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Unless things have changed alot in the last two years you can get any plan with no contract IF YOU PAY FULL PRICE FOR THE PHONE.
That's right you can use your own phone (don't lettem' tell you different) if it's the same system that that cell company uses or you can buy one outright. Either way you avoid the dreaded contract.
Those "free" phones" are the reason to rope people into contracts. To pay for the "free" phone" plus all the other money they can wring out of you for the contract term. Don't do it!!!
I have a $10 Tracfone. With minimum use I pay <$10/mo to keep it going ($20 for a 3mo/90min card). Works fine for occasional brief calls and text messages. It's like a phone card with a phone.
Boost is a good choice and doesn't have contracts. The choices are:
10 cents/minute or text with no monthly minimum
For $1/day, you get unlimited texting and free nights/weekends with 10 cents/min during the day
For $50/month, you get unlimited calls and texting
I think they charge $20 to switch your existing phone over to their service.
Consumer Cellular has no-contract deals and heavily discounted (or even free) phones. The only downside to them is if you have multiple phones (family plan) they don't do any sort of free minutes, on the contrary you pay 2 air time minutes for each minute you use the 2 family plan phones. So it's to your advantage to call cell-to-landline if you can. That said I get 3 phones and 1500 minutes for about $90 out the door, per month, with no contract. They have at least one plan where you don't buy a block of minutes at all, you pay 25 cents per minute, which is relatively high, but the monthly charge is only $10.
Boost has a good plan for $50/month, with basically unlimited calling/texting/web for this price, but if you want more than one phone, they are $50 per month each. These guys do have the advantage that you can just pay cash for your month's service in advance, if you want to go that way. Their phones are fairly expensive, but they (and Consumer) are GSM, so you can transfer the chip to an unlocked or 2nd hand phone if you want to do that.
What's "best" depends on how you want to use the phone.
The prepaid deals you can get at WalMart or Big Lots can be good for people who want to have a cell phone but won't use it much.
I love Tracfone. Its a reliable $15 machine (I've had mine for 3 years) their customer service is surprisingly good at the 800 number, their online re-up is reasonably intuitive, and it only costs about $80 a year which includes about a minute a day, which is more than enough for someone who uses the cell only when it is necessary. I
I love Tracfone. Its a reliable $15 machine (I've had mine for 3 years) their customer service is surprisingly good at the 800 number, their online re-up is reasonably intuitive, and it only costs about $80 a year which includes about a minute a day, which is more than enough for someone who uses the cell only when it is necessary. I
Another vote here for Tracfone. I have had one for about 4 years now. It's cheap, reliable, and I only have it for emergency so my minutes keep rolling over! I need to call someone on it and gab for awhile - lol!
Honestly, I don't think it can be beat, and you can get the phones and cards at Walmart or Target or online.
Consumer Cellular has no-contract deals and heavily discounted (or even free) phones. The only downside to them is if you have multiple phones (family plan) they don't do any sort of free minutes, on the contrary you pay 2 air time minutes for each minute you use the 2 family plan phones. So it's to your advantage to call cell-to-landline if you can. That said I get 3 phones and 1500 minutes for about $90 out the door, per month, with no contract. They have at least one plan where you don't buy a block of minutes at all, you pay 25 cents per minute, which is relatively high, but the monthly charge is only $10.
Boost has a good plan for $50/month, with basically unlimited calling/texting/web for this price, but if you want more than one phone, they are $50 per month each. These guys do have the advantage that you can just pay cash for your month's service in advance, if you want to go that way. Their phones are fairly expensive, but they (and Consumer) are GSM, so you can transfer the chip to an unlocked or 2nd hand phone if you want to do that.
What's "best" depends on how you want to use the phone.
The prepaid deals you can get at WalMart or Big Lots can be good for people who want to have a cell phone but won't use it much.
I love Consumer Cellular. Great customer service. If you are using more minutes one month, you can change to another plan, then switch back and all WITHOUT any additional charges.
Tracfone here too. We only have one and rarely use it, take it with us in case the car breaks down or some other reason. Have had it for years and just buy minutes every once in a while.
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