Home

As of today, the two wireless phones in our family are now prepaid. No contract, no additional monthly taxes and fees, no more unused minutes every month. Anticipated savings of about $565 the first year; $820 the second year.

I previously said I would name names for my cell-phone transition. It helps describe the process.

I had Verizon Wireless. I was happy with the service, but not the pricing. We had a family-share plan of 700 minutes, the fewest minutes for any *advertised* family-share plan. It was costing about $85 per month, including all the junk taxes and fees. Problem was, we only used about 150 minutes per month, which means our per-minute rate was through the roof.

I separately ordered two phones from Tracfone.com, the largest provider of prepaid phone service. I ordered mine first, a nice Motorola W370. It arrived a few days later. One inconvenience for some people is you have to be home to sign for the FedEx package, or, I assume, you can pick it up or make other arrangements.

I went on the Tracfone Web site and activated the phone with no problem. I now have a new phone number. Activating online gives you 20 free minutes. (If you call to activate, you only get 10 free minutes.) The special deal with the Motorola W370 is free double minutes for the life of the phone. So, I bought 400 minutes that last for one year. It was automatically doubled to 800, for a grand total of 820 minutes. That should last me most of a year.

Phone cost: $50
400 minute/1year: $99 ($105.99 with tax)

So that’s $150ish for a year.

My wife wanted to use the same phone number as her Verizon cell phone. I ordered the same Motorola phone. It, too, arrived a few days later. I then followed directions on the Web site for porting the phone number from her Verizon phone to Tracfone. I check back today, two days later, and the Web site said the port-in was complete.

That’s where I was confused. I couldn’t figure out on the Web site how to activate the phone. The site kept directing me back to the procedure for porting the number, which I already did. So, I called and got it activated. In hindsight, it seemed all I had to do was turn off the phone and turn it back on again.

Then I added minutes to her phone and got a pleasant surprise. There was a special offer for an additional 200 minutes for buying the 400 minutes/1-year deal, plus 100 free minutes for porting a phone number.

So, she ended up getting 1,110 minutes.

400 minutes for $99
400 minutes because of free doubling for life
200 minutes in a special deal
100 minutes for porting
10 free starter minutes
———————-
1,110 minutes

I called Verizon Wireless and canceled my account. I had to pay an early-termination fee of $155. So, that diminishes our first-year savings. Assuming, the minutes we bought will last us a year, the accounting would go like this:

Verizon Family Share: $1,020
2 Tracfones and minutes: -$300
Early termination: -$155
——————————-
First-year savings: $565
Second-year savings (assuming same minutes cost): $820

What I learned:

• Prepaid phones aren’t quite as full-featured as post-paid phones. Mine doesn’t have a camera, Bluetooth wireless capability or music-playing ability. But it does phone calling, texting, even Web browsing.
• Verizon Wireless has an unadvertised 550-minute family-share plan. A rep offered it to me when I called to cancel my account. That would have been nice to know before.
• There’s a feeling of freedom when you ditch a monthly obligation and pay as you go. At least, for me.
• Verizon Wireless is known for great coverage and voice quality, but I get more reception bars in my house with a Tracfone. Go figure.