Cricket Wireless: A Frugal Wireless Plan

If you know my story, you know I have several collection accounts due to unpaid cell phone bills. I’ve had Verizon, Sprint, and Houston Cellular (now known as Cingular). I had all of these cell phones when I was running my record label. The first few months would run swell as payments were made on time, but as the business grew my time on the phone grew to where a $40-$50 dollar plan would return a $150 phone bill! I always swore to myself to pay off the bill, but ultimately it would end up disconnected and months later in the hands of a collection agency. As I’ve said, the money the business made was the amount that went right back into the business. I believed I was making the right decisions when it came to the handling of finances, but in the end I noticed the mistakes I made.

Up until August of 2006, I swore off cell phones. Back then, there were 500 minute rate plans for $45. That’s only a little over 8 hours a month to speak on your phone, not much time for me. So I stuck with my landline. If I wasn’t home, then people would have to wait until I returned to speak with me.

That was until August of 2006. That was when I learned of a new wireless company opening stores all over Houston, as well as other cities across the country. It was called Cricket, a subsidiary of Leap Wireless. I was kind of skeptical about the unlimited minutes and unlimited text messaging which they heavily promoted, but I decided to take a deeper look into their plan. I signed up with the service and no matter if I talk for 8 hours or 720 hours (30 days straight), I still only pay one price. But with that there are cons that you have to deal with. If you’ve heard of Cricket and are a bit skeptical, here are the pros and cons that I have dealt with the company for almost the past two years of ownership:

PROS

• Unlimited Minutes & Text Messaging for a set price.
• Free long distance.
• No contracts.

CONS

• You get what you pay for. Service isn’t mainstream quality. You’ll most likely experience dropped calls in comparison to AT&T or Verizon.
• Phones are at times expensive. A Motorola Razr is almost the same price of an Apple iPhone!
• If bill isn’t paid on time, you will be disconnected. This was a funny story for me. I had the money to pay the bill, I just completely forgot. One day I went to dial out and I was immediately transferred to an operator who told me my line was disconnected due to non-payment. “So soon?” was my response and the reply, “If a payment isn’t made on time, we disconnect the service.” That’s when I noticed what time of the month it was. I gave a little snicker, paid my bill (with late fees), and the line was open within 30 minutes. And you better believe I added this to my automatic bill payment plan.
• No roaming out of the city limits. I went to Galveston (only 45 minutes away from Houston) one weekend to take my kids to the beach and immediately noticed the big “R” on my phone and all incoming and outgoing called would not go through.

If you’re frugal like me and are looking for a cellular service to where you don’t have to feel limited on the amount of minutes you use, see if your area has a Cricket service. I would also like to mention that my cell phone has completely replaced my landline. I have a continuous open line of communication where ever I go. It fits my lifestyle perfectly.

DISCLAIMER: This article is not my product or service, nor was I paid or asked to speak on Cricket or the Leap Wireless plan. I’m not even on the affiliate plan (LOL). This article was written because I love their product and have benefited from it and feel it would be very useful to those looking to save money on their cellular bill.

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