Pay as you go Cellular

scottscott
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
You know I'm really tempted to get a pay as you go cellular phone. I almost never use my phone. Even then it's "Hi I'm 5 minutes away. You going to be ready this time or do I have to park and wait?" ().



Seems to me I'll save money this way. As soon as my wife and I are back in one household I can't see using a cell phone much at all.



Opinions?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    fellowshipfellowship Posts: 5,038member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Scott

    You know I'm really tempted to get a pay as you go cellular phone. I almost never use my phone. Even then it's "Hi I'm 5 minutes away. You going to be ready this time or do I have to park and wait?" ().



    Seems to me I'll save money this way. As soon as my wife and I are back in one household I can't see using a cell phone much at all.



    Opinions?



    I looked into it once and the going rates seem to be something like .15 and .25 cents a min. The problem is however the cards expire after certain timeframes and so it is really not as pay as you go as you would think.



    I have a normal plan and it is .05 cents a min. I wanted to look into the pay as you go but for me it was not my solution. It could be yours if you use nothing per month.



    Do the math and see what is best for you.



    Fellows
  • Reply 2 of 11
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Card? Come to think of it I'm sure how these work. I thought I bought a phone and had an account of say $20. When that was used up I phoned in my CC and got more money on it? I'll look into it.
  • Reply 3 of 11
    superkarate monkeydeathcarsuperkarate monkeydeathcar Posts: 2,407member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Scott

    Card? Come to think of it I'm sure how these work. I thought I bought a phone and had an account of say $20. When that was used up I phoned in my CC and got more money on it? I'll look into it.



    the virgin (25¢ a minute, the first 10 minutes, 10¢ a minute after, configured daily)) phone works like that, you use the money in your account and when it gets low you "top it up" either through a link in the phone or you can do it on line, or it can be done automatically.

    but beware, if you don't use it enough there is a minimum top up every 3 months ($30.00) but any unused balance doesn't go away like some card plans.

    if you don't use it much or just want one for emergencies it's ok, 10$ a month.
  • Reply 4 of 11
    tmptmp Posts: 601member
    plus you usually have to pay a lot more for the phone. Usually about $100-150. You can get a free phone at Cingular and a $20 per month plan. I didn't check the other carriers, but I'm sure tehy have similar deals.



    I've had friends who had the prepaid ones and they thought they were kind of rip-offs- sort of like rent-to-own places that get you because you have crappy credit.
  • Reply 5 of 11
    willoughbywilloughby Posts: 1,457member
    I use the pay as you go plan with Verizon Wireless. I previously had their cheapest plan which was 30 bucks a month and 300 minutes. I NEVER used 300 minutes, ever.



    Even when I went in to change the plan the sales lady was surprised at how little I used the phone.



    Now I buy $30 worth of minutes and it lasts 2 months. I get less minutes, yes but I always use them up within the 2 months. So now I'm spending half as much but making it worth every penny.



    I'm using the exact same phone that I had with the monthly plan. They just changed the number for me. So I didn't have to buy a new phone It might not be for everyone but I'm definitely happy with it.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    willoughbywilloughby Posts: 1,457member
    By the way, I have the option to buy "cards" to re-up the minutes but I don't do that. You even have an option of calling an 800 number and re-upping that way but the best way is through their website. You create an account, put your CC number in and you can re-up through that by just clicking a button anytime you want. Very convenient.



    Also, everytime you make a call, it tells you how many minutes you have left. Its nice, if I only have 10 minutes left at the end of the 2 months I'll give my mother a call.



    "Hi Mom, I have 10 minutes left on my phone, how ya doing?"



    < she rants for 9 minutes about how I never call her >



    "Oops sorry mom, one minute left..gotta go!"



  • Reply 7 of 11
    superkarate monkeydeathcarsuperkarate monkeydeathcar Posts: 2,407member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Willoughby

    By the way, I have the option to buy "cards" to re-up the minutes but I don't do that. You even have an option of calling an 800 number and re-upping that way but the best way is through their website. You create an account, put your CC number in and you can re-up through that by just clicking a button anytime you want. Very convenient.



    Also, everytime you make a call, it tells you how many minutes you have left. Its nice, if I only have 10 minutes left at the end of the 2 months I'll give my mother a call.



    "Hi Mom, I have 10 minutes left on my phone, how ya doing?"



    < she rants for 9 minutes about how I never call her >



    "Oops sorry mom, one minute left..gotta go!"







    that's funny i'm just the opposite, i don't use my minutes enough to spend ten bucks a month, so whenever i do my mandatory top-up i call my mom when i take the kids to the playground to eat up the minutes.
  • Reply 8 of 11
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    So Willoughby are the minutes a "use it or lose it" type of thing? I'll check the site but it seems that the major players, AT&T/Verision, are too one sided IMO.
  • Reply 9 of 11
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    I see. Verizion expires. That ing sucks.



    http://www.verizonwireless.com/ics/plsql/prepay.intro



    - Refill / [REUP] Card Expiration (once activated)

    - $15 - $29.99 expires in 30 days.

    - $30 - $74.99 expires in 60 days.

    - $75 - $149.99 expires in 90 days.

    - $150 and above expires in 120 days.
  • Reply 10 of 11
    willoughbywilloughby Posts: 1,457member
    Yup, thats right. Use it or lose it.



    But their monthly plan is the same way. If you don't use your 300 minutes, they're gone. At least with the prepaid plan they last for 30-120 days depending on how much you buy.



    But I haven't lost any minutes on the prepaid plan yet. Whenever I'm at the end of the 60 days I'll always have a few minutes left and thats when I call people I only want to spend a few minutes talking to
  • Reply 11 of 11
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    I may just get rid if it all together. Use my wife's phone when I need one.
Sign In or Register to comment.