Need advice - Prepaid vs Contract

PetroCanada mobility and 7-Elecen both offer pre-paid, unlocked GSM phones on the Rogers network. You can buy $100 airtime and it doesn't run out for a year (or $50 for 6 months). PetroCan now allows you to purchase minutes online. Not sure about 7-Eleven, but if you live near one I guess it doesn't matter much. You can't buy the SIM card separately, though, so you have to buy one of their phones. There are regular deals, though.

Here's some more info on both:
http://www.theblog.ca/best-prepaid-cell

And the actual source:
http://mobility.petro-canada.ca/default.aspx
http://speakout7eleven.ca/

wprager wrote:PetroCanada mobility and 7-Elecen both offer pre-paid, unlocked GSM phones on the Rogers network. You can buy $100 airtime and it doesn't run out for a year (or $50 for 6 months). PetroCan now allows you to purchase minutes online. Not sure about 7-Eleven, but if you live near one I guess it doesn't matter much. You can't buy the SIM card separately, though, so you have to buy one of their phones. There are regular deals, though.

Here's some more info on both:
http://www.theblog.ca/best-prepaid-cell

And the actual source:
http://mobility.petro-canada.ca/default.aspx
[url=http://speakout7eleven.ca/

http://speakout7eleven.ca/[/quote[/url]]

am looking through Petro Can right now, as for the 7 Eleven deal, well we have none out here in my area that I know of, so that probably wouldn't help me much, but Petro Can sounds intriguing.

SensFan71 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:I got by without a cell phone when I was kid. Also, when we weren't home the phone just rang and rang and the caller would realize we weren't home. Then they would call back later if it was that important.

those were the good old days eh, but now, well the schools seem to pressure parents to get a cell phone, they did us I know when I registered my son for kindergarten this year.

Life is Diddle up. Schools are always compelling parents to buy, buy, buy. When I was a kid I needed a school bag and my notebooks and pencils were given to me with the "United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry" emblazoned on each.

Don't make me sound like an old man dammit!

SeawaySensFan wrote:

SensFan71 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:I got by without a cell phone when I was kid. Also, when we weren't home the phone just rang and rang and the caller would realize we weren't home. Then they would call back later if it was that important.

those were the good old days eh, but now, well the schools seem to pressure parents to get a cell phone, they did us I know when I registered my son for kindergarten this year.

Life is Diddle up. Schools are always compelling parents to buy, buy, buy. When I was a kid I needed a school bag and my notebooks and pencils were given to me with the "United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry" emblazoned on each.

Don't make me sound like an old man dammit!

oh you would shake your head at the list of supplies a new kindergarten student needs, it would blow your mind, and my neighbour's son just went through kindergarten last year and they sent half of the supplies, maybe more back at the end of the year, freaking ridiculous.

Don't get me started. I just sent off 4 to school today. The grade 2 teacher asked for 36 pencils, sharpened and labeled -- I've got 2 of those. Thankfully the older ones didn't require as many -- the grade 8 teacher just said "Pens (red, blue, black), pencils". Anyhow, the next thing they ask for is *two* sharpeners. The good ones (metal) aren't cheap -- found a beauty for $4.36 (just one hole -- they've never used the bigger hole for crayons; never), but with 4 kids at 2x each, that's outrageous.

So the question I ask is, if you want 36 pencils, sharpened (that's nearly one pencil for each week of school) why do they need a sharpener or, worse yet, two of them? How about 3 pencils and a couple of sharpeners fixed to the wall in their classrooms?

Or hand sanitizers. They want each kid to bring a (smallish) container. Life Brand is still over $4 for the 236 ml size, while I can get a large one (4-5 times bigger) for about $6, plus save the environment a bit.

These are just some of the issues, there are lots of other idiocy.

The teacher on duty, when I dropped them off, marvelled how full their supply bags were coming to school. My reply -- they were *nearly* as full as the ones they brought back at the end of last year (all the unused or underused stuff I sent in last September).

SensFan71 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

SensFan71 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:I got by without a cell phone when I was kid. Also, when we weren't home the phone just rang and rang and the caller would realize we weren't home. Then they would call back later if it was that important.

those were the good old days eh, but now, well the schools seem to pressure parents to get a cell phone, they did us I know when I registered my son for kindergarten this year.

