When I switched from a pay-as-you-go phone to a contract deal from Verizon a couple years ago, I opted for the cheapest plan the Best Buy employee would offer me: 450 minutes of anytime calls for $45, plus $5 for 250 text messages. This seemed fine at the time, but if I’d known that there were even cheaper plans available through Verizon’s customer service, I could have saved myself a lot of money over the past couple years.

Last week, I called Verizon and threatened to switch carriers because I didn’t feel I was getting a good deal. The rep looked at my usage and offered me this plan:

$29.99 / Month
200 Anytime minutes
500 Night/weekend minutes
Unlimited mobile to mobile calling

I then asked the rep if there were any even cheaper options, and she told me of these plans:

$24.99 / Month
100 Anytime minutes
500 Night/weekend minutes
No free mobile to mobile calling

$19.99 / Month
50 Anytime minutes
250 Night/Weekend minutes
No free mobile to mobile calling

Under each plan, overages are 45¢ per minute and text messages are 20¢ each. I went with the $29.99 plan and added 250 texts for $5, because the majority of my calls are mobile to mobile, and I text enough that I’d spend more than $5 on texts anyway. I’ve been pleased with Verizon’s customer service for the past eight years I’ve been with them, and I’m glad they could accommodate me this time, but I think if they would offer these cheaper plans from the beginning, they would have many more happy customers.