Wow. I've been much busier than I thought, so I haven't been able to write any updates for a while. Luckily I have a huge layover next week in Phoenix, so I'll have plenty of time to crank out some stories.

Anyway, some friends and I recently switched our cell phone plans to the best plan ever. Here's the breakdown :

500 Anytime minutes
Unlimited PCS-PCS minutes (mobile to mobile on Sprint)
Unlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 6pm
500 Text messages / month
EVDO (fast internet) service
Roaming on Verizon's network
All for only $30/mo

EDIT: Will asked if there are other SERO plans. YES. You can upgrade the minutes to 1250 for an additional $20/mo (for a total of $50/mo). For $99/mo you can have 2500 minutes OR all free incoming and 1000 outgoing.

Plus, with a few other tricks you can knock off up to an additional $10/mo and cut your taxes by at least 50%. If you've been a Sprint customer you can get an additional 5-20% off sometimes. Not too shabby, huh?

Technically you're supposed to know an employee at Sprint to get this plan. Luckily, a friend at work is good friends with a Sprint, so he let me use his name. However, several people who have called in to get the plan didn't even know an employee. Most weren't asked for an employee's name, and a couple just found an employee's name and e-mail address online and used that.

If you DON'T have a sprint plan already, then just go to www.sprint.com/sero and sign up there. Then, skip to step 5 (there's also a referral program where you can tell them I referred you and we both get $25. E-mail me if you want to do that)

1. Call *2 and when prompted say "representative"
2. When you get a Sprint rep on the phone, say "I'd like to switch my plan to a SERO plan (pronounced like zero with an s). Are you familiar with that?"

   If they don't know what you're talking about HANG UP. Don't give them your phone number. For some reason it is difficult for many reps to figure out how to get you on this plan. You are allowed to have it (my guy checked with his manager), so don't get discouraged.

3. If they do know about it, then give them whatever information they need. Hopefully they will be able to get you on the plan.
4. If they try to transfer you or can't help you, just hang up and start at 1 again.
5. Now that you've gotten your new SERO plan, it's time to get some improvements added to it. The two main you want are 6pm Nights and Weekends and 500 Text messages / month

   Log in to your Sprint account online, click "contact us" and then the e-mail link.

6. Now you want to compose an e-mail that accomplishes a few things. First, you want to praise their good service. They really do have great service, especially compared to other carriers. Next you want to say that you love your new plan, but that you're disappointed it has such late nights and weekends (9pm) or no texting. Then ask NICELY if they can add the requested service for free to your account.
7. It will probably take 2-5 requests for each addition you want, so just send them back to back

That's all it takes! Now just wait for your next billing cycle to start, and enjoy your new cell phone plan.

Two more tricks you can do are :

• Change your billing to online billing and change your billing address to Nevada. They have lower taxes there, and you are billed taxes based on where your billing address is.
• Every time you have a dropped call, keep track of it. You can report up to 20 per billing cycle, and receive a 50 cent credit per call. To do this you just call *2 and say "dropped call". It's an automated process and can be done 4 times per call. I usually have 20 dropped calls per billing cycle, so that's another $10 off my monthly bill.

So, doing these tricks you can have a great cell phone plan for about $23/mo including taxes (if you have a lot of dropped calls). If you're a loyal sprint customer, you can also e-mail and ask for a percentage off your monthly bill. I got 10% for being with them for five years. Enjoy!