| So you think you need a cell phone? The first | | | | $60-$100 a month! |
| thing you need to do is to find out what cell | | | | The cell phone plan base price covers only so |
| phone company has the best coverage for where | | | | many minutes of airtime, and after that you |
| you live, or where you are traveling often. Then | | | | basically pay through the nose. So it is very |
| once you have the cell phone company picked | | | | important to figure out what you think you'd use |
| out, you need to determine what cell phone plan | | | | the phone for, figure out how many minutes a |
| to get. Sounds easy, right? Well get ready for | | | | month that might be, and then get the next |
| some number crunching and agonizing as it's not | | | | higher cell phone plan. It is cheaper to get too |
| as easy as it sounds. | | | | many minutes in your plan than not enough. I |
| If you're getting a cell phone primarily for safety, | | | | made that mistake too. I got a reasonable cell |
| good for you! Emergency use plans are the | | | | phone plan, thought I wasn't using it very much |
| cheapest, but only if you never use it! You may | | | | but got a big surprise when the bill came. To |
| consider 911 the only emergency call you'd make, | | | | come out ahead you really have to keep track of |
| and that would happen perhaps once in three | | | | every minute you spend on that cell phone. |
| years. But you really need to think again. I had | | | | Otherwise you'll have a heart attack when that |
| originally gotten a cell phone for safety and | | | | cell phone plan bill shows up every month. |
| assumed I'd make an emergency call never, or | | | | Thankfully cell phones these days have call timers |
| rarely. What I didn't realize was that I'd be calling | | | | and call limit timers so you can accurately keep |
| 911 not for myself but for car accidents I'd see | | | | track of your minutes and get a beep when a |
| happen, for accident victims that didn't have their | | | | preset time such as 20 minutes has been |
| cell phone or lost it in the wreck, to call in drunk | | | | reached. It doesn't seem fun and carefree, and |
| drivers, to call in aggressive stalking drivers and | | | | you have to wonder how much those teenage |
| that doesn't even cover the family emergencies! | | | | girls spend a month on their cell phone plan, but |
| My $15 a month emergency use only was used | | | | unless you'd like a $200 bill for one cell phone a |
| only for emergencies, but ended up costing over | | | | month you'll have to keep tabs on it! |