Need help with cell phones.

[lady-in-waiting]

I am going to get a cell phone so that we have it when away from home. DH is at the beach alone a lot, medal detecting.

I am trying to decide if the cheaper pay as you go ($10.00 every 45 days) plan is best or should I go with the cheapest regular plan ($19.95 per month) is the best. MY DD is telling us that the last one is best. We are wanting to go as cheap as possible and think that the first one would be sufficient.

Any advice?
:(

[CathyJ]

Another, newer option you might consider is the prepaid cell phones, sort of like calling cards only they're cell phones. I'm thinking of getting one the next time I'm taking a road trip by myself. Don't know how they price out, but you might do a price comparison if you only want to have the cell phone "just in case." That way, there's no ongoing monthly fee.

Cathy

[CarlaKay]

Rose,
I really am not much help. I use mine all the time (not in the restaurants, MK). So I pay the big bucks. Are you just going to use it for emergencies? I would think the prepaid would be the way to go, if the time doesn't expire in a month whether you use it or not. I would spend some time calling the various companies and asking them what their best plan is. I don't think one company is better than another.
Good luck.

[w8ing2b]

I don't have a cell phone but I have looked into it. The prepaid phones are not that expensive to buy and you just buy the minutes you think you need and if you don't use them by the expiration date you lose them. The good thing about these phones is that once you buy them all you need to do is buy the minutes you want or need. These minutes can be purchased by phone or on-line over the internet. My DD had one of these phones and used it all the time. When she got her new cell phone she gave me this phone for me to use. I did sign up and got some minutes and used it when we were on the road. It was nice but I am not a technical person and it was all too confusing to me. I never got the hang of it and it is sitting in my drawer unused!! These phones are called TracPhone and you can buy them in most major department stores.

[Luanne]

I'm not much help since I have Cingular (and get a break since I "kind of" work for the same company). So I pay $15.95 a month, but have limited minutes and limited coverage. If you're not going to use it much the limited plan would probably work. You might want to get into something that you could upgrade later if you found you were using it more.

[lady-in-waiting]

Thanks for answering my post Cathy. I have heard about the prepaid cell phones. Don't you have to buy the phone that's made for the cards? I think the initial output is not so cheap for those.

If you have any more info about them I'd be interested. That's what I'm looking into now.

[chari]

Cell phones are so personal, as our use is. If you are only going to use it locally.. go the least expensive. This is saying you will not be using any long distance or limited.

We have ATT, which was SunCom when we started. $19.95 +taxes and extra add on stuff that no one can understand, making it about $23.00. We get 100 week day minutes plus 3000 night and week end minutes. But.... it is only in certain areas!!! We are ok in our state and in most of the areas east of the Mississippi River, but when we travel west to Az. well, do dice... we had a $58.00 cell phone bill, cause the phone did not read out extened area, or no service... I am pretty unhappy with this service. While we are in our regular area it is ok... But too expensive otherwise. We are going to look into a different company before we leave this winter.
Look into each company and decide your needs before purchasing. We did and it was ok until we decided to travel into more areas.... and the expense is much greater with added areas.

Good Luck

chari