Life is Diddle up. Schools are always compelling parents to buy, buy, buy. When I was a kid I needed a school bag and my notebooks and pencils were given to me with the "United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry" emblazoned on each.

Don't make me sound like an old man dammit!

oh you would shake your head at the list of supplies a new kindergarten student needs, it would blow your mind, and my neighbour's son just went through kindergarten last year and they sent half of the supplies, maybe more back at the end of the year, freaking ridiculous.

No I wouldn't. My daughter is in grade 2! lol Bottom line, we pay more and get less than ever. For everything! lol

wprager wrote:Don't get me started. I just sent off 4 to school today. The grade 2 teacher asked for 36 pencils, sharpened and labeled -- I've got 2 of those. Thankfully the older ones didn't require as many -- the grade 8 teacher just said "Pens (red, blue, black), pencils"...

Even at Wal-Marde you notice how steep the prices are for some of these "needs"! lol

SeawaySensFan wrote:

wprager wrote:Don't get me started. I just sent off 4 to school today. The grade 2 teacher asked for 36 pencils, sharpened and labeled -- I've got 2 of those. Thankfully the older ones didn't require as many -- the grade 8 teacher just said "Pens (red, blue, black), pencils"...

Even at Wal-Marde you notice how steep the prices are for some of these "needs"! lol

and some things you can't get at Wal Fart, had to get them at Staples, even more of a fortune, and why the hell would kids need their own whiteboard markers, at 4 or 5 years old, what is up with that?

A quick update. I got my wife another Petro Can phone for Christmas (we had lost our old one and were beginning to miss it). With two cars now, though, we found we needed a second one. I really wanted a bluetooth-enabled one for hands-free in the car, and PetroCan offers only one model like that -- and both locations I visited didn't have it. So I started looking around a bit more and got interested in President's Choice.

They still have 20 cents/minute (Petro Can has gone up to 25), and they don't charge anything for e-911 (it's free in Ontario and a few other provinces, and in the provinces where it's not free it's still a lot cheaper than PetroCan). Also, most of their phones are not SIM-card capable, so the cheap option of buying a pre-paid SIM in the states when on vacation is not possible (at least not with all models; and the one that is SIM-compatible, I don't know if it's unlocked or not).

Since we have a PetroCan phone to use in the US if needed, that wasn't an issue for me. The only other con was that President's Choice advertises a $15 top up that lasts 30 days, and a $25 one that is good for 60 days. Petro Can has a $100 that lasts for 365 days.

Earlier today, though, I read in a digitalhome.ca thread that someone saw $100/365 day top-up cards at the Superstore. These are *not* mentioned on their website, but I just came back from some grocery shopping and, yes indeed, they are available. I'm not sure if the $100/365 option is available for automatic top-up or not, but I'm pretty sure they'll have these are Loblaws and Independent Grocers as well -- so very convenient.

So this may very well be the best deal for pay-as-you-go if you need more than 140 minutes per year (a $50 top up with PetroCan, less $15 for e911, at 25 cents per minute, gives you 140 minutes), and don't need to use the phone with a pre-PAID SIM when in the US.

Oh, and another thing I thought of. If I need to quickly leave a message for my wife, a 15 cent text message is the way to go. Calling will cost at least $0.45 (20 cents for me ant 25 for her).

I got the LG Rumor 2 (slide-out QWERTY keyboard). Very easy to use camera (compared to my wife's Nokia) but, surprisingly, not games. I let my daughter play with it in the car on the way back from the SuperStore -- no games but she enjoyed taking pictures

Also, activation is not as good as it was with the Petro Can phone. That's probably because the Nokia has a SIM-card. Sunday hours end at 5PM and the online options appears to simply send an e-mail which won't be processed until regular hours (8:30 tomorrow). Oh, well.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

wprager wrote:Don't get me started. I just sent off 4 to school today. The grade 2 teacher asked for 36 pencils, sharpened and labeled -- I've got 2 of those. Thankfully the older ones didn't require as many -- the grade 8 teacher just said "Pens (red, blue, black), pencils"...

