About those family cell phone plans

I've got one with Verizon, which I chose because its signal is better in my area. For $10 each family members get their own phone number. We also share a roadside assistance plan, which is very cheap.

But those plans can come with strings attached, SmartMoney says.

“These plans are very simple if you have your Ph.D.,” says Carl Howe, the director of Anywhere Consumer Research at the Yankee Group, a Boston-based market research firm. Feature creep on phones has pushed more consumers into plans with text and data add-ons. That’s a good source of profit on the otherwise low-cost additional line plans, which can be as cheap as $5 per month, he says.

The companies use these plans to keep you with them.

“Once you’re on a family plan, it’s really hard to switch everyone over,” Howe says.
Most people on the plan will be on different contract cycles because they have been added at different times. Switching almost certainly entails an early termination fee or three.

SmartMoney offers advice on choosing a plan here.