Cellular Phone Family Plans

Family plans are some of the best things to happen to cell phones recently. It could get very frustrating when your bill went through the roof because you were talking to your mom and dad all the time. If you live 2,000 miles away from your core family, you'll want to stay in touch. Alternatively, you might still all live in the same house, but being able to contact your teenagers and vice versa, especially on the weekends, becomes very important.

Comparing Family Plans

Most family plans work the same. You must have at least two lines of service on the same phone bill. You can do this with your best friend, roommate, significant other or entire family. The bill will be addressed to one person. If you need to add more than one line of service, most providers charge approximately $10 extra per month, per phone line.

In general, a set number of minutes is shared between all the people on the plan. Everyone on the same plan talks to each other for free. Most companies also provide you with unlimited nights and weekends. Nights usually start anywhere between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM. With some companies, you can pay a small monthly fee in order to have your nights start earlier. This is good if you're spread out over a number of time zones.

You'll also find that most of the prices and minutes are similar. For less than $100 you can usually find a plan with about 1,000 minutes. You have to look beyond the price and minutes when you choose a plan. Check out the features that each phone comes with. These are things like call waiting, emergency calls, detailed billing, 3-way calling and more.