Cell phone plans for people who have no friends or money

[vinc456]

I'm looking for a plan that is suitable for very low usage. (less than an hour per month) Previously I was going with a $15/month pay by the minute plan with Virgin mobile. (30 cents per minute) We accumulated $215 in credit but when I was late for a top-up payment the account balance was reset to 0.

I will call Virgin again, but I'm hoping that some of you more knowledgeable folk might have some advice.

-I already own a phone but am looking for a new plan
-The phone is going to be see less than an hour of use per month. It's mostly going to be used for local calls and emergencies.

Finally f you have an old cheap phone (<$20) that you no longer need to use I will buy it off your hands. It must be easy to use because my mom is technophobic.

Thanks.

[TDFTW]

Go to superstore. presidents choice mobile is excellent.

I used to use their phones, I'd pay $10 for unlimited texting and 30 cents a minute. No frills, or catches either. Phones are cheap too $50, plus some come with $10 grocery card, and $30 startup credits

[spike98]

The rogers EPP is $25 for 200 min and ulimited eve and weekends starting at 9pm. If you signup this month i think they offer early eve and weekends starting at 6pm.

Thats all you get, no txt, no voicemail or caller id.

You must be an airmiles member to sign up however. (free and can do online)

[CRXguy]

Originally posted by spike98
The rogers EPP is $25 for 200 min and ulimited eve and weekends starting at 9pm. If you signup this month i think they offer early eve and weekends starting at 6pm.

Thats all you get, no txt, no voicemail or caller id.

You must be an airmiles member to sign up however. (free and can do online)

afaik, the epp doesn't apply to ppl with airmiles card anymore. you have to be an actual employee of one of their recognized organizations.

also, the new epp sucks compared to my old/current 17.50 epp.

[aqure591]

Solo Mobile has the Unbeatable Plan for $15, which comes with 50 mins and 50 txt msgs.
http://www.solomobile.ca/Plans_Rates...lan/Rates.aspx

Get this phone on a 30 day term for $75http://www.solomobile.ca/Phones-Acce...e=samsung_m230and sign up on a month to month basis. This way you don't have to worry about topping up your balance every month.

[roopi]

Originally posted by aqure591
Solo Mobile has the Unbeatable Plan for $15, which comes with 50 mins and 50 txt msgs.
http://www.solomobile.ca/Plans_Rates...lan/Rates.aspx

Get this phone on a 30 day term for $75http://www.solomobile.ca/Phones-Acce...e=samsung_m230and sign up on a month to month basis. This way you don't have to worry about topping up your balance every month.

Fido offers this same plan with per second billing.

http://www.fido.ca/web/page/portal/F...o=monthlyPlans

For an extra $5.00/month you have unlimited evening/weekends as well.

As for prepaid I think the 7-11 phones might be the best because their minutes are good for 365 days and then if you add minutes before the 365 days the minutes will be rolled over the same as other carriers.

http://speakout7eleven.ca/pages/rates/

[1boy]

Wind Mobile Has a no contract plan for 15$/month - 100 minutes, 50 txt.
extra mintues are 10cents, but if you dont use up ur txt or minutes, they roll over to the next month.
they're a new company so their still might be some network issues... but it's worth checking out anyway.
www.windmobile.ca

[rumeo]

Originally posted by roopi


Fido offers this same plan with per second billing.

http://www.fido.ca/web/page/portal/F...o=monthlyPlans

For an extra $5.00/month you have unlimited evening/weekends as well.

As for prepaid I think the 7-11 phones might be the best because their minutes are good for 365 days and then if you add minutes before the 365 days the minutes will be rolled over the same as other carriers.

http://speakout7eleven.ca/pages/rates/

solo has per second billing as well, plus no activation. fido has $35 activation. if you do decide to go with solo, pm me and i can get you a beyond discount on a phone from solo.

Originally posted by 1boy
Wind Mobile Has a no contract plan for 15$/month - 100 minutes, 50 txt.
extra mintues are 10cents, but if you dont use up ur txt or minutes, they roll over to the next month.
they're a new company so their still might be some network issues... but it's worth checking out anyway.
www.windmobile.ca

this is a great plan if you dont leave the city of calgary, so keep that in mind.

[j.lai]

Pay as you go

[Mys73ri0]

for those suggesting pay as you go plans - if you didn't notice the OP is already on a pay as you go plan and forgot to top up hence losing all his minutes.

HOWEVER, you can hook your pay as you go up to have monthy/period payments so you won't lose your credit.

[jwslam]

Originally posted by 1boy
Wind Mobile Has a no contract plan for 15$/month - 100 minutes, 50 txt.
extra mintues are 10cents, but if you dont use up ur txt or minutes, they roll over to the next month.
they're a new company so their still might be some network issues... but it's worth checking out anyway.
www.windmobile.ca

NOPE
http://www.windmobile.ca/community/ideas/detail/12696/

[sneek]

Too bad Virgin ended that deal they had. I think it was $25 for 200 mins, unlim text, caller id and VM+EW at 7 if you signed on a 3 year. I tried looking for it but it is over. For most people $25+GST is affordable and honestly that could handle a lot of peoples cellular needs.

[Jynx]

I can get this plan for any NON BELL mobility customer:

450 daytime minutes
Call display
Voicemail (25 message voice mail)
Unlimited Text messaging (within Canada only)
Unlimited bell to bell local calling
Unlimited evenings and weekends starting at 6pm
Call forwarding and waiting
Can to Can LD $0.10/min
Can to US LD $0.20/min

Total cost per month including all fees (system access etc…): $27.00

PM if interested.

[vinc456]

Originally posted by Mys73ri0
for those suggesting pay as you go plans - if you didn't notice the OP is already on a pay as you go plan and forgot to top up hence losing all his minutes.

HOWEVER, you can hook your pay as you go up to have monthy/period payments so you won't lose your credit.

I had auto-payment setup, but when my credit card expired Virgin was unable to get their money on time. There might have been a text message warning but my mother does not check text messages.

In any case thanks for all the suggestions. I'm still comparing the options but most seem to be an improvement other the old plan.

[koopkoop2]

My Mom has the exact same use case scenario.

Go with 7-11 Mobile. Their credit is good for ONE YEAR. I put $20 onto it at the time of activation and it'll be good until next year. After that, you can throw as little as $10 onto it to renew your entire balance for another year.

Completely blows all the other phone companies out of the water since all of them will toss your credits out the window every month - unless you throw more money onto your already enormous amount of unused credits..