AS's minutes finally ran out; that girl stretched her minutes like a champ! I bought her another 1000 for $107.78. So here are our costs so far:

NT's mid-April Net10 fillup (300 minutes): $32.87
AS's early-May T-Mobile fillup (1000 minutes): $107.78

FY2011 total: $140.65

We just ended the first month of our prepaid "fiscal year," so that means our average monthly cost so far is ... $140.65! However, AS and I won't need minutes for awhile, and NT will just need to refill in June. So that number will drop over time, and I'm convinced our monthly average this 12-month period is going to be our lowest yet in the long run.

RECAP: I switched to prepaid in late March 2009. We have 2 phones on T-Mobile prepaid and 1 on Net10 prepaid. AS and I refill in 1000-minute increments and only need to refill when we run out or when it's been a year since our last fillup to stay active. NT needs to buy 300 more minutes every 60 days to keep his phone activated.

Our cellphone bill, for three phones on a family plan, used to range from $80-$95, depending on texts, calls to 411, etc. Usually it was close to $85. My ideal goal is to get my average cost to $50 per month, but any average number below $85 is a savings.