Consumer Advice > Product FinderSeptember 05, 2008

Cellphone Plans Without 2 Year Contracts

My college-age daughter currently pays about $52/month including tax and fees for a T-mobile plan with text-messaging. My son who just started college has been using a T-mobile To Go plan but says he wants to convert to a monthly plan since he's going through the 1000 minutes he purchases at a time so quickly. He's thinking of getting on a family plan with my daughter.

Does anyone know of the cheapest monthly family cell phone plan out there that gives good service and doesn't require a 2 year contract? My son will be leaving on a mission for our church next summer in which cell phones aren't allowed. I'm not interested in a cell phone for myself (my husband has one his work pays for) and I don't want to be stuck paying for my son's plan while he's gone.

Kerry from Sandy, UT

By

Answers

Read answers for this post below.

By
07/08/2010

We like Metro PCS, you can't beat the price (for lots of use or little use, it's cheap & good quality in most areas). Also, you can call almost anywhere & any time you want for 1 monthly fee (the phones may cost you a bit more, but there's no contract, & the price is CHEAP)! We love it, especially with 3 adult children (all girls), when they went to high school & on to college (saved a ton).

By Lynda (Guest Post) 09/15/2008

REMINDER WARNING! Notices coming out from ALTERNATIVE Holistic doctors saying Cell Phones are causing so many brain tumors (suspecting Ted Kennedy's was caused from his cell) that they predict it will be the largest medical epidemic VERY SOON!

GREATLY limit your usage of cells, regardless of how many minutes are free! and limit computers, and even portable land-lines because all contribute to Cancer.

This is mounting evidence that is about to explode, so don't invest in anything expensive, fancy, and try to get the blue TUBE (not tooth) that helps GREATLY reduce exposure from cell phone useage, via Mercola.com

By Barbara J Snyder (Guest Post) 09/10/2008

I have the trac phone with the pay as you go plan it is great for us and it only cost sometimes just 3cents per minute for texting which I do not use . How about that plan. To tell you the truth hubby and I both have one

By Kathy (Guest Post) 09/06/2008

Maybe you can use his phone while he is gone so you won't feel like you are paying for nothing. Then when he gets back you can get your own phone.

We use Verizon and have 4 phones on a family plan with 1400 min I think. We pay abt $140/mo but one phone has texting which is a little more.

You can also talk to anyone that is on a verizon plan without using up your minutes - and weekends are free to anyone on any plan.

By
09/06/2008

Two of my sons and their wives have Verizon. they can talk to each other without using up their allowance for minutes which is substantial.

By
09/05/2008

Don't know if it's available where you are, but I am with MetroPCS and it's fantastic. There is no contract, it has unlimited minutes- local and long distance, unlimited texting and other features available. I am paying about $50 after the taxes and fees and I love my service. They have a few different plans, all with unlimited calling, based on what extra features you want. Definately worth looking into if it's available. They also have a couple of family plans available- there's one where you can add a phone for $35 a month or another which is 4 phones for $100 a month.

Like I said tho- only works if they have it in your area. Another concern- they don't travel well. Works for me since I rarely leave my city let alone my state, but perhaps a concern for anyone who travels regularly.

By
09/05/2008

Verizon Wireless

No long-term contracts. No credit checks. No deposits.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/index.html

By
09/05/2008

If you have Alltel in your area (which I think you probably do); they have the mobile-to-mobile plan which means that you can call anyone in the Alltel system with no minutes charged to your plan. Around here, over half of the population uses Alltel. We have four people on our 1,000-minute plan and we never use all our minutes. One of our sons has text messaging and our bill is still not over $120. The $20 is for the unlimited text-messaging. So with the 10 free numbers and everyone else in Alltel - we do pretty good. Have him check to see who most of his friends is with and go with that company if they have free mobile to mobile.

By Sis (Guest Post) 09/05/2008

Pay as you go! There is some cell phone options that have pay as you go minutes. You buy a card for X amount of minutes for a certain price. Usually you can find these at Wall Mart or other department stores.

Related

Answer this Question

Your thoughts are welcomed and appreciated. Enter your answer here!

Answer:

Image Upload:

Add an image to your post! Click the "Browse" button above and select an image from your hard drive. Please only select gifs or jpegs. If you have any problems, please contact us.

  

facebook like arrowLike ThriftyFun on Facebook

Browse Topics

Over 80,000 tips, recipes, questions & crafts.

Ask a Question

Submit a question to the TF community.

Subscribe to ThriftyFun Newsletters!

Email: