GR 'Scott' Cundiff said:
My wife has Tracfone. The first thing we did was turn off data. If she is out somewhere and needs data, she can turn it on, otherwise it's a WiFi only phone. It works for us but mainly because we generally use it only as a cell phone only when out of WiFi range.
I use mine the same exact way, buying a 1-year $100 card annually (as Normand described) that gives me 1200 minutes, 1200 texts, and 1200 mb of data on my LG smartphone. I can add 1000 texts for $10, which I do a couple times per year as needed. I try to keep my usage at around 100 minutes / 100 texts / 100mb data per month, so the service lasts me an entire year. That doesn't always happen though, and I may add a $20 service card to hold me over (which also adds 90 days to my expiration).
I always leave data turned OFF to prevent accidental or unwanted usage/downloads in the background. I turn it ON only when needed, and never download apps or stream music/videos unless I am connected to wifi. Heck, most of my phone calls at home (and texts to/from my wife and family members) I do with my Google Voice number, so those are free and do not deduct from my Tracfone minutes. My family has that GV number too so they know it's me. Otherwise it would be confusing since I'm in central IL and my GV number is from Los Angeles, CA (it's all that was available when I signed up).
The one downside with Tracfone texting is that it does not support "group text" messaging. I don't choose that format, but have been in a couple group setting through work in which group texting is how everyone communcates. I get all the messages as individual texts instead of a conversation thread (which makes it hard to follow along with the conversation) and I cannot respond to the entire group. Plus it wastes a bunch of my texts, as everyone response to the conversation with "Ok", "Got it", "No problem" and I am charged 1 text for every incoming response. A couple hundred texts can get eaten up pretty quickly after a couple days of group texting.
The lack of effective group texting is not a huge deal, just one small annoyance. I still save TONS of money this way, maybe spending $140/year in service on a smartphone (which I bought gently used for $40 on Ebay) when most people pay 10x that amount over the same time period.