HT Murray

I also hate phones and don't use them at all, lol. I just got Skype on my computer for friends who really need to hear my voice. So that's free!

I am sick to death of people ON cell phones, driving like morons and hiding their phones under their paper work at work so it looks like they're not texting people instead of working. I have no love for the wireless phone.

Word. I feel like such a Luddite, lol, but I seriously hate cell phones. I probably won't ever get a Blackberry or iphone like the rest of the world. Oh, well.

As for a cell phone, I have an AT&T GoPhone for emergencies, like when I'm traveling on the road, you know? It's good for that -- you pay only for the minutes you use. I'd recomment it for you b/c you sound as anti-phone as I am. The service seems pretty good -- I'm also out in the boonies a lot, and it pretty much gets the standard AT&T service coverage. All I use the phone to do it to call -- you can get phones with more stuff on them, but I just got the phone that was the cheapest that the GoPhone program had to offer. So I say go for it, bb. It's harmless.

I've used a couple of the other pay-as-you go programs -- Virgin Mobile has a good pay-as-you-go one too that I use to have. I think Verizon has one as well, but the AT&T is cheaper than the Verizon one.

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Thank you. I thought I was the only one who didn't get the allure of being tied to everyone all the time. LOL.

See, now, I was comparing Tracfone and GoPhone, but it sounded to me like GoPhone still has a bill associated with it? Am I wrong about that? It seemed like Tracfone just allows you to buy what you want when you want it and add it when you feel like it, but I could be wrong about that, too. So hard to track down the actual terms of the agreements online, and I so don't wanna be talked into anything by a salesperson.

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Girl, I am anti-social, let me be honest. My friends get on me all the time for not having a cell phone, twitter, facebook, and the like. I'm so out of touch, lol.

GoPhone doesn't have a contract or billing or anything like that -- you can buy a plan, of course b/c it's still AT&T. But the basic GoPhone service is set up so that you buy only the minutes you want when you want and add when you feel like it. You just buy minutes at the store or online -- You pay for as many as you want. Ex. You can buy cards for $15 worth of minutes, $25 worth of minutes and on and on. It's the same thing with the other programs as well -- Verizon and Virgin Mobile. I've never used a TracPhone, but I'm pretty sure it's the same setup -- you buy minutes in chunks, right? Although the cost of minutes may be cheaper so you may want to compare.

Oh, I just realized -- does Tracfone has an expiration date on its minutes? That could be what you're thinking about when you say GoPhone has a glitch. With the Virgin Mobile and GoPhone the minutes you buy do expire after a cetrain amount of time -- like 60 or 90 days I think -- if you don't use them all up. Also, if you don't use your phone at all for a long time, I think it shuts down and you'll have to restart it up. Something like that.

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I think there is like a service expiration date, because when you look at purchasing minutes, a lot of them say, 'adds X number of days to end of agreement.'

I guess that would be a downside, since I don't use many minutes, and so I anticipate losing some that way, but I guess if you add more before the old ones expire, then none of them expire??? I'll definitely have to find out, but hey, anything cheap will have its drawbacks.

Ooh, good, so GoPhone doesn't have bills. I don't know where I got that, but some of the FAQs and online questions I was reading were several years old, so...

Thank you. Definitely gonna run this by hubby. I mentioned it once before, but he totally misunderstood and came back with this long tale about how everyone he knows pays a hundred dollars a month for cell phone service. Went right over his head, I'm afraid. :S

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Yep, the expiration date gets me a lot b/c I don't use the phone all that much.

But someone replied to you below with info on Straight Talk, and I actually think I'm going to be making a switch to that. It sounds cheaper than GoPhone, and at the end of the day that's all I need, lol.

Good luck with the hubby!

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unplugged32.livejournal.com

I have no idea what a Tracfone is but I will say that I simply can't live without my mobile. I mean I won't even go to the corner store without it. Now you'll probably say 'what did you do before cell phones?' but I've had one for soooooo long I don't remember how I lived without one;) I mean we even had a carphone back in the day that was worth MORE money than the car we installed it in. We've got a collection of those huge Mulder and Scully-ish huge-ass Nokias and Motorollas that spouse is hoping will be worth something one day:)

Gosh, it sounds dangerously like an OCD, dunnit???

{{squishes}}

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LOL, I'd agree that it sounds like an OCD, except for the part where it seems more people are afflicted with it than not, so you're probably considered normal from that perspective. LOL.

