the Cost of Individual Cell Phone Plans

The service that I chose has unlimited minutes as long as I call within the state. The cost of that service is $55. I also included unlimited text messaging for an additional $10. The total cost including taxes is $90 per month. My service came with a two-year contract and the phone was discounted significantly. The MSRP for the phone I chose is $299 and with the contract was discounted to $69.99 with a $50 mail-in rebate.

The service is good and works for my needs. If I needed to leave the state I would have to either switch plans or buy a pre-paid phone because out-of-state calls are $.35 per minute which is astronomical. The area that I live in is very rural and there are several locations that either don't get reception or get very poor reception.

Thoroughly research all of the contract options that your provider offers. There are usually several to choose from and you can even mix-and-match to fit your individual needs. Some providers offer different discounts on different phones so it would be helpful to decide ahead of time what type of phone you want and then use that to decide which provider to go with.