Hobby Phone

[Clint Reno]

I really do hate to be "that guy" and ask yet again the very same question that has no doubt been asked and answered ad nauseam. Tried to do a search to find previous threads but no luck. So I ask, can anyone offer suggestions for a hobby phone? When I walk down the aisle at Best Buy, Target or any of the other retailers I'm overwhelmed by all the options. What research I've done leads me to believe that in order to activate a phone a credit card is required. A personal credit card seems like a really bad idea to me for all the obvious reasons.

[Sutphen]

Walmart pay cash and use someone else's address and name.
Walmart family plan.

[HoneyRose]

I got a cheap Tracfone at Walgreens.


Here's on at Family Dollar for $20 and you get double minutes for life.
http://familydollar.tracfone.com/tracfone/lg440g.html
"No activation fees, contracts, monthly bills or credit checks"

I buy an activation card once a year to renew service for a year, and buy a 90 minute card once in a while. (texts are 1/4 of a minute and I only call/text an hour or so before the date so minutes last me a long time. I mostly use email.)

I don't have any recurring monthly bills. I just go into Walgreens/Tom Thumb/CVS and buy the cards and pay cash.

[billw1032]

Tracfone. Buy with cash, buy minutes with cash. Register it at a public access computer not associated with you (a hotel lobby or car dealer service department, etc.) and leave all the personal info blank (it was optional, at least when I registered mine). The one thing they required is a zip code where you will use it most often, so pick a random DFW zip code.

[hd]

This needs to be a sticky so we don't have to deal with it each month!!

[deuceswilld83]

tracphone from dollar general is 5 dollars

[threepeckeredbillygoat]

Just like most have said. Tracphone. 10$ phone and a 20$ minute card and you are good to go. No real name, no contract, no worries. I get a new one every couple of months and just throw my old one away and get a new # every time.

[Clint Reno]

Originally Posted by hd

This needs to be a sticky so we don't have to deal with it each month!!

[BossyWillson]

Originally Posted by Sutphen

Walmart pay cash and use someone else's address and name. Walmart family plan.

Go phone
cost 20 every 90 days

[berkleigh]

IMO, Google Voice has been the best option for me!

There is not a separate phone to mess with, just download the app and you can choose phone number.
It's linked to GMAIL so if you don't have one, set up a fake email account that is for the Hobby only.
Very Simple.

I've had mine for years.

[corona]

Agreed, google voice is awesome. Tie it to a fake gmail account and you're golden.

[Clint Reno]

Google Voice sounded pretty cool so I checked it out on their website. This is as far as I got:
You will be required to verify an existing U.S. phone number to get a Google Voice number.
It asks for an existing number to forward calls to! Really??
Surely I'm missing something?

[corona]

Originally Posted by Clint Reno

Google Voice sounded pretty cool so I checked it out on their website. This is as far as I got:
You will be required to verify an existing U.S. phone number to get a Google Voice number.
It asks for an existing number to forward calls to! Really??
Surely I'm missing something?

you can turn that off immediately.

[GoAheadMkMyDay]

Originally Posted by Clint Reno

Google Voice sounded pretty cool so I checked it out on their website. This is as far as I got:
You will be required to verify an existing U.S. phone number to get a Google Voice number.
It asks for an existing number to forward calls to! Really??
Surely I'm missing something?

Its used to verify that this is a real person not a spambot creating random accounts. However, I didn't think you could remove the phone number. Anyway, if you didn't have it forwarded to some real phone how would you receive or make calls??? That is after all the point of the service.

[Luke Skywalker]

Google voice leaves too many traces. Consider using talkatone.