Need advice - Prepaid vs Contract

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.

Finally got my phone activated. I had used the on-line method last night because I was too late to call the 1-8xx number. Before I headed out to Montreal I figured what the heck, call the 1-8xx to speed things along. Well, the girl insisted that it would take 20-25 minutes (even though the online form took me about 2 minutes to enter all the information). Thinking that, surely, it would not take "up to 24 hours" for the online activation to finally come through I decided not spend 20 minutes on the phone. The activation e-mail arrived around 4PM tonight -- more than 21 hours after I submitted the form. Boy, they weren't kidding about the "up-to 24 hours".

Bottom line, activation takes much longer than with Petro Can.

Nan, I'm not in Chicago, i set it to that because I used to run the BH in our GMHockey league.

EDIT : There, that should fix it.