Since last April or so, I have used a pay-as-you-go Tracfone as my sole cell phone. The phone itself cost $10 including some cell phone minutes. The good things about this phone include
- Incredibly cheap–with a special deal, I just paid $30 for 90 days and 300 minutes (120 minute card * double minutes for my cell + 60 minute bonus )
- Has three games (“Rebels”, “Crazy”, and “Soccer”)
- Reasonably good cell phone coverage
- Small
- Text messages cost 0.30 minutes each, and you can delete unread text messages without being charged for them
However, the phone has a few limitations:
- No internet
- No keyboard so you’re text messaging like it’s 1999
- Does not use any technology invented since 2000, such as cell phone keyboards
- May get picked on for owning this phone
Despite the limitations, this phone has worked out well for me. Here’s how I use it:
- I have a Google Voice account and Google Voice phone number
- I don’t know my Tracfone cell phone number–only Google Voice knows
- I pay for a Skype incoming phone number, $60/year. This number is hooked up to my Google Voice phone number. I never make outgoing calls with Skype–I use Google Voice’s web site to place my Skype calls, which will call Skype and then call the other party.
- When someone rings my Google Voice number, all my phones ring. I only use my Tracfone if I’m not around another phone.
- When someone texts my Google Voice number, I check it on-line via Google Voice if possible. Then I can delete the text without reading it from the Tracfone. I almost always wait and respond to text messages via the web because it is so horrible to text with the Tracfone.
Using the 80/20 rule, we can guess that 20% of your conversations take up 80% of your cell phone minutes. I almost always have these long conversations on my home phone or work phone–the only exceptions over the last year have been when I’m at conferences, and I can now use Google Voice plus my Skype number to talk on my computer at conferences.
My only issue with this setup is that, when I do text or call from my Tracfone, my caller ID shows up. I have been thinking about whether I should block the caller ID.
