Published: June 10, 2008 12:17 am      

Who's the boss?

Picking your phone plan can be tough

One can turn on the television to watch the season finale of a favorite show or movie, but as the show or movie takes a break, one can view a pre-paid cell phone advertisement.

“You are the boss?” seems to be the newest catch phrases to get many Americans to purchase a Tracfone, Virgin Mobile phone, and even a Net 10 phone. But would the average four-sized family be better off with a prepaid cell phone or an annual contract phone?

With gas prices rising, money does not come easy lately, and without extra money, the extra activities are being reduced, such as cell phone plans. If a family plays its cards right, they can end up spending less than $800 a year on their phones.

Here’s an example. Say the Doe family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Doe and two children, all use Tracfones. They all decided to buy the $49.99 Motorola W370, a nice thin flip phone with text messaging, MP3 Ringtones plus Downlaodable ringtones and graphics. That’s $179.96, including double minutes for life, meaning each other time they add a money card, it automatically doubles. Now the family needs units to last a year, so they chose the $99.99 400 minutes and 365 days of service for all four family members, adding their total up to $579.92. Now that could last the parents for a year, but with two children, that means more text messaging than usual so they will need to add each child to get 60 extra minutes, which is $19.99, but it should double with the double minutes for life, giving them 120 minutes and the new total $619.90. Plus Mr. and Mrs. Doe will need some more units later on. They will add 60 minutes for $19.99, giving them an extra 120 and a new total of $659.88. Just to be safe, the family will add 90 minutes each for $24.99, giving them actually 180 units. Now the family has a one-year contract, new Motorola phones, double units for life, and 800 minutes for an entire year, with roughly 23 seconds a minute for Tracfone, their total will calculate up to $ 759.84.

Now the Doe family would like to try Virgin Mobile. The family buys two Wild Card phones for the children, $99.99, and two Flares for the adults, $29.99, and both phones have MP3 Ringtones plus downloadable ringtones and graphics. Now the family needs minutes to talk, so they each get $20, which is 200 minutes at 10 cents a minute for 90 days. That’s 140 minutes more than Tracfone. Mr. and Mrs. Doe feel the need to give the children unlimited text messaging, mobile e-mail, and instant messaging, too, which is $20 dollars every month besides the second month, which is free. Thus if the family pays $20 every other three months and the two kids have unlimited messaging 11 months for an entire year, their total will end up at $1,099.96

Finally, the Doe family tries Net 10. They decide to treat themselves by buying four Motorola w375 for $59.99, which includes a VGA Camera, ringtones, graphics, and text and picture messaging, for $239.96. Each phone includes 300 minutes and 60 days of service upon activation. Now if the family stays loyal to the 60-day plan, they will have to add up six times a year, causing them to have $720 in units. This gives them 1,800 minutes each at a cost of $959.96.

After the Doe family had a run with prepaid phones, they decide to try their local cell phone plan, U.S Cellular. They decide to pick the Wide Area Family 1000 plan, and since a family plan only includes two lines, they will need two plans. For $3,863.04, that includes 1,000 anytime minutes, 45 roaming minutes, unlimited incoming calls, unlimited nights and weekends starting at 7 p.m., and unlimited mobile-to-mobile. Even though the family could have gone with the 750 plan, their unlimited nights and weekends would not have started until 9 p.m., but the difference was only $10. The children decided they wanted an LG Rumor for $79.95 with a mail-in rebate and a 24 month agreement. Mr. and Mrs. Doe decide they only need a Motorola W385, razors, for $49.95, with a 24-month agreement. Their new total is $4,122.84 with a two-year plan and phones. The family would also like unlimited text messaging, and U.S Cellular offers unlimited Family Text Messaging for $19.95, raising the total to $4,391.35, including tax.

With all this in mind, the Doe family can spend the least amount with Tracfone. However, most families do decide on using a plan because it comes with all the perks, such as bluetooth, camera phones, and newer phones, whereas Tracfone using older cell phones from other companies.

All prepaid phones and plan cell phones all have the same coverage in the Fairmont area, but which will you pick?