Yorkieabroad

That would work out way more expensive for us. We have $10 per line, with unlimited everything on mine and unlimited data on sons for an additional $5 per month each and (I think) 1000 shared minutes on the other 3 lines, which we never get anywhere near, as calls between the phones on the plan don't count. The original family plan it is based on is over 10 years old, and we just tacked on the data for me about 4 years ago, and son last year, which is why he gets less for his extra 5/ month than I do. We get a free smartphone every 2 years, with option to top up to upgrade. I saw a note about an option to "buy into" an early upgrade, but didn't take too much notice as not really interested...changing phones is a pain in the butt.

kodokan

Nice plan! Couldn't find anything like that when I looked - is it something you're grandfathered in on from way back?

I mostly use mine for texting and data; I loathe talking on the phone generally (except to my mum in the UK; I have a Skype phone plan that works over wifi for a dollar or so a month, so I can call her landline rather than making her sit at the computer).

Yorkieabroad

Yes, we got,it when we first arrived back in 2002, and we're hanging on to it!! Like you, we use very few "talk" minutes...I think our talk time has gone down as the phones have got fancier...the current ones are great as organizers, compact tablets, email checkers etc, but pretty lousy as actual phones! At home, I Bluetooth mine in to the house phone, which works fine as long as I remember to leave it on the south facing kitchen window sill....otherwise we don't get cell reception inside, apparently because of the type of foil backed insulation in the walls. At least the aliens won't be able to read our minds......

Pulaski

Mine is like that too, I've had the plan for about nine years. I could have got a better deal on the phone I got last year if I'd upgraded to a current plan, but the additional cost per month would have left me financially worse off after just 10 months, so I swallowed the cost of the new phone.

My grandfathered contract has 400 minutes/mth, of which I have never used more than about 100 minutes/mth, and consequently I have been sitting on permanent bank of about 3,500-4,000 rolled over minutes. The upgrade contract that the phone company wanted me to take was going to cost $20/mth more, and include an additional 150 minutes a month, which given that I already have around 300 minutes/mth more than I need would have been $20/mth for absolutely nothing (at least after paying for the $200 the phone cost).