[Baked]

Get an AT&T account.

Then, go to www.att.com/wireless/xyzcompany to apply your discount.

You'll have to research which companies have the highest discounts yourself.

[robojester]

Seems that sim card deal will be hard to beat !
looking for the "HOOK"

[SportyandMisty]

Why not just get a TracPhone?

[robojester]

Well I have a phone and so does the Mrs so why not just get sim cards is there a downside I am missing?

[Hughie]

Originally Posted by robojester

Well I have a phone and so does the Mrs so why not just get sim cards is there a downside I am missing?

A SIM card just identifies you.

[funkykatt]

Go with Republicwireless.com

Best deal, great phones.

[Merrily Gather]

We used to use Page Plus Cellular. It let us keep our numbers. It bought Verizon lines at discounted rates and the deal with that was it just couldn't advertise their company like the name brands such as Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, ect. https://www.pagepluscellular.com/

With Page Plus I was on the cheapest deal of $12 a month. It was like 250 texts and 700 minutes a month and no data.

Then we found a better deal on eBay with the Sim card thing too, and now we use a Red Pocket Mobile annual plan. Red Pocket Mobile SIM Card | eBay

It's also on a Verzion line and works with various mobile phones. I have an iPhone and my husband has a Samsung Galaxy Note. We found our deals at different times though getting different prices for it. Mine was like $69 for a full year with 1000 minutes a month + 1000 texts a month + 1GB of data a month. My husbands was the same deal for around $89 for the entire year. They have all kinds of deals. You just have to find them at the right time for what works for you.

I hardly use my phone for calls and texts as we have internet at home with an OBi100 device that allows us to connect a regular cordless phone for VOIP calls through Google Voice at no additional charge. It's like having a landline in the house and we've programmed it with our number in Oregon and our number in Las Vegas so people can call us on either Google Voice number and we get it on our phone at home with unlimited minutes.

The data I use is kept low because I connect to wi-fi at home our while out a places when I can. Mostly I'll use my data for GPS directions on google maps while out driving around and it updates in real time letting me know if there's an accident ahead and reroutes me. Having the data with the GPS has really been a life saver. Sometimes I have run out of data if I have company in town and we're driving around a lot and looking online for things to do in an area we're new to. With the annual prepaid plan it slows down and cuts me off if I run out of data that month so there are no overage charges either.

We can even forward our VOIP calls to our cell phones while we're out of the house so we don't miss an incoming call but then that charges us minutes on our cell phone.

One notable thing is 911 can't identify where you're calling from through VOIP if you're in trouble. You have to be able to tell them you're address.

The other thing is it seems like every year Google Voice says they're going to start charging for their once free service and then shortly after that they announce another delay. It's been going on for years and I'm not sure if it's ever going to happen.

The last note is the OBi100 device costs a one time fee of $100 and then the device is yours to do as you please. We've essentially had a free landline with our internet service for the past decade. Which ultimately really saves us money on the mobile phone bills. That is once we figured out the thing with non-brand name providers. Some of which are listed in this thread that provide the heavily discounted rates. We've been using that side cell phone service plan for 6-7 years now and no real complaints since it's a Verizon line.

[OmegaSupreme]

Obi200 is under $50 on Amazon right now and even cheaper when on sale

I don't really get the benefits as they probably don't exist to me...

A Google voice number is free and there are free apps such as Hangouts that allow calling over wifi

[NLVgal]

Freedompop gives you 250 minutes calling, 500 texts and 500 Mbs data for free. You can buy one of their phones cheap, or bring your own device. Paid plans range from 10.99 to about 40.00 for unlimited everything. No contract. Switch back to the freebie plan any lean month.

[NLVgal]

Originally Posted by Merry Lee Gather

We used to use Page Plus Cellular. It let us keep our numbers. It bought Verizon lines at discounted rates and the deal with that was it just couldn't advertise their company like the name brands such as Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, ect. https://www.pagepluscellular.com/

With Page Plus I was on the cheapest deal of $12 a month. It was like 250 texts and 700 minutes a month and no data.

Then we found a better deal on eBay with the Sim card thing too, and now we use a Red Pocket Mobile annual plan. Red Pocket Mobile SIM Card | eBay

It's also on a Verzion line and works with various mobile phones. I have an iPhone and my husband has a Samsung Galaxy Note. We found our deals at different times though getting different prices for it. Mine was like $69 for a full year with 1000 minutes a month + 1000 texts a month + 1GB of data a month. My husbands was the same deal for around $89 for the entire year. They have all kinds of deals. You just have to find them at the right time for what works for you.

I hardly use my phone for calls and texts as we have internet at home with an OBi100 device that allows us to connect a regular cordless phone for VOIP calls through Google Voice at no additional charge. It's like having a landline in the house and we've programmed it with our number in Oregon and our number in Las Vegas so people can call us on either Google Voice number and we get it on our phone at home with unlimited minutes.

The data I use is kept low because I connect to wi-fi at home our while out a places when I can. Mostly I'll use my data for GPS directions on google maps while out driving around and it updates in real time letting me know if there's an accident ahead and reroutes me. Having the data with the GPS has really been a life saver. Sometimes I have run out of data if I have company in town and we're driving around a lot and looking online for things to do in an area we're new to. With the annual prepaid plan it slows down and cuts me off if I run out of data that month so there are no overage charges either.

We can even forward our VOIP calls to our cell phones while we're out of the house so we don't miss an incoming call but then that charges us minutes on our cell phone.

One notable thing is 911 can't identify where you're calling from through VOIP if you're in trouble. You have to be able to tell them you're address.

The other thing is it seems like every year Google Voice says they're going to start charging for their once free service and then shortly after that they announce another delay. It's been going on for years and I'm not sure if it's ever going to happen.

The last note is the OBi100 device costs a one time fee of $100 and then the device is yours to do as you please. We've essentially had a free landline with our internet service for the past decade. Which ultimately really saves us money on the mobile phone bills. That is once we figured out the thing with non-brand name providers. Some of which are listed in this thread that provide the heavily discounted rates. We've been using that side cell phone service plan for 6-7 years now and no real complaints since it's a Verizon line.

Oh man. If google starts charging for voice, I hope it's not much. Everyone had my google voice number. I'm not even sure what my real phone number(s) are because everything is forwarded from google. Listen to voicemails instead of reading them? Egads!