*squishes you*

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I use Straight Talk from WalMart, which is by Tracfone. I pay $30 and get 1000 minutes a month. I only use about 400 of those per month, and the minutes don't roll over but I don't need them to. Still, even without rollover, it's only 30 bucks for all those minutes. Plus I can check e-mail and text and check voic mails, etc. It's well worth it, IMO. It's great. I never have problems connecting either. It really works for me. I think for $45 you get unlimited talk, text, etc.

If you think you'll only be using about 50 minutes a month or something, I'd get a smaller pre-paid deal, like a $10 card. Depends on how much you have to talk/text, check email, etc. However regular (non-Straight Talk) Tracfone can be pricey if you're not careful.

ETA: Someone mentioned the Go Phone. I used to use Go Phone from AT&T, and that's why I switched to Straight Talk. Neither Go Phone nor Straight Talk require contracts, so that's good, but Go Phone sucks up money like crazy. You have to pay like $60 a month if you want to use your phone without having to worry about recharging. I used a plan where you could pay $1 to activate the phone for 24 hours, and then you had to pay $.10 a minute after that, unless you were calling another AT&T customer. I don't recommend the Go Phone. Straight Talk's much better.

Edited Date: 2010-02-04 07:05 pm (UTC)

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Well, like I said, I would hardly be using it. My home phone hasn't worked in a month, and I haven't missed it at all. LOL. I was looking at a couple of phones that came with like 200 minutes and double purhcased minutes for life. I can't even imagine how long it would take me to use 200 minutes, so like you said I'd probably be buying more minutes just to keep the phone activated and never really need them.

But the don't cost that much, whereas, I'm pay seventy dollars a month now, have no caller i.d., no voice mail, and right now, no working phone. So, I think even buying two phones, one for me and one for hubby, would come out cheaper in the long run, and we wouldn't have to buy minutes for both of them at the same time.

I think it sounds like a good idea. Thank you!

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Jumping in to say you've just convinced me to switch from GoPhone to Straight Talk.

It is such a pain having to buy a new card to recharge the phone if I haven't used it in a long time. I don't use my phone hardly at all, so this is cool to know!

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LOL, I'm glad I could help. I seriously love my Straight Talk plan.

Now, if I could get them to cut me a check for advertising for them *wink*

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Okay, so I'm looking at the Smart Talk phones, and apparently only one is in stock in my area, bleh, but I'm confused: How is buying 1000 minutes that are only good for 30 days any different than paying to add minutes to the Tracfone so it won't deactivate?

It seems like they only offer minutes in blocks of 1000, which is the only reason it matters. If I'm going to buy 2 phones one for me and one for hubby, then adding 60 dollars worth of minutes a month is pricey, too.

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Yeah, if you're not going to do a lot of talking, I'd get just the minimum amount of minutes possible and then, when those are used up (or expire, do it all over again).

That's the problem with prepay. They give you a certain time to use them, and if they don't get used, you lose them. I hate it, but I haven't found a provider that doesn't do that.

I mention Strait Talk as an alternative (I use 400 or so minutes per month, plus I text and check emails on it). However, Go Phone is okay if you only want to get a $10 card for your phone each month, and a $10 card for your hubby each month. That way you're spending about $20 a month. Just remember, though, with those plans you pay only on the day you use the phone.

I had the plan that if I didn't use the phone (I didn't call out, no one called me), none of my minutes were used. But if I made a call, then $1 was subtracted to activate the phone for 24 hours. Then, in that 24 hour time period, I paied $.10 a minute for each call that I made. That would have worked just fine if I didn't use my phone every single day, which I do.

If I were you, I'd look into that. You may go six days straight without using your phone. A $10 card may last you all month. And if I'm not mistaken, my nephew got a $10 card yesterday, and it said he had until April 2nd to use his minutes. So that's two months, rather than one month. Really, if you barely ever use a phone, Go Phone is fine. Give the Go Phone a shot (or Tracfone, whichever you use). If you find you're talking/texting more than expected, then you may want to consider Straight Talk.

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Hmm, I didn't get a notification for this one. I wonder why.

And so far, I like Tracfone and Straight Talk the best. The only thing I'm not liking about Straight Talk is that I can only find 1000 minute blocks where I'm looking. Where do you get yours? Do they have smaller allotments? I notice Tracfone and GoPhone both have smaller chunks of time that can be purchased, which is the only reason I'm leaning more toward Tracfone. Plus, a lot of the Tracfones come with double minutes for life, and every time you add minutes, it seems to add 90 days to the service, so you only have to think about it like 4 times a year.

