Has anyone used Jitterbug or Consumer Cellular? Those are the two that I've seen mentioned the most for saving money on your cell phone bill. I've also thought about a Tracfone.
I have a Net10 phone which has the cheapest minutes you can get. It really works well. I had a basic one until last week and I bought a Blackberry type phone by LG and it's wonderful. It really keeps us on budget too.
I think that prepaid phones are generally cheaper than those with a contract. It depends on your provider I guess. I know that Verizon offers a phone that is very standard - no camera and it's a flip phone. It's pretty cheap.
I used a Tracphone years ago before I got out of the "pay-as-you-go" phone plans. It was great at the time, but then I needed something better that had a texting plan.
I'm sure they are a lot cheaper than cell phones with contracts. The only problem is if you use it a lot, you will have to buy more minutes often. I've used the Net10 one too and it held up well.
How is the quality of them. Do you miss a lot of calls and get dropped a lot? I know someone that has a cheap phone and plan so it isn't prepaid, but it is terrible service. He doesn't even get half my phone calls or text messages.
Tracfones cost about 9 cents per minute. I'm not positive, but I think that's a flat rate. It sounds like a good solution if you don't use your cell phone a lot. Otherwise, a monthly plan would probably be better.
budget cell phones 
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