So my phone is about to bite the dust. It gets horrible service and it won't stay charged for more then 3 minutes without the charger (which doesn't work all the time). I've had the phone since I was seventeen and it's time for an upgrade.

This is my first time picking a phone plan and I don't really know where to start. I'm looking for a plan where Zach and I can both get new phones, I can keep my phone number, and we can pay less than $40 a month. Is that even possible? Does anyone have any advice or know of a plan like that?

I'm still going to Google, but Plime is where I ask everything (50 heads are better than 1).

The lowest price family plan verizon has in Lawrence is $69.99/month. Same with at&t

Yeah, the lowest I have found so far is $59.99.

No one in my family has a cell phone.

$0 / month

Works for us, we love it.

Do you have Pay as you go Phones?

Claire and I have them; one of payment to buy the phone then top up with credit.

They suit us because we never call anyone much and we get by on about £10 every couple of months.

Hmm.

This sounds like a question for your soon-to-be husband.
Make sure you bat your eyes and act all girly, and he will thoroughly research this question, thus allowing him to ride in on the proverbial white horse.

Make sure you swoon and ask for a mint julep, while fanning yourself.

'K?

Yeah, I am thinking of getting a family plan too. I started working for at&t so I will get a deal on my phones and plan. I currently am with t-mobile and they annoy the hell out of me.

My parents use some bs prepaid plan* so I thought that I would just get a family plan and add them to it. They hardly ever use their phones as it is so I really don't need to worry about the minutes.

The family plan will cost me about what I am paying for my current plan, but I have a 1500 minutes a month plan and I no longer need that many minutes because of my new job, I get a company phone (I can only use for company business).

*Stay away from tracfone, they suck.

You can get a T-Mobile plan for about 300 minutes per month, with unlimited texting for about $50, I think, but 300 minutes goes quickly. I don't talk much on the phone, so I'm switching to that amount.

That's what I did to get the puppy. Well, that and I wouldn't shut up about all the puppies on mabr, petfinder, craigslist, the humane society...

Unfortunately, we have a joint bank account and I handle the finances. I do the budget, I keep track of the bills and I manage the savings. This isn't something to bat my eyes at Zach for.

The problem with that is that neither of us enjoy talking on the phone; we don't want a home phone. Zach has a changing work schedule and we have one vehicle. We have to do a lot of organizing and if anything changes, we have no way of contacting each other to let each other know. Plus the truck breaks down every weeks and I have to call to get help with it.

As davbob has already suggested, you should look into Pay-as-you-go plans. They're great since you're not tied down by a contract, and you only pay for the minutes you actually use. Here's a couple of the big name cell carriers that have Pay-as-you-go. Of course you also have to consider how many minutes you use per month and if it would be cheaper for you to get a plan as opposed to this. It all depends on your usage.

Virgin Mobile
T-Mobile
Alltel
Verizon Wireless
At&t

In addition to what Apex says, starting off on a PAYG plan will give you a good idea what your usage will be but leave you with options.

If it's going to be more than a monthly rate, most carriers will be more than happy to switch you over.

If it's less, you're not tied into anything.

Obviously no idea about in the States, but here Virgin have the best PAYG tariffs.

Which makes me wonder why I'm not with them.

Yeah, Pay as you go plans are far superior.
In fact, the whole phone plan thing is only something I've ever seen in places with underdeveloped cell phone systems, such as North America.

M
Hmm. My girlfriend did the same thing when we got the 2nd dog.

I think 59.99 is about the best you can hope for for a contractual type phone plan, whereas the PYG gives you an idea of what you'll use.

86Apex left off Sprint/Nextel. I have that carrier. I've been through T-mobile, back when they were someone else and someone else before that, they suck, they just suck. I had AT&T, not bad but their CS is abysmal, don't expect any real help, you'll get the guy that knows zip plus bull about anything but he'll try to sell you an upgrade.

I don't actually have cell phone service within 20 miles of my house. None of the carriers, none of them cover this area, I have to drive about 20 miles. My bro and sis-in-law can get coverage (with sprint/nextel) about 5 minutes from here but they have a different phone. *shrug* I don't care because I don't use the thing. There is a plan to put a frankentower somewhere in town...don't know if it will help me and don't particularly care. If you want to call me call me house phone, if I'm not immediately available, I'll call you back. Messages have worked for a good 30 years or more, oddly, they still work, sometimes better!

This seems interesting to me though. If they had my area code I'd be signed up already.

Ha, I was with T Mobile when they were someone else as well! We hated them and switched to Sprint too :)

i heart tmobile. (am i seriously the only one?)

I had the complete opposite experience. I used to be with Sprint but they had horrible coverage in my area and their customer service was sub-par, which is why I switched to T-Mobile. I've been more than happy with their service.

Also dolly, the only reason why I left Sprint out of the list was because I couldn't find a Pay-as-you-go service from them, which was the whole point of all those links.

Cingular/AT&T will eat you alive. I've never met such a greedy and underhanded bunch (with one notable exception, of course).

Also, keep an eye out for free phone deals. Normally you need to sign a contract but recently on a trip to Vancouver I was given a $200 cell phone with no contract! it was a one day deal but basically I can sign up for one month and then quit and take my phone with me. This is great because I will NEVER sign a contract, and that was most of the reason I never owned a cell phone until now.

I use AT&T also... every month we have to call them and haggle over the bill because they screw it up and randomly change things on us. EVERY. MONTH.

On the plus side, I am now so good at bullying the customer service reps that I am coming out ahead of the game and paying less than is listed for the stuff I actually do use.

I must have some rather ugly rep comments attached to my account because now they ask me "what's the problem THIS month?"

Weenies.

Oh, and I do have to say their coverage in the southeast USA is really great!