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You can do it by minutes by buying time down at the OXXO where you pay you electric bill or get a plan without buying a phone.

Look here

All depends on the number of phone calls, text messages, and data usage you want. Don't worry if the Telcel site is confusing. It is for everyone. If you have further questions, post them here.

Thank you Joaquin

Thanks for discussing your experience.  I hope you will continue. I want to learn as much as I can to determine if I can do the expat thing.

Sure will update my new experiences as they happen.  Im starting at border town to gain knowledge before branching into the interior: )

Getting a phone can be quite a trip. I was told I could convert my state side phone to a Mx number and get a plan. After 4-5 trips to various cell stores that turned out to be untrue. Your original carrier pretty much locks up the phone and makes it unusable ( digital,or sim) without them.
The Amigo cards are more expensive than a plan. I have been fooling around with this for a month or so. Got a cheap LG with and Amigo card, lot's of problems with it. So now I'm moving on . I found a site Mexico SIM Card which comes highly recommended. You can actually buy a Nokia on Amazon from Vincent at the sim card store. The sim card is loaded and gets activated when you get it. You can reload your card on line. No little Amigo card to carry around take to get reloaded, or deal with on the Amigo site.

travellight wrote:

Getting a phone can be quite a trip. I was told I could convert my state side phone to a Mx number and get a plan. After 4-5 trips to various cell stores that turned out to be untrue. Your original carrier pretty much locks up the phone and makes it unusable ( digital,or sim) without them.
The Amigo cards are more expensive than a plan. I have been fooling around with this for a month or so. Got a cheap LG with and Amigo card, lot's of problems with it. So now I'm moving on . I found a site Mexico SIM Card which comes highly recommended. You can actually buy a Nokia on Amazon from Vincent at the sim card store. The sim card is loaded and gets activated when you get it. You can reload your card on line. No little Amigo card to carry around take to get reloaded, or deal with on the Amigo site.

You can't convert any cell phone unless it's UNLOCKED. Amigo cards are not 'more' expensive than a plan as you pay for what you need. Depending on your usage of voice calls, SMS messages, and data, Amigo or a plan could be the cheaper route. I don't understand "No little Amigo card to carry around take to get reloaded, or deal with on the Amigo site", as you can buy time at OXXO's, supermarkets, some bank ATM's, and of course, cell phone stores as well as the Telcel site. I've been using Amigo for years and my usage varies from 50 to 100 pesos a month. I primarily use data and communicate with WhatsApp, Skype, and Facebook messenger. Very few voice calls and SMS messages. Lots of data as I get data a 1 peso a megabyte. I recommend going Amigo first and then compare your usage and cost to some of the plans and then choose.

if your calls are primarily local you are probably correct. If you call distances or travel, things change. Yucatan living advises

"To call a cell phone from another cell phone, regardless of where the person is located at the moment,  just dial the area code and the numbers without a prefix.  The caller pays, and the cost depends on the plan. The cheapest Telcel cost for this type of call is $1 peso per minute; an Amigo card charges $2.5 pesos per minute plus IVA for the same call."
The Amigo card flat out only seems to call local. When I bought the L.G. the Telcel clerk gave me a Amigo card. People here seem to just pop into Telcel and bump up their cards.

I suspect it is different in different places. For my purposes I need a phone that will work in other countries. Emphasis on work, the L.G. sometimes does sometimes doesn't work here, forget elsewhere.The first question every phone person asks is where exactly will you be using it.