More taxes? UGH!
JIVE is the name of one plan that AARP pushes. You might also get BOOST or Virgin which I believe are pay as you go plans. Check out Metro PCS too.

Thanks, Ellen. I'll forward these suggestions to Kevin and see what he thinks. The account is in his name, and I was just added on for an extra $10 a month. There were some hidden costs to that plan that we only recently found out about.

Lars

I don't use my cell phone very much. I switched to a pre-paid plan from Verizon. I'm saving a ton of money.

I was going to suggest a pre-paid option. I think Boost might be one of them. But also check out T-Mobile if you are off contract and ready to change from ATT/cingular. T-mobile's prices are far more competitive and now that they're planning to merge with AT&T, the service areas will broaden.

Hello Lars,

I'm also looking into inexpensive phones/plans, but haven't gotten far enough to be informative yet. Here are a couple of GardenWeb links that may be helpful.

Changing plans
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchentable/msg0313205928528.html?15

Here is a link that might be useful: Pre-paid or other inexpensive cell phone?

Check out consumercellular.com.

I've had them for several years & they may be just what you're looking for. And their customer service is excellent.

You could look into dropping the landline and going cell-only or using an Internet phone service like vonage.

Most smartphones don't require any payment for gps.

Thanks for those links, Kathleen - that was very useful information for me. It's going to take me some time to decide. I'm concerned a bit about area coverage. I don't want to spend more than $20 a month for something I seldom use.

There is no way I will drop my landline - I don't like having to deal with charging cell phones, and I like my land line because it's easy to go through my voicemail and it's just generally easier to use. I prefer using the phone only when I'm at home (or work) as opposed to somewhere in public. I don't feel the need to be "available" at all times, which is why I seldom turn my cell phone on. If I had not been doing free-lance work a few years back, I would never have gotten a cell phone. Now, however, I'm a bit used to it, and it does come in handy during power outtages.

Lars

Lars, you might talk to your current provider about blocking texts, and look into lowering your costs. DH started getting junk texts (how any company thinks that will get them a sale is beyond me). We ended up blocking all texts on his phone, and that solved the problem. I hate the whole texting thing, and don't do texting, either. I also reduced my plan with Verizon, to limit the minutes we share with the family. That saved me a bunch of money. All that being said, I agree with the people that suggested a pre-paid phone service for you. It sounds like it makes the most sense.

I'm real happy with the phone I have now, by the way. It's large print, so I can see it. I doesn't have a camera or any bells and whistles. Get this - it makes and receives phone calls! Really, it does. I can see the writing on it, and I can make calls on it. That's all I ask for a phone to do. It's a Verizon Samsung, but I can't find the model number on it.

Sally

Lars,
I've used Tracfone for years. We do still have a landline at home as the cell coverage isn't great out here in the sticks. LOL

My Tracfone is about $100 per YEAR for my minimal usage.
That includes 400 minutes. There's an option to pay a one time fee of around $40 and from then on, every time you add minutes, they're doubled. You can also google free codes and get some bonus minutes.
I usually end up paying $100 for around 1000 minutes. That's usually plenty for me. However, if you have a period of higher usage, you can always buy a few more.

The website is pretty intuitive at tracfone.com
Check the coverage map for your area. If you are out of your coverage area, you use up 2 "units" (i.e. minutes) for each minute you talk instead of one. No big deal if you don't use it when traveling much.

I can talk and text. That's it. No pictures, internet, GPS or anything else.

Deanna (no affiliation, just happy customer)

For me a cell phone is something to have just in case; traveling and moving about. We had Verizon for a few years and had 700 minutes/month and used about 10 and lost the rest. Now I have Tracfone and carryover all minutes (you can purchase a phone that doubles your minutes or buy a one-time card that doubles your minutes if minutes are important to you). Otherwise, it's about $10/month to keep it going. I buy a phone card at the grocery store (they're available most places retail or online) which adds air time and service days. You can text, you can take pictures, you can access the internet, depending on your phone, but you sacrifice air time (something I'm not at all interested in). Your phone options are limited, however. Personally, I like my husbands Verizon phone better. After we purchased it, the sales girl told us it was specifically designed for "seniors". It has a 911 button, a speaker button, no camera, and is no nonsense user friendly. (It took me three months to figure out where the speaker phone button was on my Tracfone Samsung model). But then you're dealing with Verizon; two year commitment; lost minutes, etc. I purchased a phone card today to extend my Tracfone air time. $20 for 90 days and 120 minutes air time added to my existing unused minutes. I have no complaints with reception so far.

Tracphone is starting to look like what I want. I like this part of their ad: Teach your kids how to budget and control their spending. I would have to be the kid, but I definitely want to control the spending with regards to cell phones. Kevin and I both used to use ours a lot more than we do now, and he still does call me from the grocery store if he stops there on his way home from work.

