Save some money on your cellular bills- and save yourself from a contract!!

Recently, I decided to start "shopping" for a new cell provider.  Mind you, my service is ok, but the pricing is outrageous for what I get for service with my current provider, and it is quite honestly not worth the money.  At all. I pay more for a low level plan with no bells, no whistles, than most people pay for a smartphone with bells and whistles.  We get a small discount due to my husband's employer, too. 

Let me start with the phone.  Unlike contract plans, you don't get a "free" phone with 2 year service agreements.  But, then, you don't have to stay with the plan for 2 years, either. I received the Samsung Intercept for this review. Buying this phone is $199.99- it is an Android smartphone, so you have all of the bells and whistles of  a smartphone. 

Sleek, isn't it?  Mine of course now has a rubbery hard case in a zebra print, but I can't get any photos to show up clearer than the stock photos so here you go.  I am used to my ipod touch so I really wanted to get a touch screen phone (as did my kids.  Yep, they play with the apps.  Sigh.  Not a can of worms everyone will want to open...)

I love this phone.  We've had a ton of fun with it for the past 4 weeks- trying out apps from the Droid Marketplace, doing Whrrls for blog related things, trying out Foursquare, and more.  I found the calls to be pretty clear when we actually used this as a phone, which is obviously important!!  We live in an area that doesn't have the greatest coverage for Virgin Mobile, and I feel like we still had great call quality and service bars pretty much everywhere we went.  I didn't notice a difference from my current plan, which made me really happy!!

Touch screens can be super sensitive, so I did have a few more "pocket calls" than I've had with my other cell phones (but this phone is way more fun to bring places, so that can be a factor too!!).  I did find myself on more than one occasion wondering how my chubby fingers got me to the screen that I was looking at, but honestly, that's a user thing not a phone thing.  I've been really happy with this phone and I think with the "plans" offered by Virgin Mobile, this can make someone who wants a smartphone (like me ) and doesn't have a lot of money to spend on a smartphone (like me) a GREAT option to have all the bells and whistles without the hefty price tag!!

For plans, Virgin Mobile offers three basic plans :

For $25 a month you get UNLIMITED text, email, data and web (this includes google 'locator' kind of like gps.  Good for people, well, like me!!).  This also includes 300 talk minutes.  I don't spend a ton of time talking on my cell phone unless I'm trying to use up the minutes that we pay for.  The talk feature is more for in-case-of-emergency or for when my sister finds the cutest pair of shoes and I have to go see them RIGHT NOW, or other important events.  (If you are chatty on your cell I'd definitely recommend looking into the $40/month plan...maybe you talk a TON and want unlimited talk.  That's a lot of time on the phone for $60!!)

Let's look at what *I* pay for over a 2 year period.  I'm going to say my phone is "Free" and just use the monthly bill.  For 24 months, or the average time of a contract with my current provider, I'd pay 24 x $54.00 (rounding up for ease of math) which is $1296.00. 

For Virgin Mobile, I'd pay the $200.00 for the phone (rounding up again) plus 24x $25 = $600 + the $200 for phone so $800. 

I have a basic cell phone with a QWERTY keyboard that I got "free" and will pay $1296.00 for in the 24 months of my contract.  I get the 10 somethings of data a month with this, and no fun or fancy features and 450 minutes (nights/weekends are free).  (I have NEVER used all of my allotted minutes, and never more than 100 night/weekend minutes).

Now.  With Virgin Mobile, I can BUY a fancy smartphone with lots of fun features, bells and whistles, PLUS pay the $25 a month for unlimited data/web/email/texting plus 300 talk minutes and SAVE myself $496.00 over 2 years.  Plus, I have no contract.  No early termination fees, no feeling stuck. 

That's not a small amount of money. Not for us. I'm honestly wondering WHY I haven't looked into Virgin Mobile before this.

Kind of makes you look at what cell phones cost in a new light, doesn't it?

Thanks to Virgin Mobile for sending the phone for me to try.  I've got a whole new mindset about my phone service!  Opinions expressed within are my own.