To help family, friends and colleagues (and to keep myself organized!), I record and maintain information on various subjects.
Since 2015, edits are 
responsive/mobile-first/mobile-friendly:
📱︎ Very-low-cost mobile (cellphone) service
If you want very-low-cost 📱︎ cellphone (mobile) service, for use in the 🇺🇸 USA-only, I highly recommend the
low-data plan at Republic Wireless
. If you
tell your 📱︎ phone to get data for YouTube and most apps only-over-Wi-Fi
, the lowest-cost plan is fine, and even returns a huge rebate, so it costs only $12-16 a month, out-the-door. And if you don't need Google Maps or email while on the road, you can get the base-plan (even cheaper!), with data over Wi-Fi only, and voice and SMS text over that or 📶︎ cell towers.
I
bought my phone, a mid-grade
, which I like a lot. If you don't need a flashlight and a screen that big, the bottom-of-the-line also works well.
When I traveled overseas, I could NOT make phone calls, so we borrowed a burner phone and got a temporary SIM card onsite. Worked well.
Other possibilities.
After you get your phone,
harden your phone against threats
.