Two phones can be cheaper than one

Two mobile phones can be cheaper than one. Provided you don't need constant Internet access, you can save at least $380.00 per year by carrying two phones; a prepaid 'dumb' phone, and a non-plan, Android smartphone as a tablet PC.

Dumb phone
A dumb phone, also known as a feature phone, lets you make and receive voice calls and text messages through a 3G network. A dumb-phone prepaid plan costs approximately $100 per year.

Typically, you prepay your account by $30, $60 or $100. Larger amounts have longer intervals. For example, if you prepay $100, you have a full year in which to use your $100. If you refill your account on time, your remaining amount rolls over. When you use your phone, the phone company charges your account 10 cents per minute for each voice call, and 25 cents each for text messages.

Dumb phone = $100 per year

Smartphone
A smartphone is far more than a voice-and-text phone; it is a pocket PC that also lets you upload and download Internet data through a 3G or 4G phone-company network. Currently, in April 2014, the least-expensive smartphone plan typically costs $480 per year for unlimited voice, text and data access.

Smartphone = $480 per year

A non-plan smartphone has no phone-company network. You can use any non-plan Android smartphone as a tablet PC. If the phone is not older than two years, it will almost certainly work well as a pocket-size tablet PC.

To obtain a non-plan smartphone, you can ask a friend or relative to sell you his or her old smartphone. Alternatively, you can buy a new or refurbished smartphone, without a phone-company plan. The smartphone is not the main cost; the phone-company plan is the large, on-going expense.

For your non-plan smartphone, you can download free apps that you can run either offline or through WiFi. You should select (on Google Play) apps that you can sync with your other computers. Example apps that you can sync include:

• Wunderlist
• Evernote
• Go contact
• Keep

Not-so-dumb phones
A set of not-so-dumb phones consists of two phones, a dumb phone with a prepaid plan ($100) and a non-plan smartphone. Therefore, by carrying two not-so-dumb phones, you can save at least $380 per year. ($480 - $100 = $380)

Not-so-dumb phones = $100 per year