[General Questions and Answers] Sherbertine:
So let's start this off by saying I tend to be a very frugal person. So frugal that about a year and a half ago I opted to get the Galaxy Tab (7 inch) from Verizon on a 2 year contract for only $100 on a $35 a month 3GB data plan. I slapped Skype on it, grabbed an online number and tied that into my Google Voice account and for a total of $41~ a month ($6 a month on average for an online number for Skype and unlimited minutes) I had a device with unlimited calling, unlimited texting, and 3GB of data which turned out to be plenty since I used the wifi when I was at home. This was awesome despite holding up a 7 inch tablet to my head to make phone calls, which I didn't care. I mean yeah people look at you funny but I was the one laughing since I was saving over $50 a month on my phone bill. And I could play Angry Birds on a big screen! I really really loved this setup.

I sold that tablet to my brother 9 months ago now and he just kinda carried over the plan. I did that since I moved to Chile for that amount of time and now I'm moving back to the States come next week and I want a similar setup. No carriers offer data only plans though that work well in my area. I switched from AT&T to Verizon since big red's coverage was 100x better where I mostly used my phone. However the data plan I had gotten with that tablet has gone away due to the "Share Everything" stuff although it still is only $40 a month for the share everything tablet data plan but none of the newer tablets they offer catch my eye since I really want that 7 inch sweet spot which is actually able to still fit in most of my pant's back pockets. This brings me to my best thought so far but there's one large caveat...

Mobile hotspots. I have narrowed down the choice between Verizon's Mifi 4510L and US Cellular's Samsung SCH-LC11 and then using that to connect to a Nexus 7 which looks like a better and more powerful Galaxy Tab that I had only used a year ago. I'm definitely leaning more towards US Cellular though since they offer a 2 GB plan for $25 a month and only an extra $10 per GB used above the 2GB limit while Verizon's crazy pricing for their Mifi 4510L starts at $50 a month for 4 GB of data which I'd probably never use all of it. I never even used 2 GB from what I remember from before. Although that's still a huge bargain compared to pretty much everyone else who has opted for those ridiculously overpriced plans for their rinky dinky smartphones. ;) I kid of course. The base pricing for the devices is $188.99 out the door for a pre-owned certified Mifi 4510L without a contract and $200 (after $50 MiR) for the Samsung on a 2 year contract. After a year the Samsung would save me $300 but that's also stuck on a 2 year contract, although if I had to cancel it'd only be $150 to do so and I'd still be ahead $150 above big red. But the one large caveat to this is the battery life which on the Samsung is about 3 and half hours active usage and the Mifi 4510L says 5 hours but the Samsung has a removable battery. Now I drive fairly often and at my work and home I'll more than likely have wifi access, thus negating the need to plug in the mobile hotspot, the tablet however would also use up more battery due to the wifi being on all the time. It's definitely a trade off but one I'm willing to make I believe since on the US Cellular (Which has really great service where I live although I don't believe I can get 4G from either) side of things I'd be saving $900 a year.* So what does xda think about this? Any thoughts or insight? Other suggestions that I more than likely missed? Or mistakes in my plan? (I've been known to make plenty of those.)

Now I do know that it doesn't have to be a tablet. I'm tempted to get the Galaxy S III off-contract and just use it wirelessly the same way. However I'll still be lugging the mobile hotspot wherever I'll be. Other bonuses to the hotspot is... It's a hotspot. Super easy to share my connection. Although I was able to do that with my old Galaxy Tab very easily as well so not a huge deal. Thanks to those that stuck through my huge post and seemingly large amount of rambling. I didn't mean to post this much but it just turned out this way.

*This is accounting that I never have to pay an extra $10 for a GB over the 2GB use and accounting for a $100 for a normal plan. I could go ahead and say I'd be saving $1800 over a normal smartphone plan although I have around $400 to put down at first so saying an average smartphone goes for $200 with a 2 year plan I'm still saving $1600 once those 2 years are up.

TL;DR - I'm cheap and want to get a mobile hotspot and use a tablet (Nexus 7) connected to it via wifi as my phone to get the cheapest monthly data plan and run all my talk and texts through Google Voice / Skype.