Finding a prepaid deal for the family

Virgin Mobile, Net10, and Tracfone — and tried to create a reasonable scenario for how much a family would have to pay over the course of a year with that service. I thought I’d try something similar, though in a more uniform fashion. We’ll set some guidelines and see how a select few carriers stack up.

Guidelines

This will be for a family of four, two adults and two children. They will each get 150 minutes per month, or 1,800 for the year. We will figure on the kids using 100 text messages a month, 50 incoming and 50 outgoing. For phones, we will mostly go with the cheapest model possible, unless the cheapest model is rather shoddy. In that case, we’ll go with the lest expensive functional phone. We’re assuming that the family doesn’t travel much, and cope with a plan that only covers their local calling area. The parents neither need nor want text messaging, nor are they willing to spring for mobile Web. In fact, to make this realistic, they’re pretty reluctant to add text messaging to their kids’ plans, but don’t want to start World War III over it.

kajeet for the kids

Here’s an idea: Why not go with kajeet when getting the phones for the two kids? At the very least, we’ll tabulate what it would cost to fulfill our parameters through them, and then see if it truly is cheaper than other carriers. They’ll get the Nokia 6165i, since the cheaper model is remarkably crappy. For $50, this phone will give a kid anything he or she needs, including a camera. That’s $100 for both. Minutes cost 10 cents each, all the time, so that will run you $360 for both kids. Add on a 200 per month text message bundle for $4.99, because it would run you twice that much to go 10 cents per message for 100 texts. So that’s another $10. The catch, of course, is the daily access fee. That’s 32 cents a day, every day, no matter what. That amounts to $116.80 for the year, which runs you $233.60 for both kids. All added up, you’re looking at just under $700 for the year. kajeet also offers Talk Paks, which parents might find better in this situation. They include the daily access fee, so there is no extra charge to compute. And whaddya know? They have a 150-minute per month plan. That’ll run you $19.99 each. That’s $480 for the year. Add in $120 for the text messaging plan and you’re looking at pretty much the same price, right around $700. Dang.

Page Plus

We’re regular old Page Plus junkies. So let’s check what they have to offer in terms of bargain deals. Because they have rates which vary from card to card, minute expiration comes into play here. Sure, it would be ideal to just buy the 1,400 minute card for $80 and pick some more cards as you need them later in the year. Problem is, they only last about four months, so you’re going to have to take a lesser rate so you can spread out the purchases. The first step is to get each family member a 700-minute card, which will last the full four months, with a little extra. That’s $200 ($100 if you’re doing this for parents only). But, because of their funny money method of calculating your balance, each account will read $84. Let’s see how this plays into text messaging. At eight cents a text, and at 400 text message over the course of the four months (800 total), that’s $64. Since that comprises the bulk of the balance, we have to figure something else for the kids. The best way seems to be to slap a 300 minute card down just for texting, which would give them 450 texts each. So we’re right around the area. For phones, let’s get the kids a pair of Samsung A670s for $50 each, and the parents a pair of LG VX4500s for $40 each. What’s our grand total for the year? For the parents, it will cost $380 — two $50, 700-minute cards every four months, plus the two phones. For the kids, it will cost $550 — the two phones, two 700-minute cards every four months, and two 300-minute cards every four months (for texting). Total for the year: $930.

STi Mobile

STi Mobile is one of those operators that charge a daily access fee. However, in some cases this can be worth it. So let’s look at what we can do with them. Luckily for the parents, they can get away for free with a Sanyo 200. So it won’t hurt to splurge $49.99 for each kid to get an LG 225, which has a camera. So that’s just $100 for the phones. Off to a good start. Their first rate plan runs 10 cents a day, and 10 cents a minute. The family will run up $146 for the year in access fees with this plan ($36.50 each for the year, times four). For their 1,800 minutes, they’ll each run a bill of $180 for the year, times four, so $720. Text messages are five cents each, so for each kid’s 1,200 yearly text messages, they’ll be costing $60, so $120 for both. So with the phones, access fee, minutes, and texts, this family can expect to pay $940 for the year. STi does have another option. You can raise the access fee to 25 cents a day, and have minutes charged at 7.9 cents each. That means $365 for the year in access fees total. For each member’s yearly minutes, they’ll incur a cost of $142.20. Times four, so $568.80, plus the kids’ texting, $120. Add it all up, and you get $1,153.80. So yeah, stick with the 10 cent plan.

Net10

I know they covered Net10 in the original article, but in case you didn’t want to read it, let’s see how easy it can get when you’re paying 10 cents a minute and 5 cents a text. In the interest of not going up to $60 for a camera phone, let’s get this family four LG 300s for $30 each. Here’s the kicker, and a great deal with Net10: You get a 300-mintue card, good for 60 days, when you activate this phone (plus a number of other phones). This is perfect for us, since we’re looking for 300 minutes over 60 days. For the remaining 1,500 minutes, we’re looking at $150 for the year for each family member, so $600. Add in the 2,400 text messages total for $120, and the $120 for the phones, and you et $840 for the year.

Prepaid on the cheap

As you can see, you can get some bargains on prepaid deals if you budget your minutes and limit your text messaging. Truth told, in a budget situation like this, 100 text messages a month might be a bit excessive, so your bill can be lowered quite a bit. The only downside, really, is the 150-minute monthly allowance. Some people might find that a bit restricting. But when you’re looking for places you can slash your budget, your time talking on the phone is a luxury. Having a phone has become a necessity. But the amount of time you spend on it can be a form of luxury. Plus, as my dad always said, you’re taking away time where you’re spending money, thereby adding time you can make money. Does anyone else have a prepaid on a family budget like this? Leave your stories in the comments. Kid on cell phone courtesy of flickr user snappybex via a Creative Commons license.]]>