ETA: I don't know who else I'd call besides work and hubby. I don't even know anyone else's number. LOL. And hubby no can text. :P

Edited Date: 2010-02-04 09:04 pm (UTC)

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:D Sounds like Tracfone is your best bet.

I get mine from the Straight Talk section in Wal-Mart in Charleston, WV. The smallest I've seen is the 1000 minute block. If they had a 500 minute for $15 I'd be in pre-paid cell heaven LOL. I will say that last month I used 700 minutes because I was constantly updating family with mom's condition, so it really worked out that I had the extra minutes.

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captcrashsc.livejournal.com

I started out with a Tracfone and absolutely hated it because once I was 30 miles outside it's registered zip code, I was roaming no matter what. I was not happy that it charged me extra minutes because it was dumb.

I switched to a Virgin Mobile Pay As You Go phone and had much better success because it uses Sprint cell towers to pull service. Which meant that if there was a Sprint tower in my area, no roaming. Awesome sauce! I never had a problem with that phone service and as long as I added a certain number of minutes at least every 90 days, I was golden. I haven't been with Virgin Mobile for almost two years though, so their policies may have changed a bit.

I have an actual plan through Verizon now, but Verizon also offers a Pay As You Go option with the added bonus of not charging you time/ minutes if the person calling you is also a Verizon customer. We're actually trying to get my parents to ditch their Tracfones and take up the Verizon prepaid phone option to try to save money all around.

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Hmm, good advice. Definitely something to consider, however, I never seem to go more than ten or twenty miles from home. *i r lame* So, roaming wouldn't be much of an issue.

I'm kinda trying to avoid Verizon altogether. I wonder if there's an AT&T version? Will have to look that up.

Wow. I'm glad I asked. So much input. LOL.

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its-symphonic.livejournal.com

I can't help with a prepaid phone service. My mom and I use Verizon. We do a lot of texting and picture messaging and surfing the web/checking emails. I just wanted to comment to agree SO hard about people driving and talking/texting.
It drives me completely BONKERS when I see people texting and driving. I have almost had multiple wrecks because someone was texting and wasn't paying attention. Luckily I was!
I can't say I never talk and drive, but I do avoid it esp. in high traffic areas/times. And now that my niece is going to start driving soon I am trying to drill it into her head not to text or talk really and drive.
/rant

But yeah, I pretty much agree with everything you said. Good luck!

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I know! I sit at a stop light and watch the other traffic go through, and easily half or more of the people have a phone glued to their head. And hubby wonders why I'm such a paranoid driver?! I keep hearing they're going to make that illegal or even that it is illegal in some places, but good luck enforcing it. People are very sneaky about their addictions. LOl.

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its-symphonic.livejournal.com

Yes! I do the same thing. I sit there and look at how many people are talking on the phone and it just boggles my mind as to what is so important to be talking about.
It is illegal in some places. Not sure whereabouts in Texas it is illegal. I do know now that even talking on your phone in a school zone is illegal, and I guess that is a start.

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starry-ice.livejournal.com

Can't speak for the services in the USA... On this side of the border, I was on prepaid for like 6 years and it was totally fine. Plus I had more features on my prepaid than people on monthly rates and I only paid $10/month.

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I hear you about the more features. Because, seriously, our home phone doesn't even have caller i.d. or call waiting, and we pay seventy bucks a month for it. All taxes and tolls for stuff we don't even understand. Plus, I suspect some of it is illegal scam charges that are banking on people not knowing what they are. I've been reading more and more about these kind of fake charges online.

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starry-ice.livejournal.com

Wow... $70/month is hefty for a land line with no features. I think over here it's less than $30 for the basic service...

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Yeah, I don't get it either. It used to be around 40 and then it jumped to 70 after we took off everything we absolutely didn't need. Makes no sense at all.

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jane-eyre.livejournal.com

LOL. So I'm not the only one who hates talking on a phone and thinks people should be able to handle communicating with me through e-mails.

Sorry I can't really help you with prepaid phones, I decided it was cheaper for me to just get added to my sister's family plan.

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I flat out told my boss I don't answer the phone. Hell, I sleep during the day, so most of the time it's not even turned on. If they want me, they have my email. I've just always been terrible at conversing on the phone. Even when my sister calls, we might talk for an hour, but I hardly say anything. :/

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layne67.livejournal.com

those hits from Richardson,

Jensen's mum omg!!

;P;P;P

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