Like everyone, we're trying to figure out ways to save money.

As I've mentioned here, I am a big fan of Tracfone, partly because my trusty Nokia 1100 has survived trips through the laundry, my wife's 1100 survived the baby slobbering on it, and my son's 1100 has survived in a 9 year old's backpack for a year (yes, we give a 9 yo a cell phone, he uses it about 3x a month to call us when he's almost done with a school event)

Anyway, I also have a Blackberry 8130 Curve, and while I enjoy the data services (especially Google Maps), and Gmail to go, the reality is that the data services are playthings, and the main things I use the phone for are text messages and voice calls.

So I did an analysis of my usage for this year, and the costs I've incurred so far, and compared that to the costs I would have incurred with a Tracfone for the same use.

Anyway, here's my actual analysis:



Now I'm not selling tracfone service or anything else like that, all I'm doing here is showing you my results of the analysis*. I'll be eating the $175 Early Termination Fee and going back to a Tracfone next month.

Carry on.


*Your Mileage May Vary. Ask your Doctor if Tracfone is Right For You. Some users of this message have experienced bloating, flatulence, priapsis, hallucinations and/or hair loss. Not for use as a flotation device. This message was written in a facility that contains peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, and dairy products. This is Martin Focazio and I Approved This Message.

I use Tracfone and it does seem to provide a solid service at the right price. I've never been without a signal. Voice is clear and text always arrives.
Their voice mail is a bit spotty, so I just don't use it (not important to me anyway).
I'd like to have a smart phone but I could never justify the costs.
A plus is that if you want to be anonymous you never have to give Tracfone your name - simply buy the phone at walmart and that's it.

Very timely report as I am considering a switch. Thanks very much for the analysis of your usage, Martin.

Like Nishnabotna, I'd like a smart phone but can't justify the costs -- and I like the anonymity aspect of the Tracfone, which I hadn't really thought about.

From your cost analysis, you've seem to have found it cheaper to go from a contract phone (AT&T) to a Pay As You Go PAYG service (Tracphone) even though you are using more than 3000 minutes and almost 2000 texts per year. The opposite would be true in the UK.

An example would be a T-mobile 18 month contract for about $50/month.

This would give the following,

A Nokia N95 worth over $500. (but locked to the Service Provider)

700 minutes Phone use per month. (very expensive though if you were to go above this monthly limit @ $.50/minute for phone calls)

Unlimited Texts.

1 Gbyte Internet Download @ $13/month or
3 Gbyte Internet Download @ $21/month or
10 Gbyte Internet Download @ $37/month.

Total Yearly costs would be

$600 with just the phone and text package.
$756 with phone, text and the 1Gyte Internet downland package.

The AT@T costs seem very expensive, was the cost of the Blackberry included in the contract i.e. is the Blackberry locked to the AT@T service? Can you get the Blackberry to work with the Tracphone service. I would assume that you could if the Blackberry device is unlocked.

I have like a bazillion and nine unused minutes but the blackberry plan does not let you swap them for data.

The Blackberry is locked to the AT&T Network. Tracfone handsets are custom-made for Tracfone and are ROM-locked to Tracfone and have custom software in the phones to vastly reduce the "unlocking" of the phones. This also does not allow for the use of "any" phone on Tracfone. But interestingly, Tracfone uses the AT&T & T-Mobile networks, so my switch is - technically - from AT&T to AT&T, just with another company managing the minutes used and a reduced feature set (no data connection, no data plan offered).

The phone cost me $150, a subsidized upgrade cost from a Palm Treo 650.

Here's where I also like to let our European friends in on the other nightmare of American mobile service.
Did you know that in the US, you pay not only for calls you make but also calls you RECEIVE? Same goes for text messages.
Not only that, phones are both locked to a particular carrier AND we have several different wireless technologies in use, so even if I did buy a phone for the Verizon network, because it's a CDMA phone, if I unlocked it, it won't work on the AT&T GSM network.

Finally, even our prepaid market is carrier-locked, and with the exception of Tracfone and Net10 (which are the same company), "Prepaid" phones often have "daily charges" even if you don't make any calls, or a "day charge" of $1.00 plus calls on any day you use the phone.

With Tracfone, you pay for what you use, and as long as you use your minutes before they expire - or add more minutes before they expire - there's no charges other than the deduction of units from the phone.

It's really a good deal.

Not that this changes the point being made here... but AT&T will unlock your Blackberry if you have been a customer for a while. Tell them you are going to Europe and want to use another sim card for local service while you are there and they should unlock it. They did it for me a couple of summers ago. I believe T-mobile will also do this after you have been a customer for 6 months.

Without going into alot of analysis I can say that Tracfone has saved me alot, as an infrequent cell phone user, and that's for the past three years. Martin's advice, to buy the double minutes for life card, seems key to the best economy, then every minutes package you buy is automatically doubled, regardless of the handset. I buy enough minutes once a year to have some left over, it nets out less than $9 per month for me. The coverage is very good, Tracfone uses almost any available cell provider, so I tend to get coverage where other providers don't have interconnect or sharing arrangements. Good cell coverage in the hills and mountains around the PNW too.

The one nit is international travel, Tracfone is not GSM, but buying a cheap unlocked handset (if I don't borrow a GSM phone from my brother) and a local SIM at a destination airport has always suited me better. Local hosts tend to appreciate having a local number at which to reach me.

Granted, I talk and text alot less than most folks, and I can live with alot less phone than others carry around, no smartphone for me. But if I get into an emergency situation and start using my minutes I can always buy more on the phone itself. And I really like not being tied to any particular carrier.

I looked at changing plans, but unless things have changed drastically in the past 5 months, my deal with Sprint is still good.

We pay $130/mo for 2 phones, with unlimited nights/weekends with nights starting at 7pm and unlimited sprint-to-sprint mobile calls, and unlimited data for my Treo 700p.

Our average monthly total minutes is about 3200 and 500 text messages.

I really only carry a cell phone for emergency use and very limited regular talk. I've been using Tracfones for 6 years, and it cost me $21.49 with tax every 3 months for 90 minutes, and I've now built up 400 minutes sitting on my phone if I need them.

Tracfones are great if you do not use your cell alot.