this is not a journal title

My cellphone contract expires in October. I have the lowest possible Verizon plan, with more minutes than I ever use, at $40 or so. I haven't found a cheaper plan (other than pay-as-you-go, which might actually save me money, I should check) anywhere. My plan does not include txt, those were recently upped to 20¢ each and I spend on average around $3 with that (around 15 txts), so it's cheaper than buying a $10/500txt plan. Including taxes I pay around $48 most months.

This seems like an awful lot of money to me for an awful little amount of stuff I get, so I'm checking out my other options. After reading through my bills since January and comparing my current Verizon plan to a Verizon pay-as-you-go, I've concluded that pay-as-you-go will cost me nearly the same as having my current plan, so I won't change it for that. At BestBuy today, I reviewed plans from other companies such as Spring and AT&T, and there are no cheaper (non-pay-as-you-go) plans according to their lists there. (If such ones do exist, please let me know!) So I am concluding (unless corrected) that I cannot get what I have right now for less.

If I cannot get what I have right now for less, then it's worth my while (i.e., it will make me feel more content) to see if I can get more for more. Namely, a data plan (and phone). At $70/month, the iPhone/AT&T is a viable option. According to what Verizon lists online, their data plans start at $80, but a person I asked at a Verizon kiosk in a mall said it would add $30 to my current plan - so $70 or equal to the iPhone. As for actual phones, the iPhone grabs me, as does one a friend has on Verizon that I don't see on their page now. I don't know anything about AT&T coverage though. (If you do, I want to know!)

One drawback I see to the iPhone is it doesn't have a speakerphone or voice dialing, both of which were important criteria last time I got a new phone - I talk on the phone while driving, and I like not having to do more than touch one button on the phone do do so. I touch one button to activate voice dialing, and then I put the phone on the console next to me to talk and I don't have to fuss with an earpiece.

*sigh* So many thoughts. Any other contributions/opinions would be appreciated.