Today I called Verizon to find out what my cancellation fee would be (I was thinking of switching carriers) and was told it would be $155 if I canceled.

Ouch.

The sales representative then asked me why I wanted to cancel. I told him cost was a concern and I didn’t feel I was getting my money’s worth.

Then I found out there not one but three ultra-low-cost post-paid plans available. These are listed nowhere on the Verizon Wireless web site (and if they are, please post a link because I couldn’t find them.)

These are absolute basic no-frills plans with next to nothing in them, just so you’re aware. And bear in mind that yes, these are post-paid plans, not pre-paid (more on that in a moment.)

$34.99 a month

• 300 anytime minutes.
• Unlimited nights and weekends
• Free long distance in the continental US

$25.00 a month

• 100 anytime minutes
• 500 night and weekend minutes

$20.00 a month

• 50 anytime minutes
• 100 night and weekend minutes

A post-paid plan for $20 a month? Believe it. Verizon has it. Granted, it’s not even an hour’s worth of talk-time per month, but the fact of the matter is that YES, you can go that cheap on a post-paid plan. If you’re the type that only uses a cell phone for calling AAA and emergencies, this is perfect for you.

But you have to ask for it.

I was only informed of these plans due to the fact I mentioned cost was a concern.

A few notes on pre-paid plans

A PCMech reader once noted that the best way to go cheap with a cell phone is to go T-Mobile and buy a 1000-minute card that’s good for 1 year. And he was right.

It is in fact the absolute lowest you can go price-wise for a cell phone. Assuming you don’t go over the 1000 minutes in the year, you get a little over 75 minutes a month. The cost translates to under 8 bucks a month (not including the price of the phone itself or overages if any.)