We have a T-Mobile family plan. Four phones, unlimited text, mobile-to-mobile, nights and weekends and 1000 peak minutes. $130/month. I also have a pay-as-you-go phone from Virgin mobile. No contract. Costs me about $10 a month if I don't talk on it, and not that much more when I do. Only use it at racetrack and a few other places that T-Mobile doesn't have service. Contract with T-Mobile expired years ago. I don't get phones from them. I just buy what I want off the web and pay full price. That way, if I get mad at the company, I can just tell them where to go and switch to another service, no charge. I think one of the biggest rip-odds going is a contract that lasts longer than the warranty on the phone. Some of the plastic phones I have seen stand no chance of outlasting the contract.