Prepaid cell phone?

I'm happy to share this. After discovering what a lying bunch of crooks had sold me as long distance phone service, I fired them and went to a phone card. I got the AT&T card at Sam's club for about $22.00. It had 600 minutes when I bought it over a year ago and is still good for 500 +. It has more than paid for itself in savings on monthly access fees.

You will normally have to dial an 800 number and then enter a rather long ID number before you can dial your number. To me it is worth it. One caveat - I initally carried the card in my billfold and part of the ID number was worn to the point of being illegible, and I was only able to use the card after extensive trial & error to determine the number. I don't know if they make the cards like that on purpose or not, but do transcribe the number in indelible ink.

Being cautious, I would be sure the carrier behind the card isn't going to go out of business before I use the time I paid for. AT&T has been around awhile.

I did the same thing, Roger and it saves me tons of money. Just wish I could find a way to fire the local phone service company too. I pay $18 for local service and another $18 in taxes. $36 a month for basic local service is nuts! We consumers sure took it on the chin in the name of breaking the monopoly. What ever happened to that price-lowering competition we were promised?

I think MissBee is looking at a prepaid cell phone and calling plan. My elderly mom bought an inexpensive cell phone to use for emergencies and my peace of mind in case she falls and needs help getting up.

Other then that, I'm not all that familiar with them. They make me feel like I'm wearing a leash.

I use a "Tracfone"--it's sort of a pay-as-you-go cell phone, which is great if you only want one on hand for emergencies (I wouldn't recommend it if you plan on using the cell phone regularly). They have an annual plan that includes 12 months' activation and 150 minutes for ~$90. There are no monthly fees; if you use up the 150 minutes before the end of the 12 months you can add call time by buying cards at a local WalMart, Staples, etc.--I think 60 minutes retails for around $20.
They have a webpage if you want more info--try searching for "tracfone" in google.

Thanks for your replies... And yes I am looking into buying a prepaid cell phone (this time without a plan, but pay as you go). I had something like that in Europe when I lived there and it was great, but this type of cell phones have only become popular in the US recently...

As far as the regular phone service. I agree - IT SUCKS. We have SBC and pay $40 a month - we rarely even use the phone and the service is ONLY local so we can't make any calls out of our area. What the ****? But we still need the phone so that other people can call us. Maybe we should switch to ATT or something?

Oh, and welcome to A2K, MissBee

Rog- Why don't you put a piece of Scotch Tape over the number, so that it doesn't rub off.

Also, read the fine print. We just noticed that the Sam's Club card expires in 24 months!

She's sooo smart! Great suggestion.

A swipe with some clear nail polish would probably do the same trick.

Guilty. I did not do a good job of reading the question.

Phoenix, you mean after wasting all that good ink? Maybe the next time, if I ever use up all the time on the present card.

Damn that fine print. It's still cheaper for me though. I better get to calling!

roger- I know. It is a real bummer. Well, you can always start making phone calls!

We had a tracfone place for awhile and, as has been said, it's great if you only need a few minutes a month. But it's NOTHING like having a "real" plan. . . for the 30 bucks you might pay for a couple hundred minutes, unlimited night and weekends, that sort of thing, you might get 120 minutes or so, max. . . they're no good in the long run. . .

Well, my husband has a work cell phone and we use that when we're together (most of the time). I don't even use my cell phone for anything other than calling my husband at work in a case of "emergency" or if I'm out... :wink:
That is also because I can't call him from our regular phone. Even though his workplace is like 5 miles from here our local service does not cover it. (??)

Oh, and thanks for the welcome, lab rat.

Yeah, then a tracfone-like system may be the way to go. . . Verizon wireless has freeup, I think, and AT&T and TMobile all have prepay now. . . I just think that tracfone itself is grossly overpriced. . .

I've been looking at the deal through Virgin but the $.25 a minute for the first 10 minutes each day seems a bit steep. But then I only want something to throw in the glove compartment in case of emergency or something. If you are even a casual user that first $2.50/day makes regular cell service worthwhile.

Freeup from Verizon, if it indeed still exists, was a pretty sweet deal when it first came out. . . it had free weekends and evenings, I believe.

I think Virgin has a good thing. But I read on their website that they charge the same rate (.25/min) for incoming calls as well. So that kind of sucks.

Great question. I was just thinking about this myself. I have a cellphone simply for an emergeny since we live in the country and driving anywhere without it makes me nervous. I'm paying $35 a month for a service that I very rarely use. Most months I don't use the phone at all and I cringe everytime I get the bill.

Can you call long distance with the prepaid phones?

Welcome to A2K MissBee :-D

montana, usually, yes. . . sometimes it costs an additional number of "minutes" per minute (ie, local=1 minute, long distance=2, roaming=4 or so), or sometimes it's just counted like regular local minutes. . .

That would be no problem. I'm taking a trip to Massachusetts soon and was just wondering. As it is I'm paying $375 a year for a phone I might use 20 times tops and that's just for a few minutes while I call mom to see if she needs anything at the store and it's crazy to pay all this money.