While supplies last, PhoneNews.com is offering a free (after Best Buy rebate)  refurbished Nokia 2610 prepaid phone.  There is NO contract required.

Ok, maybe you already have a great cell phone. Why should you care about this deal?

While it’s not the greatest looking phone, there are many reasons to have a backup cellphone.

1. If you sell your phone, you need a back up phone until you get a new one. I’ve sold 5 iPhones over the past 2 years on ebay  (at a nice profit). This would have been impractical without having a back up cell phone.
2. If your cell phone dies or breaks, of course, you don’t want to be stuck without cell phone service.
3. For iPhone users, sometimes you can use a non-Iphone as a tool to remove the data part of your iPhone plan. This has saved me a lot of money.

See the PhoneNews.com site for details about how to take advantage.

In short, you pay $9.99 plus shipping for the phone and will receive a Best Buy gift card for the amount that you paid. Be sure to remove the $25 prepaid card (unless you want to use it).

Also, you get a choice of 2 plans. If you plan on using the phone more than 7 minutes in a day, it is more cost-effective to go with the 1st plan (Pay as you go 0.25/minute with no daily fee). Otherwise, go with the second plan (Pay as you go unlimited talk (0.10/minute with a $1/day fee only on days you use the phone)).

Deal lasts until end of February, or until supplies last.