I live in NJ and use the Google Nexus 4. I do not have a monthly plan or a data plan; instead, I have a pay-as-you-go account with T-Mobile. And I bought my phone "unlocked" and brought it toT-Mobile. I get by without paying for data because I live in a town where there is wifi at many places (and I have wifi at home). I don't have wifi all the time, of course, and so in some locations, I have no data, but I can still text and make voice calls. I pay about $150 total per year for voice calls and texting. The downside is, that T-Mobile has very good connectivity along major roadways and in cities, but not so much coverage in remote rural areas. So this would not work if you live off in the mountains or the boonies somewhere, but it would work in most major U. S. metropolitan areas.
T-Mobile is the only carrier that will let you pay-as-you-go without forcing you also to buy a data plan.
The Nexus 4 does not have the latest radios, and so I could not use it with Verizon, but the Nexus 5 does and could be used with most carriers. The Nexus 4 is available via eBay used for much less than a new one costs. I've seen them there for < $150 with the smaller memory size, which is enough for most people.
Another benefit to having a Google-branded phone, besides it always running the latest Android, is that it syncs with Google Calendar, Gmail and my Gmail contacts list. So I never lose data, even if I lose the phone. Google makes it all very, very easy. I had to turn off syncing on some Google apps because it was lowering my battery life, but that is easy to do in the settings. And, there is 0 ad-ware on a Google phone--and tons on a Samsung phone, so it seems.
I consider it a scandal what people have to pay for data plans. That said, I do occasionally really need data. So for that purpose, I have a pay-as-you-go hotspot device from T-Mobile. It is not even the latest device that they sell (only gets 3G not 4G data, but it's fast enough). I can buy a month's worth data from $30 - $60 depending on how much bandwidth I need. I am required to use it every three months or it expires and I have to go to a T-Mobile store to renew it, which is annoying but not the end of the world. I use it about twice per year. The disadvantage is that the hotspot is a separate device. The advantage is, you can connect like 10 devices simultaneously to the internet using a hotspot. And, it's signal coverage is about the same for T-Mobile--works well in cities, not so well in the boonies.
