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You can call 911 even if you don't pay for cell service. We gave my grandmother an old, deactivated cell phone just for that purpose.

"The FCC's basic 911 rules require wireless service providers to transmit all 911 calls to a PSAP, regardless of whether the caller subscribes to the provider’s service or not." http://www.fcc.gov/guides/wireless-911-services/

Doesn't cover calling a tow truck, AAA, or a friend or relative to come pick you up. But if you only use the phone for real life-threatening emergencies, you don't have to pay.

You're still 'paying for it the whole time' regardless of whether the phone is turned on or off, assuming you're on a plan.

The phone simply being turned on doesn't equate to more calls being made. Like the parent said, turn it on when you need it.

My point is that if you don't have one at all, you pay nothing.

Prepaid phone?

Minutes always expire. You are forced to buy a certain amount every few months.

Tmobile prepaid is $100 a year.

The $0.10 minutes that come with that aren't especially competitive with other prepaid services. I'm not sure they will activate a phone everywhere.

But the 'have a working phone' baseline isn't all that inconvenient or all that expensive.

We don't all live in a country that has T Mobile