Cheapest Prepaid Cell Phone Plan

What is the Cheapest Prepaid Cell Phone?

While many people buy a cell phone based on the features, coverage, ability to surf the web and other things, some people just want a cheap cell phone for backup, emergencies or because they want to save money.

Save A Big stack of coins with Prepaid

If you buy a cell phone from one of the major service providers such as Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile or any of the others, you will typically pay a few hundred dollars just for the phone, pay around $70 per month for service, and sign a contract that lasts 2 years.

You could be paying around $1000 a year just to use a cell phone.

While this does usually include unlimited talking, texting and web browsing, not everyone needs that.

Lets look at the extreme opposite end of the cell phone spectrum. What about a cell phone plan that costs less than $10 a month?

Cheapest Prepaid Plan - Less Than $10 a Month

Imagine paying $10 a month, or $120 a year for your cell phone. You could be saving $880 a year, or $1760 with a standard 2 year contract phone.

What would you do with $1760? We can think of lots of things! Like a new computer or TV.

So what is this prepaid plan? Well, it is very simple, and many of the major prepaid cell phone companies have plans that cost less than $10 per month. Some of the prepaid companies are Net 10, Straight Talk, Cricket, and Tracfone.

But Here at de9w2dsl, we are going to look at the options from Tracfone.

How to Pay Less Than $10 a Month for a Prepaid Plan:

If you are looking for a way to save money, but still have a cell phone, here is how to do it.

LG500g from Amazon

Tracfone offers several phones for $9.99. The 376g (click to read our review) is a simple but durable flip phone. It is an older model, so it might not be available everywhere. The Samsung S125G is another phone option from Tracfone that is a little newer.

Another option is the LG500g (click for our review!) with full QWERTY keypad, and many other impressive features. It is currently on sale from Amazon for $9.99! It usually sells for $29.99 from Tracfone.


After you choose which cell phone, (and make sure it comes with Double Minutes) buy a 60 minute phone card for $20 from Tracfone.

Thus, you get a cell phone, 3 months of service, and 120 minutes (with double minutes) plus bonus minutes from a promo code, all for $30, which works out to $10 a month for the first three months, and about $6.65 for every month after that.

If 40 minutes a month is not enough, you can always purchase another minutes card, or even get the 120 minute card which costs $30 and comes with 3 months of service. With double minutes for life, that's 240 minutes for 3 months, or about 80 minutes a month, (20 per week) for $10 per month.

Tracfone offers some even better options with their Tracfone Family Value Plan. You can get 50 minutes a month and 30 days of service for $10 for the first person, and 40 minutes/30 days of service for only $6 a month for each additional person! To learn more, read our full Tracfone Family Value Plan review.

The Bottom Line - How Much Can You Save?

While some people do need to use their cell phones a lot for work or to keep in touch with needy friends or family, not everyone needs an unlimited plan from a major cell phone provider. 

The $10 a month plan described here works great for those who only make a few calls or texts a week.

For those who use their phone a little more often, there are plenty of prepaid options.

For example, a 200 minute phone card from Tracfone is $40. With a double minutes, that is instantly turned into 400 minutes for 3 months, or about $13 per month, for 133 minutes per month!

Perhaps it is time to start saving money, by looking at your prepaid cell phone options. Just think about what you could do with the money saved?

Interested in more money saving tips? Check out our article on How to Make your Minutes Last Longer!