# Cheapest Cell Phone Plan
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 12, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682 "2010-01-12T17:40:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/1 "2010-01-12T17:40:57Z")
I am in need of a new phone. I want the cheapest, lowest-tech model available. All I want to be able to do, literally, is make and receive calls. What’s your opinion?
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/2 "2010-01-12T17:42:34Z")
Go to Target or Walmart and get a cheap prepaid phone, they have various models and carriers to choose from.
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### Author:  [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/3 "2010-01-12T17:46:32Z")
What **Bijou Drains** said. I used to have Virgin Mobile, and they had a plan where you only needed to “top up” your account every 3 months (I think) with $20 (again, I think). You could buy minutes as you needed them; they did have an automatic debit service, but I never used it and didn’t want it. Came out to under $8 a month for a phone that we barely used. We counted it a good deal and were satisfied with the service. (I’ve written about it here before; a search might dig up those posts.)
This was five or so years ago; I’m not certain what they offer now. ISTR something similar from Tracfone (available at Target, I think) where you could buy minutes for like $100 or so and be set for a whole year, but again I’m not certain whether that’s still offered.
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### Author:  [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/4 "2010-01-12T17:57:11Z")
I have an AT&T plan that costs $25.00 a quarter, or $8.33 per month. It is $0.25 per minute so the entire year at $100 means you have 400 minutes or about 8 minutes per week of use. For me I just have it for emergencies and an a call once in a while, for me it’s a bargin.
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### Author:  [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/5 "2010-01-12T18:00:52Z")
It really depends on how often you use the phone and how many minutes/month you expect to use as well as whether you prefer to have a contract or not. Pre-paid plans and pay per minute phones can get pricey (compared to contract plans with the big providers) if you talk a lot.
If you have them in your area, Cricket has no contract, unlimited talk and messaging plans (I know you don’t need messaging but it is included) for around 30-40 month. And the big carriers all seem to have bare-bones plans for around 40-50 (after all taxes and fees) for anywhere between 750-1000 minutes per month.
If you don’t talk on it much (or expect not to) many local carriers do have (unadvertised) emergency-use plans for very little (like $10/month) that include few or no minutes, but the per-minute price after the included 10 or 15 minutes can get pricey, so it really pays to shop around if you decide to go that route too.
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/6 "2010-01-12T18:03:09Z")
> [@Snickers](#):
>
> ISTR something similar from Tracfone (available at Target, I think) where you could buy minutes for like $100 or so and be set for a whole year, but again I’m not certain whether that’s still offered.
You don’t need to go to Target. I ordered mine online.
It’s $.25/minute, available in blocks of 120 minutes. (There are other packages as well.) You can also buy a package that gives you no minutes, but all future purchases are double minutes for life.
The big problem is that without buying more minutes, the phone eventually “expires.” This is a problem for me because I almost never use the phone, but it’s about to expire. I already have about 400 minutes, and I have to buy 240 more in the next week.
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### Author:  [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/7 "2010-01-12T18:03:11Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#):
>
> I am in need of a new phone. I want the cheapest, lowest-tech model available. All I want to be able to do, literally, is make and receive calls. What’s your opinion?
If you want a lot of minutes, this is a good option:
[http://www.straighttalk.com/](http://www.straighttalk.com/)
Walmart sells the phones directly as well.
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### Author:  [@silvermist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silvermist)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/8 "2010-01-12T18:08:11Z")
I like tracphone. I got a card that doubles the new minutes when you put them on. Since I don’t talk much, it’s fabulous.
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### Author:  [@Umbriel2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel2)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/9 "2010-01-12T18:49:52Z")
T-Mobile’s prepayment increments include 1,000 minutes for $100, with the added benefits that the minutes last a full year, and any unused minutes roll forward if you buy an other $100 worth. I used a little over 800 minutes last year and think it’s the best deal I’ve seen.
The chief downside is that I find T-Mobile’s coverage is not as good as other major carriers.
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### Author:  [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2010, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/10 "2010-01-13T07:01:02Z")
I still have that Virgin Mobile plan that **Snickers** mentioned, and one of their cheap, basic $30 phones. Works great for my needs.
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### Author:  [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/11 "2010-01-13T16:39:41Z")
I have a TracFone which I bought online almost a year ago. It came with lifetime double minutes, and every three months or so I buy a 60 minute card for $20, which actually gets me 12 minutes. I currently have about 260 minutes on it which are good until mid-March. I don’t use it much, but it comes in handy often enough to be worth the money.
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### Author:  [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/12 "2010-01-13T19:14:58Z")
Yeah if you do TracFone right it comes out to about $7 per month.
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### Author:  [@sideshowkar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sideshowkar)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/13 "2010-01-13T22:11:30Z")
I use Virgin Mobile. It’s $20 every 90 days to keep your account active, but if you if you go on their automatic top-up program, it’s only $15. The plan I’m on is $0.10 per day, whether I use the phone or not, then $0.25 a minute for calls. After the daily fees, it works out to about 24 minutes worth of calls for the $15 top-up, or 44 minutes if you do a $20 top-up. And any money you have left in your account at the end of 90 days stays in your account, so it’s sort of like having roll-over minutes. You can also buy a package of minutes, which will lower the cost per minute. I don’t make a lot of calls, so the basic $15 / 90 days works for me.
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/14 "2010-01-14T04:25:21Z")
This is a site that compares prepaid plans (thanks to the member who originally posted it here): [Prepaid Compare](http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm)
> [@Icerigger](#):
>
> I have an AT&T plan that costs $25.00 a quarter, or $8.33 per month. It is $0.25 per minute so the entire year at $100 means you have 400 minutes or about 8 minutes per week of use. For me I just have it for emergencies and an a call once in a while, for me it’s a bargin.
I have the same plan. Same impression.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/15 "2010-01-14T05:26:20Z")
> [@control-z](#):
>
> Yeah if you do TracFone right it comes out to about $7 per month.
I figure mine is about that, and I have more minutes than I know what to do with. They roll every year, too. One phone got broken after a couple years and I got a new one and the minutes transferred over!
I call it the _Phone of Dorian Grey_.
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### Author:  [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2010, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/16 "2010-01-14T07:12:30Z")
I’m checking out the VIrgin Mobile TNT (?) for 19.99 at Target tomorrow. I believe it’s a pay as you go type of thing.
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### Author:  [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-cell-phone-plan/524682/17 "2010-01-14T15:25:36Z")
I’m really happy with my GoPhone. I paid ten dollars for it. The package was 25 but you get a free 15 dollar card, and I have a choice to pay 15 a month or 30 every three. I rarely use it, so my minutes accumulate as long as I pay before the time runs out. It’s good for talk and text, plus it has a few simple games. The phone seems really sturdy too. I’ve had it over two years now and it’s still fine, without using a case or anything. Once I dropped it and it looked all scrambled, but by the next day it was right as rain again.