<p>Hi, </p>
<p>I am an incoming student who will be arriving in August. </p>
<p>I would like some information about choosing a mobile phone carrier and package. I will be based at UIUC (Urbana, IL) for the whole academic year. </p>
<p>I would like to purchase a very basic phone (just for calling/texting) and then buy a month-to-month plan. My budget is around $30/month. I am unlikely to make international calls since I can use emails/skype. </p>
<p>Regards</p>
<p>Look at doing pre-paid.</p>
<p>I have Virgin Mobile and my bill is only $25 a month. (I think that plan has now gone up to $35, $30 if you get it taken off automatically by a credit card.) I get 300 minutes, unlimited texting, and unlimited data/web. They also have it to where you don’t have to buy a plan, you just have to top up at least $20 every three months.</p>
<p>There are some other companies out there that are similar. I don’t know much about them though.</p>