Easy Cell Phone Help
real basic cell phone service

Many of us want to have a mobile phone for emergencies or "almost emergencies." We don't want to play games on them, take pictures with them or send text messages. We also don't want to pay $20 per month, let along $40 per month. After some research I think I have found the best deal for these purposes. (If you think I'm wrong, please let me know and I'll change the information on this page).

I'd recommend (for the USA and Canada) you go to your nearest 7-Eleven store (not because I'm in love with these stores) and buy the cheapest Nokia cell phone that works with the Speakout Wireless plan. As of September 2008, they were selling a Nokia phone for $40. You can buy a prepaid Speakout Wireless Card for $25.

The charges are $ .15 per minute and the minutes (if not added to) will expire in a year. In simple terms, if you don't use it much, the plan costs $2 month.

This may change so check out the 7-Eleven website or the Speak Out Wireless web site to see current charges. (Previously it was 20 cents per minute, now it is 15.) Un-official Speakout wireless web site.

Once you buy the phone there are seven things you need to learn from the manual.
  1. How to switch it on.
  2. How to switch it off.
  3. How to make a call.
  4. How to end a call.
  5. How to answer a call.
  6. How to add your minutes from the card.
  7. How to charge your phone.
Even if you don't go with the Speak Out Wireless plan the above seven things are the basics. If you don't want to read the manual - ask the nearest teen-ager for help.

If you don't want to visit 7-Eleven then there are a few other companies that have similar prepaid plans. Check out the cheapest prepaid plans at:

Airvoice, Page Plus Cellular, STI Mobile, T-Mobile and Tracfone. You can get Tracfones at Walmart.

The important questions to ask are:

What is the smallest recharge amount? ($10, $20 etc)
How long do the minutes last if they are not used? (Expiry of minutes)
Does the phone work in your area? (See a coverage map)
What is the cost per minute? (Typically $ 0.07 to $ 0.20 per minute)

If you don't see an ad for one your are interested in to the right, then use the search box below to find their site.


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