Our latest plan, right now, is actually to redo our entire communication suite.

A peek into the World of Bearcraft;

We have broadband cable internet through Comcast, we have our home phone through Vonage across our internet, Cassie and I both have extremely basic voice only pay as you go T-Mobile cell phones for traveling, and I have a work cellphone that is mine to do with as I please, basically, because it is my 24 hour leash to work. I can text through it, and it’s a Verizon cellphone plan.

If we were to get a normal home phone through Quest, after taxes it’s about $60 a month. Vonage, through the internet connection, runs $35 a month with built in long distance.

I used to use my personal cell phone, but have only used the company one for about a year and a half now. So, effectively, cassie is the only one with a working T-Mobile cellphone.

Over the course of a year, we used to spend about $100 to $150 on prepaid minutes cards for each cell phone.

So, on a budget basis, we spend $35 a month on home phone that Cassie also uses for work, and would budget about $150 per cell phone per person.

The downside to a Vonage phone is that if the internet goes down, from router, cable modem or a truck hitting a tree, we also lose home phone and are using cell minutes to call for service. And we are totally out of internet.

So… we were looking at a T-mobile pay as you go cellphone, with internet capability.

What we’re finding, is that getting the LG Optimus V from Virgin Mobile, with 300 monthly minutes and unlimited text and internet, would cost $25 a month. A plan with 1200 minutes a month would cost $40 a month.

We use our home phone, according to Vinage tracking records, an average of 380 minutes a month. JUST over the 300 minutes of the $25 plan.

So what we’re contemplating is dropping Vonage, thereby saving $35 a month. Buying two Virgin Mobile cell phones, one with the $25 plan for me, one with the $40 plan as Cassie’s combination cell phone AND to serve as our new primary house phone.

And we’ll keep Cassie’s ancient voice only phone on T-Mobile’s pay as you go program for her work phone.

The upside of this would give us, for $5 extra a month, both a home cell phone AND emergency internet access if Comcast goes down for Cassie to be able to access work email and communicate changes in status to all of her clients if she was in the middle of projects.

Just like every other family on a budget, we’re just trying to figure out how to get the most bang for our budget buck.

It still worked. It just wasn’t uh…holding together well.

Myself, I’ve got one of the G1 phones and I’m considering upgrading to the G2. I love the little bugger to bits, and it does everything I could possibly ever want it to do. And some things I had no idea phones could DO. It’s an awfully handy phone!

Sorry it took me a while to reply, I had almost forgotten I posted!

What can I say? Android 2.2 is the way to go, but the little screen of the Comet looked unworthy of bear family phone awesomeness.

I know when you buy a phone on contract you have at least 15 days to return it no questions asked from any carrier. Not sure if this applies to prepaid phones though… If the call quality is an issue you should be able to notice it rather quickly, assuming you don’t let the other cool features cloud your eyes, erm, ears as it is :)

In fact if you want to see the same phone I have (at least closest I can find on t-mobile) check out the BB Curve 8520, the trackball has been replaced with a touch sensitive scrolling pad that can be a little sensitive but can be adjusted and the whole setup is quite nice. I want an iPhone too mind you but until verizon comes out with theirs, then some engineering people find a way to port it over for sprint I am kinda SOL but until then I love my free BB.