I make it no secret that I’m very anti-cell phone. The main reason is because I do remember when the phone companies were literally screwing us blind in phone charges for land-line telecommunications back in the late 80s and early 90s.
Today’s wireless plans are essentially just as bad cost-wise.. and unfortunately no one sees this, but I digress.
I use a wireless phone not because I want to but because I have to, therefore I go cheap. With that said, here’s the lowest cost post-paid plans (meaning contractual agreements and not “pay as you go” pre-paid methods):
Verizon, AT&T, Alltel
Lowest possible price: $39.99 monthly, 2-year contract
You basically get the same features no matter which carrier you choose in this price range. All of them have free mobile-to-mobile (meaning same-carrier) minutes. AT&T is the only one that does NOT offer unlimited nights and weekends. All have 450 “anytime” minutes with the exception of Alltel that has 500.
The best deal in this price range is Alltel, no question. You get 50 more minutes plus the ability to add 1 “My Circle” number that doesn’t count against your 450.
Sprint, T-Mobile
Lowest possible price: $29.99 monthly, 2-year contract
T-Mobile offers 300 “anytime” minutes while Sprint only offers 200 monthly.
Does Sprint sound crappy? Not really when you consider their plan has unlimited nights and weekends while T-Mobile DOES NOT. T-Mobile only offers unlimited weekends but not weeknights and that’s a huge drawback.
Both carriers have the same perks so-to-speak as the higher-cost plans such as voicemail and so on.
. . .
So there you have it. Five major carriers in the USA with 2 of them on the low-low end of the price spectrum.
If you’re the type (like I am) that uses a wireless phone for basic and/or emergencies only, now you know how much it costs.
Like what you read?
If so, please join over 28,000 people who receive our exclusive weekly newsletter and computer tips, and get FREE COPIES of 5 eBooks we created, as our gift to you for subscribing. Just enter your name and email below:
Using my phone for basic and emergency service only I’m a big fan of T-mobile prepaid. I paid $30 for my phone startup kit and $100 for a 1000 minute card. At the $100 “gold” level the minutes do not expire for 365 days. Any unused minutes can be kept for another 365 days by buying a $10 card. 1000 minutes lasts me a little less than a year, but my wife had over 600 minutes left on her phone as she approached the year mark. So for $10 she purchased another fifty minutes or so and kept her 600 minutes for a year. Very cheap. It works out to about $8.33 per month for me and $4.60 per month for her. Sweet! And I can browse some limited web offerings like the news and weather for free, no minutes charged.