Cell phone bill question

[bookishwench]

My cell phone basically functions as, shockingly, a phone. It doesn't connect to the Internet, it doesn't open or send email, it doesn't do text messaging, it doesn't have music, and while it does have a camera, the pictures it takes are basically blurs. Usually, this doesn't bother me, but I'm beginning to realize there may be some safety issues involved in my rather Amish phone. For example, if the campus is closed during the day due to weather issues, the info is sent out via text message (though eventually the classroom phones also display it). Hence, I'm vaguely considering an upgrade, but I admit to being completely clueless as to what "normal" people pay for a cell phone bill. Currently, I'm at about $34. What would be typical?

[Poll #1926139]

Thanks!

Comments

[phoenix-fancies.livejournal.com]

If you live in an urban area, I really like T-Mobile. I don't get great reception in the 'burbs, necessarily, but I have no complaints about it when I'm in civilization.

Relevant edit: I hardly talk, mostly text, and data all over the place. I get 100 minutes of talk and unlimited everything else, although, I don't know that they offer my plan any more (or maybe only at Walmart?)

[bookishwench.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm mostly in the burbs, and weirdly there isn't a Walmart anywhere around here... which I'm kind of happy about.

[ladyoneill.livejournal.com]

We've had tmobile for several years and are pretty happy with it. I can't say how much I pay because I don't--on dad's family plan. Okay, just asked him so will vote in poll.

[bookishwench.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I suppose a plan probably is a different story.

[nightshade1972.livejournal.com]

I'm married, and my husband and I have a joint plan. Our bill generally runs around $180. When I was single it was around $70 for my share of the bill (my father paid it, we had a family plan), so for two of us $180 isn't horrible, particularly when you consider that we do have data (internet)/texting on our plan as well. Hubby uses the data more than I do, because he travels a lot for business and when he's on the road his phone functions as his computer, since he's already lugging around a company laptop for work.

ETA we have Verizon. That's also what my parents use. Was a bit of a hassle getting Verizon to take me off my parents' plan and give me my own bill, but not hugely so.

[bookishwench.livejournal.com]

Verizon is what I use as well. $90, though? Gyah. That's nearly triple my current bill.

[nightshade1972.livejournal.com]

We paid a bit of an upcharge to get a plan with 6GB data on it, because my husband travels a lot and he wasn't sure how much data he'd use in a given month. As it turns out, he's not coming anywhere close to using that 6GB, so we probably need to rethink that plan. Like I said, when I was on my own my bill was around $70, and that didn't include data/texting at all. I think the only reason the bill was even $70 is that I had a certain number of minutes paid for automatically, which I never came close to using. Now that the plans are structured in much the same way, where you get X number of minutes, X amount of data, X amount of texting, and X varies depending on how much you need and how much you want to spend, I really don't know how little you'd be able to spend with Verizon and still meet your specific needs. Could be you'd still be able to have some data/texting without coming close to $70. Only way to know for sure is to ask Verizon.

[misswitch.livejournal.com]

You should see if your college offers a discount. I pay about $70 because my district has a discount.

I use Sprint and really like them. I've really never had any dead spots or anything like that, so I'm pretty happy.

[bookishwench.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Sadly, it does not. (Are we honestly surprised? No, no we are not.)

[misswitch.livejournal.com]

I am shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you, at the revelation that your college doesn't offer any discounts. I practically have the vapors I'm so surprised.

[scratchingpost1.livejournal.com]

I have a prepaid phone, and I typically put $25 on it every 2 or 3 months. Of course, I hardly ever use my phone.

[bookishwench.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Hmm, I may need to look into that.

[mikelesq.livejournal.com]

Here's the thing: remember that you won't be happy if the call quality is awful. If you're happy with your current carrier's sound quality, think hard before switching to save $4 a month once you add a smartphone/data plan. The difference in call quality region by region can be significant.

But definitely check for discounts through work. Those can be a real saver.

[bookishwench.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Yeah, I'm actually pretty okay with Verizon's current call quality, so if I did upgrade, I'd probably try to stay with them. Unfortunately, my work doesn't offer any discounts.

[nightshade1972.livejournal.com]

Call quality is one of the reasons my father initially chose Verizon, as well as their geographic coverage. At the time he signed up, he was still working and he was also traveling significantly for business, so he didn't want to choose a cheaper provider if they didn't have the coverage he needed--it would have been very bad form to be on the phone with a business client only for the call to get dropped in the middle of nowhere! I have no complaints about the call quality, and the only time we *know* we'll have an issue with dropped calls is if we really are literally out in the middle of nowhere. There's a town in TX called Eagle Pass. If you look at the US map of Verizon's coverage, and you see how the whole damn country is a nice bright red except for a few scattered tiny white spots? Eagle Pass is one of those white spots. Assuming you don't travel a lot, that shouldn't be a problem for you.

:-)