Thrifty phone options

The federal researchers who track such things say that this brutal recession ended in summer 2009, but for a great number of people, it sure doesn't feel that way.

For the many who have been dealing with shrinking incomes, furloughs, pay freezes, higher health insurance costs, layoffs or worse, there's a relentless push to drive down household expenses and reconsider the line between wants and needs.

Which brings me to cell phones.

I'm not an old man, but I'm old enough to remember when people didn't have monthly bills for Internet connections, cable or satellite television, or cell phones. Like many people, I'm paying for all three of those things each month, and even with the best deals I can find, they add up.

One way that I've saved some money is by switching to a prepaid cell phone. I used to have one of the least expensive contract plans available from AT&T and it cost about $50 a month or $600 a year.

That's less than many people pay, but I was able to cut that in half by switching to a prepaid plan. These plans have been known as a good alternative for people with bad or no credit because they can buy the phones and the prepaid minutes in cash at many stores. But they have evolved into an alternative for others who want inexpensive cell phone service.

Prepaid plans also eliminate service termination fees and unexpectedly high bills. Remember the stories about people who got thousand-dollar phone bills because their teenagers sent so many text messages? Can't happen with a prepaid phone.

Most major service providers, and some you may have never heard of, offer prepaid options. Most offer inexpensive phones with no contracts, no credit checks and solid networks with good coverage. In most cases, you buy and activate a phone, and then buy different amounts of talk time and service as needed online.

Here are some examples:

--TracFone (www.tracfone.com). A basic flip-phone costs about $20 and comes with 90 days of service and 60 minutes of talk/text time. Buy more time as needed, minutes last until you use them and each purchase extends the service date. For $125, you can buy a year of service and 800 minutes of talk time (a text message counts as half a minute).

--Virgin Mobile (www.virginmobileusa.com). Virgin offers perhaps the most attractive plan for smart phone users, with unlimited text, e-mail, data and Web, and 300 minutes of talk time, for $25 a month. For $40 a month, you get 1,200 minutes of talk time. You can get 1,500 minutes of talk, 500 texts, 10 megabytes of Web access and a month of service for $30 on the pay-as-you-go "paylo" plan. Virgin uses Sprint's network, which has limited coverage outside metropolitan areas and highway corridors in South Carolina.

--T-Mobile (www.t-mobile.com). Get 1,500 minutes of combined talk/text and 30 megabytes for data (Web surfing) for $30 a month.

--Cricket (www.mycricket.com). Unlimited talk and text for $35 a month. For $45 a month, you also get unlimited Web. Roaming charges will cost you 25 cents a minute out of network.

--Net 10 (www.net10.com). Owned by TracFone, this service offers an "easy minutes" option that gives you either 200 minutes each month for $15 or 500 minutes each month for $30. The plan requires no contract, but you agree to let them debit your credit card or bank account each month. There's also a pay-as-you go option offering 750 minutes and a month of service for $25.

--Straight Talk (www.straighttalk.com). Also owned by TracFone, and sold at Walmart. Plans start at $30 for 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts and 30 megabytes monthly.