HOW TO SAVE SOME MONEY ON MY CELL PHONE BILL - PAGE PLUS REVIEW updated February 2014

Back before our little bundle of joy arrived, we were paying in excess of $100 dollars for 2 cell phones. We had mediocre phones, mediocre minutes and the reception was so so. I think we have all tried to make a call, but to our utter frustration, we are either out of minutes or we have no reception. The first reaction of most people is the thought "and what am I paying $100 a month for?" For us, It was time to save some money, and the first place we saw waste, was on these overpriced pieces of plastic.

Everywhere I looked, the big names like US cellular, Verizon, AT&T and T mobile were yelling out for attention. On the highway as I drove home from work, a billboard to my right telling me.... SAVE SAVE SAVE. In the supermarkets, there are little signs on our shopping karts, and halfway through all of our favorite TV shows. "5% off your wireless bill". Lets cut the Bologna. We all want to believe we will save, but we are not going to do so, with these major players. Do we really think that one is going to work out any more than 5% cheaper than the other?

Instead, we looked to the little guys, and not the Crickets and Sprint mobiles. I am talking almost never heard of. We were lucky enough to stumble across PagePlus. They have no frills, and certainly lack marketing gimmicks. And this, my friends, was perfect. Lets discuss the pros shall we because the cons are obvious.

1. They use the reception of one of the major players (Begins with V) and we have never had an issue. We do not travel out of state a lot but when we did, even when paying over $100, we had problems anyway. This is where all the other cheap networks let people down, but this network is great. No problem anywhere in Wisconsin.

2. There is no contract! That's right.... none! It just makes me smile to have this freedom. Instead, it works something like pre pay. I pay $30 dollars per month for 1200 minutes and 1200 texts with a handful of data too. This is unbelievable. And it gets better. If it's a busy month I can spend $39 per month and get unlimited talk text and 100 mb of data. I was blown away when I started using it and it actually worked so well. There is another plan that I sometimes use to. If you are going away for two months, say for example to the Bahama's (I wish), you can pay $12 for 250 minutes and 250 texts for the month you leave, and the second month, because it is a monthly plan, wont cost you a dime.

3. Handsets can be purchased for close to nothing or you may already have one. Old Verizon phones work on this network. Do some research for a list of compatible handsets or if you leave a comment, I will respond and let you know it it works on PagePlus. I am currently using an older LG phone, because of the battery life capacity and this month I simply used the $12 dollar plan. My wife has a Samsung windows smart phone dowacky, and is on the $30 per month. If I run out I get another $12 or maybe a $30, depending on how the next month will go. And for those of you now searching the web for phones to buy second hand, ahem.... ebay.

4. Don't trust the online comparisons you see. They don't make any sense. They are more than likely produced by one of the major players.

5. (3/2/13)They just updated their website and you can now login, add credit to your account online and even LOOK UP PHONE CALL HISTORY ( for the parents reading this). I find that the updated website really helps as their old website was quite difficult to use.

So lets look at the cons lads and ladies.

1. If you are pish posh and need the latest smart phone, this may not be for you. If you are like me and just don't care anymore. If I want to play angry birds or mess with a few apps, I will open my ipad, for free and do so over wifi. Where do you not get wifi these days? However if this is a necessity, stay clear. This network works great and has a nice amount of second hand Verizon smart phones that work with it as smart phones, but no iphone or this week technology. *update 1/4/14 I believe it is now possible to activate an iphone and similar on the network although the customer service have to tell you otherwise. Google around and see what you find regarding an iphone on pageplus.

2. Be warned also, that the official page plus website will tell you that you can only use their generic phones (which are not the worst. I just came back to update this page because I just bought one for $50 and am pleased. See rebel ow for details). This, in my opinion, is something they have to say on their part, but I believe that the majority of the phones on their network are second hand Verizon phones.

3. I find it easier to use their simple system than paying a bill every month, but it may not be for everyone. To set up your phone could not be easier, but again its different. Some people don't like different. (Just came back to say that the website is updated and customer service times has e improved greatly)

4. There customer service is ok for a small company. They have been super nice to me, but do take awhile to answer the phone. That said, I had hell with the major companies. I think we all have been there.This is simply an understandable wait on hold sometimes. Besides cutting their budget on marketing, I presume they also cut it here too.

5. If I think of anymore, I will write them here.

My old phone that I brought over from Verizon just died. I looked at numerous websites to see what the deals were like. All very expensive. So I went to www.pagepluswireless.com (which has now be revamped and looks a lot better). I bought e cheapest phone that they have. The Kyocera tornino s2300. It was $50. It's very basic, has a Qwerty keyboard, works like a charm and I was very impressed for 50 quid. It was also delivered in 3 days. it homes with a mediocre camera, battery life is great, and call quality is much better than my last phone. Again, it's not for smart apps, and is a little older looking (kind of looks like an old blackberry) but I thought it would be worth suggesting to anyone who is curious.

You may also be looking for a second phone or phone for a kid, it's perfect for that too.

I am delighted with this money saver. Its been unbelievable. And we have tried numerous different budget cell phone providers. Even if you want to try it as a second phone first to test, it is so cheap that it wouldn't hurt. maybe buy one for your kid that has been bugging you for a cell phone, and throw $12 into it for them(another separate Pro is the ability for you to cut them off by using page plus at the end of the month or when minutes/texts expire).

Get in the know how, with this one. Obtain the information you need, and get the right phone. Port over your number and be delighted my friends!! One less bill, and the power is with you, for how much you pay for your minutes.

It is now over a year later and I am still more than satisfied with my phone service. Its been fantastic. :)