Cellular carriers.

[Mollysdad]

Living on a budget, I'm tired of the $100/month for a smart phone service I hardly use.
I have Verizon's lowest priced plan, 450 minutes, and (I think) 2 gig of data. I can go a week and not pick up the phone.
So can you recommend a service that works for a reasonable price for one phone? I like my i-phone5, and Verizon has CDMA systems, so that's a plus.

[kendrick.l.j]

Trying to keep this question up. I have heard a lot of good about Verizon but it looks like you already have that. I still use ATT mostly because I use my IPad way too much and I just haven't gotten around to looking at other carriers. Hope you get some suggestions.

[n2916s]

On Verizon's new unlimited plan, you would pay roughly the same but have unlimited data, texts and talk. Still pricey but a lot more than you have now.

For me, there is no alternative because Verizon is all there is at my duty station in Yellowstone...

[DougnJanet]

I have been using Tracfone for the last several years. I am not a heavy cell phone user. I currently am using their bring your own smart phone plan. I pay for the following; $49 for 12 months of service plus $10 per GB data, $5 per 1000 texts and about $20 for 500 minutes of talk. Their website will give current plans rates available. I use an unlocked CDMA Moto G4 using Verizon's service. I have also used Straight talk unlimited plans but at that time they only had AT&Ts service. They support unlocked iPhones.

[Airtandem]

any comments on Consumer Cellular ?

[MarkR]

we have 2 different phones, happy with both:

a t-mobile line - $40 per month w/ 3 gig of data
and
a Walmart line (thru t-mobile) for phone only at $25 a month

not big phone users, but may not be available in Florida (?)

[Rich W]

I have been a Tracfone user for a very long time. I have all the old flip phones to prove it. The biggest thing I like about Tracfone is that you get to keep what you bought, minutes, data, text, it all rolls over to the next month, as long as you refill before your expiration date. Out of data? The phone still works.

The date catch is that you have to keep up the expiration time. When you first start out, when you buy a refill (data, text and talk are bundled) you have to buy more within 90 days. If you don't, you lose everything if you go past the expiration date. But if you buy smaller refills before the 90 days, it appends to the current refill date. Right now I'm good until the year 2020 before anything expires. If I run out of everything I can just purchase a refill and the phone starts working again. (You can get refills online at Verizon or at most big box stores. You can get automatic refills too, they have several plans.)

I found that data is cheaper on the Verizon Jet Pack hotspot than on Tracfone, but it also expires; use it or lose it. For the times we're on the road we use the data from the hotspot. Otherwise, we just refill the data on the Tracfone.

With the phones you buy from Tracfone the phone determines the carrier. My last 2 phones have been LG models and they are with Verizon. I'm not sure how the bring your own plan works. The Tracfone phones are an operating system behind by 1 and the processor is slower, but for $80 for a smart phone, I'm a happy user.

[Phoenix]

If you don't need smart phone capabilities, pull one of the old flip phones out of your junk drawer and get a $15 prepaid plan from Verizon. You get 300 minutes or messages, and good coverage on the Verizon network.

I use a laptop with Verizon hotspot, so the $15 plan on my old Motorola flip phone saves me a lot on voice calls.