I think I may buy a prepaid cell phone, do you use one?

[yy4me]

My children are insisting that I now have a cell phone so that I can call in an emergency. The short of it is that my husband died 2 weeks ago. He had a cell and had a plan that worked for him. Only 19.99 a month but very restricted except for weekends.

I need to cut back on all bills received and really cannot use his phone. It is too complicated. I just need a simple call/receive phone. I am told that one of the prepaid phones will do what I need and are easy to use. I feel no need to have 24 hour cell phone service, I have a home phone. Just need something to carry with me just in case.

If you use one of the pre-paid phones, will you share your thoughts?

[NMDemDist2]

1. I had a fancy phone and contract for years and now have a prepaid

I like it.

[yy4me]

2. Would you tell me the brand? There seem to be so many

options. I'm not very tech savvy so I really don't know what to look for. How many minutes would be reasonable to buy starting out? From the CVS flier, there is a tracFone on sale starting tomorrow that is only $9.99 if you buy 60 minutes time? Good buy? (no mention of how much 60 minutes cost)
All I would need is a charger. I wonder if the one from my husband's Nokia will work, anyone know?

[NMDemDist2]

3. any phone you buy should come with a charger. at least a car charger

if not a home charger. one or the other....

I have a little basic Motorola (Hello, Moto!)

I pay ten cents a minute, so $20 gets me 200 minutes.

the key is how good a coverage will you get in your area. talk to all your friends about who is happy with the coverage, how many dropped calls do they get etc. then look into that company.

at least that's what I did.....

[kickysnana]

4. I have been using Tacfone for about 8 years

I am still using the original phone, a Nokia, (cost about $26.00 then with shipping). I used the small time cards but what has worked best for me is to watch for 2 for 1 deals on minutes and take advantage of their deals. I was buying about 200 minutes a year but stopped two and a half years ago when I was up to 500 and pay %5.45 total to keep the minutes rolling over each month on a website plan (I have 250 minutes left of the 500). I don't know what minutes go for right now. Check the service area before you take any plan. My service works from Rochester MN to Duluth MN and I have used it in St Cloud. I am not sure how far it works without double minute roaming, into Wisconsin or west of the Twin Cities.

I got a newer nokia tracphone for my parents 4 years ago which my Dad used for 2 years until Dad lost it. I tried a deal for them next on AT&T but they had more trouble getting minutes onto it and figuring out that phone and eventually let it go in December of last year. Mom was in poor health, started to decline after Thanksgiving and passed in January and they had used it to stay in touch so Dad could get out a little more. He says he has no need of one right now.

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. T-Mobile. I just put $25 on my son's acct. and got about 160 minutes. n/t

[mwooldri]

6. It's a thought but there's Jitterbug.

They aim their phones at seniors (read: so-called easy to use phones). $15 a month gets you a plan with 30 minutes a month.

If it's the $20/month that's the issue then you can get away with things like Tracfone or T-Mobile, where you need to actually physically go in and recharge the phone with airtime every so often.

If you just want 911 access then maybe just let your late husband's cell phone get "disconnected". By law, even disconnected cell phones need to allow access to the 911 system.

Mark.

PS Sorry about your husband.

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

7. How many minutes for how much dinero?

My grandpa pays $99.99 for a year of service where he only gets 400 minutes. Way too expensive for me. I like having a cell phone as my main phone.

[NMDemDist2]

8. i pay $20 for 200 minutes. it's a bit more spendy, but I have control n/t

[Lyric]

9. Yep. Net10.

$30 gets you a basic phone plus 300 minutes. Additional 300-minute timecards are available for $30.

[JerseygirlCT]

10. I got my kid one with Virgin Mobile

He had to use a certain amount every 3 months, but other than that, it was use what he put on. So no limitations as to when. While he was still living at home, and using the phone just for "come pick me up, please" that worked quite well. It's good to have in an emergency.

I can't remember the amount you're required to "top-up" every 3 months, but it's minimal - maybe $20.

Worth a look at their site. I think these are the way to go when you don't use the phone much.

And my sympathies on your loss.

[metapunditedgy]

11. The minutes roll over, too, if you don't use them.

Unfortunately, Virgin Mobile is not well-branded for seniors. (Lots of ads with loud teenagers.)

You might pay a little attention to what network the phone actually uses. (For example, I think Virgin rents space on the Sprint network, and Sprint coverage is shoddy around where I live.)

[Alameda]

12. buy a unlocked GSM phone and buy a prepaid sim card

That way you can use any sim card in the phone. If you buy one from a particular company they usually have them locked so you HAVE to use their sim cards. Be advised that many have a built in time period you can use the time. Although it may sound good, you often have to purchase new minutes, even if you didn't use the old ones.

[old mark]

13. Net10 for several years now. It is very easy and inexpensive and works

just fine. My wife and I both have Net10, buy coverage online when we need to renew it. Never had any problems or "extra charges" with it.

mark