I am about to cave

[ellid]

After being dependent on others for cell phone coverage for several years now, I have finally decided that yes, it's time I got one of my own. However, since I've never owned one, I have no idea what to buy and would beg advice. Here are my criteria: 1. I am not ditching my landline. The four days we spent without power to charge a phone but with a working landline convinced me that no, I don't want to remove my safety net quite yet. 2. No contract and no monthly fees. I really don't have the money for another bill, and I seriously, seriously doubt I'd use a cell phone often to make it cost-effective. I assume this means I'd have to buy prepaid calling cards from time to time, but I've done that before and have no problem with it. 3. Small and portable. I don't need a smart phone and don't especially want one because they seem like colossal time and energy wasters. 4. Inexpensive. My budget for a basic phone is maybe $30, tops, since I will not be storing pictures, taking pictures, storing music, playing music, reading books or articles, checking e-mail, or otherwise using the phone for anything but calls and *maybe* the occasional text. Is this unrealistic, or is there something out there that will work? I've been holding out for years, especially after the European reports that why yes, there *is* a small correlation between cell phone use and acoustic neuroma, since the last thing I need is ANOTHER !#$!$@!$!@@! tumor. This is for emergency use only, nothing more. Thanks in advance....

Comments

[a-c-fiorucci.livejournal.com]

M and I have had good luck with TracFone, you can get the phones at Target or similar and just buy minutes periodically (via the phone or on the web or via cards, also available at grocery/other stores). They have a lot of info on their website. Both of us have simple, cheap phones just to have something handy to contact people.

[salsify.livejournal.com]

Definitely possible. The one I have now costs around $20 in the big box stores. I've seen basic models in your price range from most cell phone companies.

My family hasn't had the best luck with TracFone--we had two different phones fail to activate and customer support was hard to use and couldn't solve the problem. We've had better luck with TMobile and Virgin Mobile, though I've noticed lately that very few stores are selling Virgin Mobile phones or cards.

The big problem for (formerly) sporadic users like me is that with a lot of pay-as-you-go phones, you have to add a certain number of minutes every few months to keep the phone activated. I ended up with a huge backlog of unused minutes, even after I canceled my landline long-distance. One big family crisis took care of that problem, though.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

A friend has a Verizon phone with a set-up that she is charged $2/day only on the days she uses her phone. I'm not sure on the details, but I do think she had to buy a phone to qualify, but not a smartphone.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

We went with TracFone. Oddly, while I have to go through a big song and dance to get my renewal to work, James doesn't. YMM and will V.

Still, it's perfect for what we use it for. Backup, emergency use only, supplementing the landline. When I go to work or for walkies, I take the phone with me, and James has his phone with him.

[gn-baz.livejournal.com]

I used to use Tracfone. It worked okay for me, but I just didn't get reception in my house or along a large part of my street. I often found reception to be sketchy with Tracfone, actually.

[jillwheezul.livejournal.com]

I have Tracfone and we have it on a family plan - 2 phones for $15 a month total. If you go with this phone I'd suggest buying a doubler card for the minutes - it ended up being a good investment. The monthly plan allows for rollovers and I have some 800 minutes banked. We mostly use it for texting, but it has a camera and can get the internet slowly. We're watching for release of some updated models but it works well for mobile connections. Portland has a lot of cell towers so I find connection to be okay.