyclops for Christmas and I love it ! I was paying 39.95 a month before and now I pay 6.95 a month and 10 cents a minute. I only have the phone in case of emergencies or if school needs me so I can already see a huge savings!

You might check ebay and see what your old phone is selling there for. My DH has sold a few of his phones on ebay before.

Ann

[LD92599]

My DH uses T Mobile (bought @ Costco i think?) and i use Verizon Free Up - it's no longer available but it has rollover minutes so i have i think about 80 hours stored up! If we're together we always use my phone. I have to add $30 every 2 months in order for the time to roll over. When I get my iphone my DH will take my Verizon. It's too good to lose! I think the newer Verizon pre paids charge per day that the phone is used? I didn't like that!

[Jeanne]

I have a TMobile prepaid and love it. It has saved us a ton of money since DH has a company paid and I really only use it on the weekends when I'm out and about. Going this way has saved us $400 this year alone with my total outlay for this thing being $89 plus $10 to roll the minutes over.

I got it last March at Target when they were running some kind of special. I got the phone and one thousand and 10 minutes for $89 I believe. There are no monthly fees that I know of. I just bought a $10 card and added it to roll over the minutes for this year. So as long as you add minutes before the year expires, the balance continues to roll over. It's such a cheap way to go!

The phone is on the low end so I'll be upgrading this year but only because I need a speaker on it.

I believe it was our own BBB bargain queen who pointed me in this direction and had me look at the forums on one of the Black Friday websites for additional information.

[wendmatt]

Both DH and I have T-mobile to go. If you buy $100 card it gives you 1000 mins and will last you a year and if you renew before it runs out it will roll over any mins. We've had them for 2 years now and are really happy as we don't use them that much so didn't want to get a monthly plan. DH got his basic phone free with the $100 card and I paid about $70 (I think) and got a flip phone. You can also get photo phones now if you want one for the pay as you go option. If you buy less than $100 it costs more than 10C a min for some reason, so we've just renewed with the $100 card 2 times. We've been happy with the reception and used it in different parts of the country.

[stefani]

I have T-Mobile prepaid, and after the first $100 (1000 minutes with 1 year expiration), I am a gold member, which means that I don't have to always get $100 refills to get all minutes carried over and last for a year.
It is great if you don't use cell phones often or if your minute requirement fluctuates (when I am in town I don't use it much, but when I am out of town I use it a lot, so with a monthly plan I exceed the monthly minutes and additional minutes become very expensive).

HTH.

[rlu]

I've been using Virgin for almost a year. $20 every three months to keep the service going, and .17 a minute with no roaming fees (verified when I called from MA to CA a few weeks ago). I bought the cheapest phone available, about $20ish. As PP noted, coverage is via Sprint.

If you can't sell your old phones, you can donate to Call to Protect through the Wireless Foundation.
http://www.wirelessfoundation.org/CallToProtect/index.cfm

[kcimato]

We also have had a Trac Phone for a number of years. We hardly use it but have it in the car for emergencies. Never had an emergency either. There is even a Yahoo group for Tracphone. People post all kinds of deal for getting extra minutes and such.

[american_mama]

I am loving these suggestions! A million times easier than figuring it all out via google, especially since I didn't know which carriers offered this option. Keep any suggestions coming!

[annex]

Just as a heads-up, this is a great chart I've used when comparing prepaid deals:
http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm

Something I was always worried about with Virgin (which several people recommended) was the lack of roaming. I would be really irked not to be able to make a call if I somehow wandered off their network.

-Anne