Best Phone Plans for Every Type of User, 2018

Patricia Mertz Esswein's avatar
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Close up teenage girl friends using cell phones
(Image credit: Getty Images)

When choosing a phone plan, talk and text are the least of your concern; your cost will largely depend on how many users (lines) you choose and how much data you expect to use.

If you’re switching plans, refer to a recent bill so you needn’t guess about usage and try to anticipate any changes ahead -- say, you’re retiring or kicking the kids off your plan. Here are suggested plans for various types of users.

Disclaimer

All plans, except for the one targeting families, are priced for one user.

Patricia Mertz Esswein
Patricia Mertz Esswein
Contributing Writer, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Esswein joined Kiplinger in May 1984 as director of special publications and managing editor of Kiplinger Books. In 2004, she began covering real estate for Kiplinger's Personal Finance, writing about the housing market, buying and selling a home, getting a mortgage, and home improvement. Prior to joining Kiplinger, Esswein wrote and edited for Empire Sports, a monthly magazine covering sports and recreation in upstate New York. She holds a BA degree from Gustavus Adolphus College, in St. Peter, Minn., and an MA in magazine journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University.