October 11, 2008

Can you get a cell phone for $5 a month?

On a recent Oprah show they had a frugal family by the name of Heinz. The same family was previously featured in a Parade article. One thing they talked about on the show is having a $5 a month cell phone plan. The Parade article says: ""The couple pays $5 a month on each of two cellphones, but only so they can reach each other in an emergency." On the show she also said that the plan had rollover minutes.

But where do you find such a $5 a month cell phone plan with rollover minutes?

I haven't been able to find the exact same kind of plan with both rollover minutes and a bill of $5 a month or less. I looked through both the 10 page discussion in the comments from the Parade magazine article and over 120 posts on the Oprah page and nobody there new of such a plan. One person thought it might be an old Virgin Mobile plan that is no longer offered. Maybe she has a plan only offered in some regions.

I can't find the exact same plan but there are plans that are close.

Previously I discussed Pre Paid Cell Phone Service and I listed some fairly cheap pay as you go or prepaid cell phone plans.


T-mobile has a $10 card that lasts 3 months for 30 minutes. Thats $3.33 a month. But minutes do not rollover

AT&T Go Phone has rollover but the rates are higher. You can get $25 for 3 months or $100 for a year, either way works out to $8.33 a month with rollover.

So if you use a cell phone very little and really only need it for true emergencies then the T-mobile plan would probably work best since its as cheap as $3.33 a month. But if you use your phone a bit and want to keep your minutes then the AT&T plan is pretty good option and only $8.33 a month. Either of these choices are pretty cheap compared to a typical $40-80 cell phone bill, but they also only work if you use your cell phone very little.

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