pay as you go phones?

mummy2girls wrote: Marcus told me over and over he does not want a cell phone that has a contract to it because it can get expensive but because he is moving in with me and now goign to be driving my car in the winter to get to work/school i want him to be carrying a cell phone because you just never know. I cant give him my cell phone because its my work one and i need to use it if i take the kids to the park or for a walk.. so i was thinking for christmas i would get him a pay as you go phone.. if he is only using it for emergencies and for when he is driving do you think its worth it? if not i was thinking because my contract is up soon i want to get a new phone and some companies you can get 2 phones under one contract. what would do you think is the best route?

luvbug00 replied: two under one contract. I have gone the pay as you go way and it's wayyy too much of a hassle. Lars and i are under his account . my phone ( razor with tattoo) was only 20 bucks.

luvmykids replied: It's been awhile, I think about two years, but when I checked out the pay as you go phones it was expensive. You can get a cheap contract and if he's worried about going over the minutes he can just keep track of his minutes on the phone.

grapfruit replied: I agree w/all so far. Pay as you Go is really really expensive. (checked it out for my brother).

And besides, you get it THINKING you're going to use it only in emergencies, but well, it's there, and conveient, you'll be using it more then you expect!

Maddie&EthansMom replied: 2 phones under one contract. Most plans offer the pcs to pcs or whatever where you can talk to each other without it taking your mins.

coasterqueen replied: Pay As You Go is cheap if you both have the same service. So if you have AT&T service on your phone and then buy a PAYG AT&T service phone you don't use that much in money as it's free between same service. It's when you text on it or call your voicemail all the time that can get expensive.

Twelve Volt Man replied: My wife is terrible about not turning her phone on and/or keeping it charged, so it's available. As a result, I got tired of paying $60/month for service that she didn't use. When her contract ended, I signed her up through Virgin Mobile. I can't remember what plan we went with, but as little as she uses it, it's much cheaper than a monthly contract.

MyBabeMaddie replied: Verizon has a family plan to add an extra line its only $9.99

Brias3 replied: It's really much easier to have a regular, limited phone plan and then be extra conscious of your minutes. If he only needs it in the event of an emergency, he might have good luck keeping his minutes under control.

I'm not very knowledgeable on the pay-as-you-go's but I do know they can be quite pricey per minute, plus kind of a hassle.

luvmykids replied:
The main thing that scares me off is, say you happen to use your minutes and have an emergency before you can get them refilled? I know it seems easy enough to say you'll just plan ahead but that "what if" nags at me....

Kaitlin'smom replied: I say 2 under one plan. My GFIL had a pay as you go phone for emergiencies since he goes out often and grandma might need to call him well it was awful service and cost him more in the long run then adding him to our plan. See those minutes expire so if you dont use them you lose them, or at least all the ones around here do. So he would have to spend money every 3 months and harldy ever use the minutes.

holley79 replied: We bought Shawn's mom a pay as you go and it has been great for her. As long as you use it for very short conversations and emergencies then it's a great deal. If you are going to be a talker then it's best to go with the contract phones. What about getting an added line with your plan where you share minutes?

Brias3 replied:
Right, and if that's the case, what is the point of the "emergency" phone then? That more than anything probably would deter me most of all.

paradisemommy replied: i have a contract and dh has a payg phone..it works out perfectly for him as he only uses it for emergencies and hardly ever has it on and ours was fairly inexpensive..the phone itself was about $50 then what you can do is spend $100 and you get 1,000 minutes and then you can have those 1,000 minutes for 1 year - if you minimally use it then it's perfect but if you go over then you will be paying out the a$$ so as long as you know you can stay under then i think you are better off going with a payg..

Brias3 replied: I was also gonna suggest what some others have mentioned- the "family talk" plans. We have one for our two cell lines and we share a package of minutes per month. If you do that, then just up your minutes per month to suit what he might need and you won't have to worry about running out, going over, etc. Plus, I noticed a lot of cell companies right now have good phone deals and you can add an extra line to a family talk plan relatively inexpensively.

mom2patrick&jalin replied: Verizon has been our best bet. Two under one bill is best. I have a friend who likes Cricket, it is a regular cell phone with no contract so you still pay your monthly bill but if you want to cancel there is no breaking a contract.