I checked the coverage map, and I noticed that it is somewhat spotty between L.A. and San Francisco along the coast or 101 (one of my most traveled routes) and even spottier north of S.F. along the coast to Vancouver. Still, that should not be much of an issue - I shouldn't need a phone that much when I'm there anyway. I would like to have coverage in Death Valley and other desert locations, however, as some of the places we go can get a bit scary - we did get lost in Death Val Park but have since gotten a topo map.

Consumer Cellular looks good also. We're going to Wizard World in Anaheim this week-end and so we'll have to make our decisions after that.

Lars

Just another suggestion, if you go with one of the prepaid cell phones: I won't bore you with the whole story, but I finally bought my Tracfone at Radio Shack. They activated and registered my phone for me, which can be a time consuming and irritating process to the tech-challenged person that buys the phone in a box and takes it home to activate. One bad experience motivated me to make sure I came home with a working phone.

Hi Lars,

I've had Virgin Mobile pay-as-you-go phones for many years. I had one for personal use until I got an iPhone, and now I have 3 for business use.

You can get them at Best Buy - they are usually hanging on a display full of prepaid phones.

You buy the phone (flip, voice-recognition, whatever type you want) then sign up for the service you want. You can use prepaid top-up cards or sign up online with a credit card for top-ups. The minimum is $15 every 90 days.

You will get notifications on your phone when it's time to top-up. Easy. I found the Virgin Mobile service to be excellent - I used the phone driving thru the Arizona desert and in the Hawaiian rainforest. Your mileage may vary!

Here is a review of prepaid phones:

C-Net reviews.

Also, here is a cool idea for you and Kevin - I have a Google Voice number (it's free). You can give out that number and have it forward to both your cell and home numbers, or Kevin's number - so you don't miss calls.

Anyway, do look into Virgin Mobile - they are on the Sprint network.

I am late to the party here, because I honestly didn't care for my cell situation so there was no way I was going to recommend what I had. I got a new phone yesterday and I absolutely LOVE it, but it isn't what you are looking for at all.

So, now that I have read the thread and understand where you are going, I would reiterate a Tracphone. Both my kids started with them and they are SUPER economical, especially for the use you describe.

Good luck and I hope it works out well

Alexa

Thanks Alexa (and Gina!). We're still shopping, and I am definitely considering Tracphone. Gina's link was very helpful because I want to make sure that I avoid phones that have roaming charges. Those add up very quickly and without warning.

Lars

Lars -
If you only use the navigator when traveling, cancel the service in between trips. I have a navigator in my car, so I only turn the one on the phone on when I travel. I think it's something like $3 a day or $10 a month. It's really easy to do; just call them and tell them start and stop.

Lars, you can get voicemail, a phone number, and a physical phone with the VOIP options like Vonage. If you've got home internet, it would likely save you a lot of money.

I'm on a Tracphone and mostly satisfied. Best feature is the cost. I pay about $100 per year and the minutes roll over. I did the extra cash up front for "lifetime" double minutes... that is life of the phone. First phone I had was not very good... second was more expensive and more powerful. At the moment I have over 2000 minutes because I don't use them all... may have wasted my money on the double thingy.

Downsides! They will kick you off the air if it is busy. Not dropped... they just won't let you call or it will say "emergency only". Most of the time it works just fine but not at all during lunchtime when everyone is calling someone.

Texting is poor because of the cheap phone but it does allow it. Texting is popular around here because we have weak signal and text will go when voice won't. I think they ding me 1/2 minute per text. I don't use it much but it is a nice option... helps to have a friend that will let you send a couple practice texts while learning how.

I really like the voice mail! My home voice mail was often a pita... machine broke or ran out of room. Almost worth the phone just to have the mail.

Tracphone has some really cheap phones. About $15 should get you the lowest which comes with a few starter minutes. If it works for you they have better phones available on the website. If you buy minutes for the cheap phone then get a better one they will transfer but that deactivates the old phone.

I will probably watch this thread as I'd like something a bit better. Just waited 90 minutes to make an important call because the airwaves were "congested". Suppose the call got made... and emergency service was available if that had been the situation.

: )
lyra

Kevin called the phone company yesterday to cancel the phone service altogether and ended up buying a different service - prepaid $25 for three months and minutes for 10 cents each. This gives him 250 minutes, and I don't think he will use those in three months. My own phone is being terminated, considering that I make about five calls a year.

Thanks for everyone's help. I had forwarded this thread to Kevin so that he could investigate before he called the phone company. We'll be saving over $100 a month now. There is also no binding contract, and so he can change in three months if he wants to. More importantly, no roaming charges!

Lars