I've got a Smart phone that I love. After getting the first 2 bills I had to go back to my standard one. We are with ATT and to use it they tack on an extra $25 a month to cover everything you can do on it.

Is there a plan out there that will allow me to use the phone without the extra costs? I'm not interested in checking e-mail or surfing the web. The only other thing I do with it is text. Our plan now is obsolite-family plan (2 phones) with rollover minutes and free text for $65 mo. Using the SP upped our bill to about $130 mo. Help!!!

From the articles that I've read recently, more and more people are getting away from the contracted phones and going to prepaid cards with their phones. You can purchase some nice phones in the retail stores now and it's a much better deal for people like you (and me) who just want to TALK on a telephone.

Recently a repairman came to my house and he had a prepaid type phone. He said it was cheaper for him to use. He even had internet service on his phone! The same towers are used as for contracted phones, but he said his service is actually better than when he was under contract. Go figure!

It's something I'll definitely be looking at when my current contract runs out. I'll be interested to hear what others have to say.

I have used Tracfone prepaid service for years. I do not use the phone except to have it with me for emergencies and/or to call people when I'm out of the house, but it serves the purpose very nicely. There are a lot of phone models available and they do have text messaging available - something I've never used.

Overall, I know it is a really good deal for me. I shudder when I hear some of the monthly charges people pay for cell phones - especially when I know they aren't using it for anything other than talking.

My minutes always roll over so long as I keep buying minutes. Since I don't use it a lot, I always opt for the once a year purchase of minimum minutes (don't remember what that is) but there are always tons of double your minutes options, too. Again, I don't use those options, but they are there.

My son uses Boost mobile and he has unlimited text and calling for $50 a month. He also has internet and a nice 3g phone. After 5 months of paying on time they lowered it to $45. Can't beat it.

If they are in your area MetroPCs has talk and tet unlimited for $40 or $45 mo, no agreement but you have to purchase your own phone

CONSUMER CELLULAR - go online and look up their plans and I think you will be pleasantly surprised! We spent thousands of $ on Verizon cellular service that didn't give us any service at home. Finally I checked into CC and we have two phones, texting and I can't even remember how many mbs for online surfing and our bill runs around $35.00 monthly. AND we have never had a dropped call or dead areas like we had before. NO Contracts and they even notify you if you are about to run thru your minutes on your plan so you can add minutes and avoid excess charges. Great Customer Service. I don't work for them, just a very happy customer!

Most smartphones do require you to have a data package. And, many cell phone companies require a one or two year contract when you purchase the phone and charge a very high fee to get out of the contract. Was any of this a requirement when you purchased your smartphone? You may not have much recourse at this point in time. I know with Verizon, we had to take the data plan in order to get a smart phone. If you have discovered that this is a financial burden for you, I really hope you can get out of your contract and find phones/plan that will serve your purpose!