best cell-phone plans?

I've had Virgin Mobile for a few years (pay as you go dealie , but I've had a problem where some company has been able to steal my minutes. VM doesn't pay me back and when I call the company they insist that I've signed up for a "subscription" They regularly change their name and re-enter me on their subscription list.

ANYWHO...I usually buy a $30 top-up card every other month, but I've noticed that I'm spending a lot more than that lately because I'm using the phone a lot more.

My son just got Straight Talk and seems happy with it. It's either $30 a month for 1000 texts or minutes or $45 a month for unlimited. Seems like a good deal, but I was wondering if there's anything else out there. Money is a factor.

I've also been considering what a "family plan" would look like. Ideally I'd like to get ds14yo and dd13yo a phone to reach me while they are out, but I also need to save $.

[Hermana Linda]

I don't know anything abut those plans. Just make sure you take into consideration that when you call each other on a prepay plan, you are both using minutes. We have a Verizon family plan, it's $95 per month after taxes for 3 phones and 700 minutes to share. We get unlimited calls to other Verizon customers as well as nighttime and weekends.

Originally Posted by Hermana Linda

I don't know anything abut those plans. Just make sure you take into consideration that when you call each other on a prepay plan, you are both using minutes. We have a Verizon family plan, it's $95 per month after taxes for 3 phones and 700 minutes to share. We get unlimited calls to other Verizon customers as well as nighttime and weekends.

Oh, that's interesting...

So, the 700 mins are to people outside the network? Calling each other doesn't cost anything?

I'm still leaning towards of going with the Straight talk. That way I don't get stuck with a contract either and my personal information (like ss#) doesn't get out. Ds19yo is using the unlimited cards at least for now ($45) so that won't rack up his minutes, just mine if I go with the $30 card each month instead of the unlimited myself. It seems like a good deal, but I really take my time making these decisions.

[mommylove]

Originally Posted by diamondintherough

Oh, that's interesting...

So, the 700 mins are to people outside the network? Calling each other doesn't cost anything?

Yes, that's correct. We have the Verizon Family Plan, too. Our contract is up this summer & I've been researching pay as you go plans to switch to. Unfortunately, since they all have minutes that expire, the per minute cost is comparable to Verizon. But when I consider that we can call each other without using minutes, and we can also call on weekends (and evenings, I think) without using minutes, Verizon's plan seems best.

for more ideas.

Originally Posted by mommylove

Yes, that's correct. We have the Verizon Family Plan, too. Our contract is up this summer & I've been researching pay as you go plans to switch to. Unfortunately, since they all have minutes that expire, the per minute cost is comparable to Verizon. But when I consider that we can call each other without using minutes, and we can also call on weekends (and evenings, I think) without using minutes, Verizon's plan seems best.

for more ideas.

Thank you for sharing your perspective. See, the thing is that as of right now I'm the only one getting a phone. Ds already has his phone and is in charge of paying for it, etc. It was something he wanted to do and I'm all for him becoming more independent at age 19 I've been toying with the idea of my 2 "middlers" having one if they're out, etc. Not convinced it's a good idea yet. If we do do that, seems like a family plan will work better.

The cool thing about a contract being up is that (as I understand it) you can still continue on with the same plan each month. At least that's how it used to be.

Dh has Verizon for work and has never had a contract with them.

[abh5e8]

as far as the contract....once its up you are just on the same plan but month to month. its usually a 2 year contract and they try to get you to resign for another 2 years by offering a free phone/upgrade.

we pay $85 to sprint for 2 lines, 800 shared minutes, 300 texts each plus after 7pm, weekends and calls to other sprint mobile phones dont count against the 700 mins. we never come close to the 700 as we mostly call each other and other family also with sprint. for a while we had a third line and it was just a flat $10 per month. it also shared our same 700 mins.