of the different companies. I currently have a verizon hobby phone that I need to purchase mintues for as needed to keep the phone active. The problem is that a $15 card keeps it active for only 30 days, and $60 for 90 days; but since I only use it for hobbying I have over $130 in mintues/data available on this hobby phone that I rarely use. I don't talk or text long enough to burn the minutes/data.
I stopped into walmart today and there must be about 8 different phone companiess on display. Is there another hobby phone that anyone can recommend?
I have a att gophone I use for when im not on company time like weekends and vacations so I leave my work phone at work during these times. I usually add on in $25 increments which gives you three months of time. if you wanted to you can get $100 which is good for a whole year. I have never had a problem with not getting a signal while in vegas if that's where your using it.
Switch to voip or burner app 
apps are not anonymous because to download them even if free you need an account with either Apple or Google and everyone knows that those two companies provide your info to government agencies. If the provider is arrested anyone she has made contact with will be exposed. A hobby phone is private.
People seem to forget that when shit hits the fan, email records and origination IP are easily exposed. Couple of phone calls to/from my voip number is the least I'll be worried about cuz it doesn't prove anything.
Cash also have serial numbers on them. It's a simple matter for banks to track where the cash came from on every ATM withdrawal. The technology is there and cash is no longer going to be as anonymous as we once thought.
For the paranoid, a hobby phone might give the illusion of better privacy but it's obviously not a complete solution to privacy. I'm more concerned about email records containing verification info.
Do you really think providers really delete all our info after verification? Some do, but it seems most don't. Some even add more stuff and take notes! Many girls seem to emails records from even 5-10 years ago. lo
laptop only for hobbying. Not that paranoid about the government searching for hobbyist, because they have bigger problems. Nothing is perfect in this world, so I would never use an app on my personal phone. A hobby phone is the only way I would communicate in this hobby world. I just need to find a hobby phone that does not waste my money, so that I can spend it on a lovely provider.
I always had a VOIP number so that's what I use mainly in the hobby but it links to a real number, so that's what I use the hobby phone for, to have VOIP forwarded to the hobby phone.
I used to use tracfone but it had the same problem you mentioned, minutes constantly accumulate beyond belief while the service plan expire too quickly.
Then I used straight-talk android phone, you can buy this cash only but you gotta pay 40 a month or something plus the cost of the phone.
Then I used freedompop but it links that phone back to your mailing address since you likely have to purchase that phone. This is the only draw back, there's a paper trail to your mailing address. You can use your own sprint compatible phone but I had trouble finding a used phone that is compatible with their services since even when I had the same exact model it didn't seem to activate. If you're not that paranoid about them knowing your mailing address or have a compatible phone that has an IMEI dec # that can activate with them, this is the cheapest
you suggested. I wonder if it would be possible to get the freedompop and give a bogus mailing address?
and you can use any old Verizon phone, so you don't even need to buy a new phone. If you use a smart phone, you'll need to download an app to stop all data or you'll use up the $ in no time.