The best cheap cell phone plans: Slash your monthly bill

• Carrier: Verizon
• Cost: $35/mo (after auto-pay discount)
• Data: 15GB
• Taxes included: No
• BYOD: Yes
• Hotspot allowed: Yes
• International roaming: Yes, for an additional fee

If you don’t use a lot of data, the options for cheap Verizon plans are limited. Generally your options are the choice of iffy customer service or paying nearly as much as for a cheap unlimited plan.

But if you really hate the idea of a $45/mo unlimited plan, then Verizon’s own basic prepaid plan is your best bet—provided you sign up for auto-pay, which knocks $10 off the monthly cost ($45) immediately. Otherwise, you’re on the hook at the going rate for three months until loyalty discounts start kicking in.

This plan includes unlimited talk and text, 15GB of high-speed data, mobile hotspot use, unlimited 2G data, and unlimited international texting from the US to 200+ countries. You also get unlimited calling and texting to Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

If you travel, you have access to unlimited calls, text, and data while in Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (data capped at 3G speed after 2GB/day use); other areas require the purchase of a TravelPass.

Heads-up: Verizon deprioritizes most of its prepaid plans, so you may face slower speeds and responsiveness from the network, especially in congested areas or places with poor reception. Only unlimited plans with premium data (i.e., Verizon’s Unlimited Plus prepaid plan or US Mobile’s plans with premium data) get treated the same as Big Red’s post-paid plans.