Is it worth what you are paying for your cell phone?

I was paying $22 a month with T-Mobile for a phone I rarely used. I only have a cell phone to carry around for emergencies. I probably only used it an average of 2 or 3 times a year. I never gave out the number and kept it turned off until I needed to use it.

Two weeks ago, I lost my cell phone. I kept it in a compartment in my purse with my sunglasses. I must of dragged it out when I took my sunglasses out and not realized it.

A friend suggested that I get a Tracfone. She told me what a great deal she had on hers, so I checked it out. I went to Meijer and bought a Tracpone for $15. A nice little Motorola phone that came in assorted colors. I then bought a 60 minute phone card, that would expire in 90 days, for $20. When I went on line to activate this phone, they gave me an extra 20 minutes and changed the expiration date from Feb. 8th to March 8th. A few days later, they emailed a "welcome to Tracfone" message and gave me another 20 minutes for free. So, for $20 I now have 100 minutes for 5 months. And the minutes will roll over if I don't use them. I will have to buy another card in March or I can go on line and pay for another 3 months.

I think this is a great deal for someone like me who hardly ever uses a cell phone when I am away from home, but who wants the security of having one for emergencies. I'm not trying to advertise Tracfone -- I bet there are a lot of other good deals out there with different companies.

I do not have a home phone and my business line is my cell line #2 as well. I only pay about 80 bucks a month and rarely use my 1000 minutes

I use mine for work, mostly and I need a load of minutes. I save all my bills and expense it for an unbudgeted windfall every other quarter.

What I hate is my cell phone itself. Hate it.

land line phone years ago. We have a cell phone that we leave at home and that number is our home number. My husband has a cell phone also. I was just talking about a phone that you carry around for emergencies. I feel that for me, $22 a month for a phone I rarely used was too much. Especially after getting this Tracfone and finding out how little I will be paying for it.

and it was a smart move. If I didn't use mine so much, I'd likely seek something similar.

I was in the same situation - I called TMoble and they sold me 1000 minutes for 1 year for $99. Perfect for what I need/use.

I looked at the tracfone stuff but it was "iffy" for me and confusing for what minutes did/didnt roll over.

cancel my service when I lost my phone, they never told me that I could get 1000 minutes for 1 year for $99. They told me that I would have to get a new phone with them and start a new contract at $29 a month, which they said was their lowest costing service. I might have stayed with them if they had told me that.

Considering that I burned up two hours of long distance last night (hi flvegan! :* ) it would be self-defeating to get a cheaper plan.

I pay around $55 per month with unlimited minutes, texts and internet usage. I think it's worth it.

Company provided, and I hate the damned thing even more than I hate the landline phone.

I seldom use my cell phone, so I have a minute by minute "pay as you go" plan that costs me $5.00 plus tax per month. I never use even $5.00 of minutes a month, but the unused amount carries over.

and they love the pre-pay option.

Seems a shame to let all those wires go to waste. Besides, if I had one of those goddamn things, people might call me.

My roommate has a land line, but he never gives me messages, so I just don't give out that number or make calls from that phone anymore. He doesn't make me pay anything on it.

I pay $39 per month for 400 minutes with Verizon. I think that's a pretty good deal.

I have been paying about $20 every 2/3 months for 2 years now.

I was thinking of getting it as a spare but couldn't find out how much the time costs or when it would expire , I really didn't need it as I have a Tmobile family plan for me and the wife that is reasonable at $50/month for 400 mins/month

a bit more reasonable. Land line runs about $47 per month with local service for single line, call waiting, no caller ID, and no long distance calls. My neighborhood is an older neighborhood with above ground lines that are lead wrapped with some squirrel shields. Many of the squirrel shields are no longer in place and service quality deteriorates badly when mositure levels are high.

Cell phone runs me about $35 per month with nationwide long distance, 10 anytime hours, unlimited night (beginning at 7 pm) and weekend calls, and unlimited in network calls (which happens to include family members living out of state).

I use the cell phone for all my long distance calls - most of which are made during the night and weekend hours or in network.

I use the land line for local calls and to monitor my alarm system.

I'm going to investigate the expenses involved in switching the alarm system to monitoring by an additional cell phone. I'm not willing to take on any long term contracts or high activation fees however since I do intend to relocate hopefully in the not too distant future. I may just keep eating those excess fees for awhile.

In any event, I forsee that in the not too distant future I will again have a single phone number and it will be cellular. Land lines simply do not and cannot serve as many functions as cellular service.