Even at Wal-Marde you notice how steep the prices are for some of these "needs"! lol

Check which pre paid phones they use on The Wire. You can always trust the ones dealers use

Contract is never, ever the answer.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

SensFan71 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

SensFan71 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:I got by without a cell phone when I was kid. Also, when we weren't home the phone just rang and rang and the caller would realize we weren't home. Then they would call back later if it was that important.

those were the good old days eh, but now, well the schools seem to pressure parents to get a cell phone, they did us I know when I registered my son for kindergarten this year.

Life is Diddle up. Schools are always compelling parents to buy, buy, buy. When I was a kid I needed a school bag and my notebooks and pencils were given to me with the "United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry" emblazoned on each.

Don't make me sound like an old man dammit!

oh you would shake your head at the list of supplies a new kindergarten student needs, it would blow your mind, and my neighbour's son just went through kindergarten last year and they sent half of the supplies, maybe more back at the end of the year, freaking ridiculous.

No I wouldn't. My daughter is in grade 2! lol Bottom line, we pay more and get less than ever. For everything! lol

Mine as well. Last year, they not only specified the colours and such, in some cases the stuff had to be certain brands.

DirtyDave wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

wprager wrote:Don't get me started. I just sent off 4 to school today. The grade 2 teacher asked for 36 pencils, sharpened and labeled -- I've got 2 of those. Thankfully the older ones didn't require as many -- the grade 8 teacher just said "Pens (red, blue, black), pencils"...

Even at Wal-Marde you notice how steep the prices are for some of these "needs"! lol

Check which pre paid phones they use on The Wire. You can always trust the ones dealers use

LOL classic.

I don't know where you live, but if you are in their coverage area, get Mobilicity or Wind Mobile ASAP.
25$ at Mobilicity, unlimited local calling and text, no BS extra fees:

http://mobilicity.ca/plans/

Add 10$ so for 35$ amonth you get province wide unlimited, voicemail, call waiting/forwarding. Add another 10$, so for 45$ you get unlimited text anywhere in the world, Unlimited call in Canada and US.
Seriously, no brainer. You just need to have to buy your own phone seperately, but if you considered prepaid, there should be no issue.
I was on Fido, I paid 25$ a month for 150 minutes and with the options (voicemail etc) and the fees it was easily $40+ a month...

No contract, but if you pay 3,6,9 or 12 months in advance, you get 15,20,25 or 33% discount

My wife and I use Koodo. We buy the smallest package and we buy the top 5 (which gives you unlimited minutes and text to 5 numbers - anywhere in North America). It's great and cheap. No contract

@Marakh, the cheapest Mobilicity plan at the highest discount is still $16.75/month. For those who want acellphone for occasional use -- emergencies only -- the pay-as-you-go plans are still the lowest cost alternative.

I've got to admit, though, that if you want everything, take the $60/month Mobilicity plan (unlimited everything, with data and blackberry internet service), pre-pay it for 12 months and it's only $40/month. Then add your kids in at $20 each ($5 discount off their lowest plan -- they get unlimited local calling plus text -- what else do they need). That's a pretty impressive offer, there. If I was still with Bell that $40/month certainly would rival my landline.

@TheAvatar, it says you're located in Chicago. If that's where your wife is, as well, then it's apples and oranges (if not grapefruit and crab apples) between Canada and the US. But if your wife is still up here, then her plan is still $25/month. Again, for those who need just an emergency cell phone, pre-paid is the way to go.

I have to admit, though, the last time (and only time) I had a "plan" it was a corporate deal that Rogers/AT&T pushed at my previous company. It was promoted as a $15/month plan but I don't think I *ever* paid less than $38/month what with all the extra fees and the charges for going above the plan limits. One month, my wife worked from home a few days and used the cellphone to talk to work (while the landline was used as dial-up, yep it was a "few" years ago). The bill ended up over $80. As soon as that contract was up I canceled it, vowing never to return. This was not an unlimited plan, there was no texting or data, no camera or anything, and the coverage (back then) was pretty awful. Compare that to today, when that same $38/month, with cost-of-living increase is probably closer to $45, and for that price now I can get unlimited NA calling, global texting and three-way conferencing. And no contract.

Times have certainly changed.