Cellphone Headaches

So, I lose my cellphones. A lot. I've lost two actual real cellphones on two separate trips to Texas, and I'm not really sure that I want to try to count the number of cheap tracfones that I've lost. This last phone that's gone missing just up and vanished, I've searched everywhere for it, cleaning out my car in the process and then tearing apart the house when there was no sign of it in the car. I can't even remember when I had it last, let alone where I was at the time.



With all my previous phones, this wasn't really that big of an issue, and I'd just deal with it until I got around to getting a new one. Everyone I really needed to talk to was either on my MSN or Skype anyway. Well, that's changed now. Since I've started back to school, it's become more necessary for me to have some way to be available when I'm out of the house. To top it off, the last two times I've decided to enjoy the days I get out early in the afternoon, my ex has tried getting a hold of me due to various family emergencies. The first, our daughter came home from school with the flu on a day our son had a counseling appointment. The second, his father was rushed to the hospital. While he assured me that he was not upset with me for being unavailable, I still felt horrible about both instances. Even though I acknowledge that I need my time for myself as well, and both instances I had gone to Edwardsville to pick up some art supplies, I still catch myself cringing now at the thought of leaving the house in the afternoon. What if while I'm out something really serious happens and my babies need me?



So, I'm going out on Wednesday to pick out a new phone. I really wish I could get a real cellphone with a calling plan and all that, but it's just not in the budget at the moment, so it looks like I'll be getting another prepaid. While I was at the store the other day, though, I was looking through all the different prepaid plans out there, and realized that the tracfones I usually grab might not actually be the best ones, even if I could manage to keep from losing them.



Now, I don't make a lot of calls, other than to my ex to talk about the kids, so if I can get one that does the free calls to his network, that would knock out most of the expense for minutes, and help keep me from worrying over low minutes quite as much. But then, to get the free calling, I'd have to spend about forty bucks a month, so I'm wondering if another company might be a better deal even with the free in-network calls.