I hate cell phones and i hate the monthly rates even more!
I got along fine without one untill dad had his massive strokes then i had to be contactable at all times. Kind of in the same boat with mom now.

But man i HATE them monthly rates! Especialy now with things getting a bit costly...food, gas ect. Like to ditch it but cant.
What id like is one with decent coverage and roll over minutes cause i rarely use the stupid thing. But 75 bucks a month for two phones is just a bit much. I dont text or use it to search the web, just the odd call out and whatever comes in. Verizon is a Pain.

What kind of phones you got(simple, not smart phones) and what kind of plans/rates for them? Cant seem to find one with roll over minutes, pay as you go ect.

Get a Trac phone.It is pay as you go witn no commitments at all.

+1.. Got my Trac phone at Wal Mart over
a year ago.. All I need and use it for is
when I am on the road. I don't text or
take pics. They have different models
to choose from. You choose your monthly
rate by which plan you choose. Their again
are several ones.
Best of all, your mins roll over to the next
month. I've been very happy with mine. kim

I need to rethink the cell phone situation in the family.  I only use mine when riding so the CFO can call me if she needs something (bluetooth helmet stuff) or to keep in touch with other riders in an emergency.

I don't text, I don't need internet access.  I use to use it for music while I ride, but XM radio does that now.

CFO's cell phone is almost always dead when she does go to use it (and usually only to find each other when shopping).

The kids..  about time they paid for their own phones.

I really need to look into the "pay as you go" stuff.

I'm the opposite, my wife and I are tech freaks and we both use our phones a TON, we've gotta have the latest smart phones and we usually hack and modify them from there.

I have to have a bunch of minutes for work, I'm a Patrol LEO supervisor, so I'm in a car 12+ hours a day and constantly have people calling for advice, questions, etc, plus calling for investigations, etc.  Lieutenant's and above get office phones, but I'm just a lowly working Sergeant.

I'm with Verizon with a Droid X, the wife has a Droid 2 but is waiting for the Bionic.

nada
no cable either

Yeah!  I'm with topgunz!  Gotta have my smart phone!  Loved my old BlackJackII, Windows phone with Word, Excel, etc.  "Upgraded" to new Windows Phone 7, Samsung Focus.  I actually love the phone, but not as happy with the Windows update.  Its more restrictive.  (although I do have a nice SuzukiSavage.com tile right on the front screen.  I'm here in a single touch!)  

Anyway, not what you asked for, but what I wanted to say is once you start, you'll probably get hooked.  Phones can do so much these days.  Even for non-techies.  So go and compare them, see what you think you might eventually like to do with one, and go from there.  If you really only want one for emergency calls, then yes, Trac phone is the way to go!      

I got a "double minutes for life" Tracphone in February from Wallyworld for $15.00...  
I've made two phone calls since then... Wo hoo!...
RadioShack just had one on sale for $10.00 last week.  Don't know if it's still on sale...

You buy minutes/time, with no contract... at minimum use, it should cost as little as $80.00 a year...  ... or for $99.00, you can get 400/ doubled to 800 minutes, good for a full year's use, and leftover minutes are carried over if you buy again next year...

Nobody calls me.... ...  
Oh, wait,.. I never gave anyone my number... I like it that way... ...