Ok. How many remember the TV show "Laugh In" from the late 60s - early 70s? The title of my tip originated from that show. I have a small cell phone. It's not a smart one, but it's fine for what I need it for. Anyway, my husband had purchased me a nice $15 case for it and I had the case for several years. Then I lost it and I would not spend another $15 to get a replacement case.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I want to have a cell phone for my home, no texting, just a basic cell phone. Any ideas? I had Triple Play with Comcast and after my contract expired my monthly rate went up about 70% so I dropped phone service. Now I'm trying to find a very basic, cheap cell phone plan to replace my land line.
By Comcast Hater
Do not get a trac phone if you can help it. I have had bad experiences with those. You will be happy you have a cell phone, you can fill them up with cards as you go or get a reasonable plan.
Depending on where you're at try MetroPCS. I've been using them for a few years now with no issues at all.
www.cellreception.com/
where are you located? Some systems work better in certain parts of the country than others! I have t-mobile; had them since 1998 back then they were voicestream. I have been off contract for several years and price has stayed the same!
Verizon has a plan to add a house phone to your cell phone plan for $10. It's part of the "add a line" deal. You can add another cell user or a house phone. But you need to get decent service in your area of course. It's basically another cell phone but you can keep your land line number and the phones are like regular land line phones.
Depends upon what services are near you. Straight Talk ($45/mo unlimited) is fairly basic and it does include everything, just in case at some point in the future you do text or do internet...but you should really look at the coverage maps, because ST works in my daughter's area, but not in mine.
I can totally recommend Consumer Cellular! Their phones are extremely reasonable (or even free). My plan is 700 anywhere anytime minutes for around $35 a month complete with taxes, etc.
The first thing you need to do is make sure there is adequate reception in your area. I say this because we want to do the same thing but where we live reception is hit or miss, mostly miss. So we are waiting till we move (which we have been planning for several years now anyway).
Also, there may be only one company that has good reception in your area. Check that out with your neighbors.
If you are lucky enough to live in an area where you have good reception I'd say go for it. I know people (that dont' live in my area) that have done that and are very happy with it.
Good luck.
I'm probably one of the few people who doesn't have a cell phone. We used Vonage for awhile through our computer but quickly realized if we lost power we also lost our phone.
For one week after April 27th, 2011 all of Alabama had no power for 5 days.
All my neighbors cell phones were useless because of all the cell towers were damaged.
They also had no way to recharge their Cell Phones and the lines at all the gas stations, if they were even opened were very, very long. In many cases it was hard to even recharge their phones while they wasted gas, running their cars.
Our house line was still working and basically our house became the call center for the entire neighborhood.
You also can go to Consumer Cellular and it is cheap. You can get 300 minutes a month and long distance for 20.00 a month. It is through aarp, but you don't have to be a senior citizen either to get that rate.
Where can I get a free or cheap cellphone?
By debrn56
A trac phone would be the cheapest. Availabe at Radio Shack or other electronic dept stores. You buy the phone and then just buy a card to program the phone. When the minutes are used up buy another card. Same as buying a phone card.
SafeLink Wireless provides a free cell phone and a limited number of voice minutes each month for low-income-eligible families (one per family). There is also a plan called Straight Talk that provides plans for as low as $30.00 a month.
Nothing is for free honey, but I would get just a simple basic plan from a cell phone provider. Trac phones are a good thought, but they can add up to be more than a cell phone with a plan. Buying those cards all the time to put time on them gets to be ridiculous. By the time you drive to the store to get some more minutes, you've wasted a bunch of gas.
I have a track phone because I really just need it for emergencies. I got it on sale to begin with and have hardly used any minutes so it works for me. It used to be with a tracphone that you had to use up your minutes by a certain time or you would lose them but not so now.
Because I am very low income and disabled I was approved for a free Safelink phone and free minutes per month. I use it for emergencies or if I am away from home and need to call someone. I chose the 125 minutes a month plan because those minutes roll over so I have been able to collect some extra minutes to have on hand for when I am emergency hospitalized and would need to make long distance calls to family and friends.
You can choose 250 minutes but they do not roll over if you don't use them all during the month. If you need more minutes than the 250 you can purchase more for a very reasonable price. Go to this link and apply. If you aren't accepted for the free phone and service they still have a really good deal for a phone and for minutes. There are different rules for free phone and service approval so you might qualify. It's a completely secure site so don't be afraid to give them the personal info they will ask you.
www.safelinkwireless.com/
My hubby's had a SafeLink phone for a couple of years now. I applied online, & since we're on Social Security (disability for me, retirement for him,) we qualified. 60 minutes have been more than enough for us. The down side? It's not blind-accessible. I had to ask him to paint the "talk" and "end" buttons with my tactile marker just so I could turn it off when he forgets.
There's a second provider now, Assurance Wireless, through Virgin Mobile rather than Tracphone. Here's a link to their FAQ page.
www.assurancewireless.com/
I'm debating whether to switch. We don't need more minutes, but what if something happened to our power and my hubby at the same time? I'm hoping the Virgin Mobile phones would be more accessible.
