I’ve never had a cell phone and don’t see the need for one, but im wondering how much they cost each month. What is the charge per minute? What is an average monthly bill, $60?
General Sir,
I think that Verizon has the best service/coverage area available at the moment. A standard plan with virutally* unlimited everything is about $40 a month. If you have family who want in too, then for them, on your account, it is an extra $20 per seperate phone #. I good deal if you ask me.
*Virutally assuming you’ll never spend 2500 or so plus minutes on the damn cell phone. 
With taxes and stuff, I tend to average about $40/month, even though my plan is relatively wimpy.
I can’t remember roughly how many minutes I burn monthly, but it’s not unusual for me to use mine a few hours a day a coupla days a month, then use it as a clock and not ever take a call another coupla days, so it sorta evens out. As a single parent in a non-traditional workplace where it’s often difficult to be contacted, the peace of mind I get by being in touch is priceless.
Monthly bill is just under $50 with taxes and such included.
Whatever company you choose to go with, just be sure to get a plan that will be adequate for your needs. You’d be better off paying for a $60 plan with more minutes than paying for a $40 plan and extra minutes beyond your plan. I know a lot of people who have gotten some seriously huge phone bills because they use way more minutes than the plan they’ve paid for allows. Just a friendly warning!
I think mine’s 25 bucks a month, with only like 75 weekday minutes, but several hundred weekend. I rarely use it, so that’s all I need. Nationwide service; no roaming or long-distance when calling other US phones.
What about roaming and all that?
What about a college student? I dont have one or need one but alot of people here in college have them and they are usually talking to people who are local (or within the state). how much do you think they’re paying for several hours a week, about $50 a month?
Well, off the top of my head, I don’t remember how many minutes I have allotted to me per month. I have very rarely gone over, though. I have a plan that offers a set number of minutes, and then, evenings after 8pm and all weekend are free.
We pay under $50 a month.
My husband’s office provides his cell phone, so we only have the one phone/user bill.
You can get plans that have long distance included in the Peak minutes. Verizon and Nextel have plans where the minutes between users of their service are not charged to the weekday peak minutes. This works well of friends and families are on the same network. You can also upgrade your plan if it doesn’t work well for you but I don’t think they will let you downgrade. My daughters plan runs $40.00 per month and $4.00 in taxes. She gets 400 anytime peak minutes, non peak minutes are after 9:00 PM until 7:00 AM and weekends and holidays.
I don’t need or want a cell phone. I decided to get one for emergencies only because I travel alone alot on country roads. I don’t want to talk to anyone when I’m driving, that’s my alone time but it is nice to have just in case.
I got a Trac Phone the first week of January. The phone was $50.00. One year of service, 150 minutes plus 100 free minutes was $100.00. I’ve used 30 minutes so far. Sam’s Club has minutes for pretty cheap. The minutes never expire but eventually you have to pay something for service which includes voice mail.
I decided to start out this way so I wouldn’t be committed to spending $30.00 each month for something I wasn’t sure I would use much Some day if I feel the need to talk all the time I’ll get a regular plan.
This is a question I’ve had for a while. My almost college-age daughter desires a cell phone almost more than she wants a car. Examining the vast number of different plans is making my head hurt something fierce. We, in the L.A. area, are bombarded with plans for this free and that free and this anytime and that alomost anytime…
But it seems like the most useful plans - Verizon, ATT, etc - with lots o’ minutes are going for $40 or $50 a month. That’s the advertised price.
My question is: if you sign up for a $39.99 plan from, say, Verizon, and you stick to their minutes - what’s it really cost? Fees, tax, etc. I know what my local phone bill looks like, and I’m figure it’s going to be another $10-15 a month. No?
Looking at the posts in this thread it shocks me that folks pay so much, using an average of $45.00 a month and without roaming or going over your allotted time that comes to $540.00 a year!, folks it’s not a space shot it’s just A PHONE!!, I have plenty of better things to do with my $540.00 (like “investing” in old motorcycles and beer). As for the OP look at Sprint’s local PCS coverage and if it works for you check into Virgin Mobile, I am convinced that they offer a far better deal than other companies in the mobile phone business.
Unclviny
I just paid my bill tonight. $72.73 for AT&T one rate, 450 day minutes + 1000 night and weekend. Nationwide service. I travel for work and use my phone quite a bit, but I have never come close to running over my minutes.
But then again, I am not a teenager and I don’t need to know who was seen with who at the mall, nor do I call American Idol 400 times a week.
BTW, the plan is $59.99, the rest are taxes and surcharges.
Of course, I just expense it all to my company, so no hurt.
I’m on the Sprint plan for 2000 anytime minutes, unlimited nights/weekends, free PCS-to-PCS. Also, I have a second line on my account sharing those minutes. Our bill is $99.99 – this includes unlimited Vision service (web, txt messaging, picture sharing, etc).
This month’s bill, however, is $160 because --someone-- (Read as: my boyfriend on the second line) has been talking to family in Canada for about 100 minutes this month. =O
Mine’s about $50 give or take and I have a boatload of minutes and all kinds of nifty features. It’s used mainly so Morelin can call home when she’s leaving work late and so I can call and tell her to pick me up when she has the car. My statement is like.
1 minute to HOME NUMBER
1 minute from HOME NUMBER
2 minutes from HOME NUMBER
I’m willing to shell out a little more just cause my coverage is really good and we do roadtrip occasionally. It’s worth it because I know the phone’ll work in Middleofnowhere Alabama (I know, I called from there) if something happens.
I have T-Mobile service, and I typically pay $48(after taxes) or so depending on if I download any media over the month.
I get 600 anytime minutes and free nights/weekends, free long distance, free roaming, and have the optional instant messaging/photo transfer service($2.99 extra.)
The most minutes I have used in on month was about 300 total(peak and off peak), but I couldn’t get the rebate on my phone unless I signed up for a year of service at 39.99 or higher, so I’m stuck until october, or until I get a new phone or until I trade my current one in(since everyone seems to have one[Sony T610]).
$30 dollars here. Plan from Cingular with 250 anytime and unlimited night/weekend. Works for me well. Have nationwide roaming/long distance, which is good at college. If this cell phone is for use at college, I highly recommend it. While calling home may be a local call, many college students keep cell phones based from their hometown, so calling them would otherwise cost extra for long-distance.
I’m on Verizon and I pay right at $50 a month. I forget the specifics, but I’ve got something like 600 peak minutes (“peak time” is 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday) and maybe 2500 nights/weekends, plus I think another 1000 minutes if I’m calling another Verizon customer. Anyway, I’ve never even come close to using all the minutes I’ve got.
I also have no roaming charges; I can go anywhere in the country and my calls are the same as calling from my living room. And, as with most cell phone plans, there’s no added charge for long distance.
The benefits to me are:
[ul]
[li]No roaming charges. I live three miles from one state line and ten miles from another, and visit those states fairly frequently;[/li][li]Free long distance. I’ve got a BIG family, and none of them even live in the same time zone as me;[/li][li]Convenience. I’m not home much, and I like being able to keep up with family and friends from anywhere;[/li][li]And peace of mind. I work late nights in an extremely dangerous section of one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S., and I like to know I can get hold of someone from anywhere.[/li][/ul]
I consider it money well-spent. I only keep a landline at home for my dialup computer and emergencies.
Take whatever price they advertise, and add another $10-$12 a month. That’s what you can expect to pay in the “real world,” IME.
I have a Sprint phone with 250 daytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends. I think I have unlimited in-network calling, as well. My last bill was $38.06 for the month.