Pegontheroad

My primary phone is a landline.

I have a little Virgin cell phone for which I pay $22.00 a month for minutes. I have made or received ONE call on that phone in the past 3 or 4 months. So that adds up to at least $66 per call.

I think I should either find a really really cheap phone and plan or get rid of the cell phone entirely. I'd like to have a phone for the occasional emergency. Can anyone suggest a phone that's really truly cheap?

MmePerdu

I bought this one for a friend, haven't used it yet, but very cheap and pay as you go. It would cost you almost nothing.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/TracFone-S...nutes/24623087

DebitNM

Do you want this to use at home or in Europe?

thursdaysd

Assuming you are asking about the US, since your profile says you are in Spokane, have you looked at Tracfone?

If you are asking about Europe, you should be able to buy a cheap unlocked quad band phone on eBay, and a SIM once you get to Europe.

sparkchaser

If you're looking for one in Europe, just go to a shop selling used phones.

sparkchaser

Ah, you're looking for one for home. Look on eBay or Amazon for a used phone and either get a pay as you go plan or don't activate it and just use it for 911 calls.

sparkchaser

Not "very cheap" but Amazon is pretty giving away their Fire phone unlocked (and with one year Prime) for $189. Not a bad deal, especially if you were thinking of getting Amazon Prime.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...HSPHMQNEVSNORX

And yes, it is indeed quad band.

quokka

Get a prepaid phone without contract and without monthly payments. The fee per minute might be a bit higher but you pay only the calls that you actually make and the texts you actually send. You'll surely do better than $66 per call with any of these;-)

DebitNM

Not sure if this is for home phone it's posted in Europe?? The Lounge is more apt spot.

Christina

This is the wrong board if you aren't looking for one for use in Europe.

I have a Tmobile that is prepaid for which I pay $15 A YEAR. There is no need to pay a monthly charge if you want a prepaid plan, I don't understand that. I thought that contradicted the whole idea of what prepaid plans are. My plan requires you to pay a minimum of $15 a year to keep it open, of course you can buy more time. Time costs me about 10 cents a minute, I guess, but I also only have it for emergencies and travel within the US. I just paid for the phone when I bought it a zillin years ago, maybe $30 or something back then. There are many plans like that, I thought.

Now they don't have the plan I bought any more, but Tmobile has a pay as you go plan that is a minimum of only $3 a month now. YOU have to bring your own phone or the cheapest one they sell now is about $55. Still, that's a million times better than the plan you have. I've seen others complain (maybe on here) bout Tmobile coverage but I've never had a single problem with them where I live or anywhere I travel in the US, so I don't get that. But I guess you should ask people around where you live to make sure about that network or any network.

I rarely use my cellphone, also, but I just don't consider it safe to drive around without one any more. I have had to use it for car breakdowns a couple times, actually, but I drive a lot and can often be 25-40 miles from my home during a week, sometimes at night.

I've seen ads for Tracfone and Consumer Cellular, check them out. Consumer Cellular charges a minimum of $10 a month and then 25 cents per minute. For you, that would be pretty good.

MmePerdu

Another option, which I adopted like many others years ago, might be to dispense with the land line. I did when I was leaving home for a 6 month trip and have never missed it. I now pay $45 a month (phone is a hand-me down from my son), prepaid automatically, no contact, can be cancelled any time. Includes all features I need, including long-distance, as they all do. I'm sure you can find a plan even cheaper if you don't need unlimited talk & text or data.

Pegontheroad

Oops! I didn't realize I'd posted this on the Europe forum. Thanks for all the good suggestions. I really want the phone for here in the States, but I'm also interested in having a phone for Europe too.

MmePerdu

"..prepaid automatically, no contact, can be cancelled any time."

Should read "no contract".