the Cost of Shared Cell Phone Plans

Our cell phone plan is a group plan that allows five separate lines, has 1500 shared anytime minutes that rollover, free nights and weekends with "nights" beginning at 7:00 p.m., and includes mobile to mobile.

Any unused minutes rollover and are good for one year, which I appreciate. I would not have a plan without rollover. If you pay for minutes you should get to use them. I wasn't real happy to learn that they expire in a year, but I guess if we don't use them by then that's our fault.

Mobile to mobile is a great bonus, and allows free calls to and from anyone who has the same cell phone service, not just a handful of chosen people.

There is no roaming and the service is nationwide. The signal is strong in more places than not, a true feat in a rural area.

The customer service is reasonably good.

A yearly upgrade allows the choice of a new phone at a discounted rate. I waited longer and ended up getting a fairly new, popular phone, free of charge.

The ability to have five separate lines allows us to split the costs of additional features and services with extended family members, resulting in an excellent plan at an affordable price. You may want to seek a similar plan that allows you to share costs with other people.

With some cell phone companies, waiting longer than the annual upgrade date to get a new phone will allow to choose an even better one. If your current phone still works well, you might want to wait.