Bobert, I also have Verizon and am in North Carolina. I don't have a Smart Phone and do not text so do not have a texting package. Including taxes and other odd charges, some government related and some not, I pay just under $45 per month. That includes 400 peak time minutes, no charge for calls to other Verizon cell phones, no charge for any calls made after 9:00 pm at night and no charge for calls made on the weekend. I use the phone for my private practice, and also pay for text messages forwarded to my cell phone from my company paid pager, because the pager is unreliable. I am on-call 24-7. Even with paying per message for forwarded text pages, my cell phone bill has never exceeded $49.00 per month. I have a land line only because I need a fax machine for my private practice. I have had the same phone plan for 4 years and have not gotten anywhere close to going over the 400 minutes per month. The only expense my ex pays for our son is to include him on his Verizon family share plan. It adds $20 per month to his Verizon Wireless bill.
I am a fan of Verizon. Hassle free, the terms are unambiguous, and their coverage sans roaming charges (which is important to me since I travel a lot) is the best there is. If you are paying $80 per month for 2 basic phones (not smart phones) with only 200 minutes per month, you got sold a bill of goods by a secondary sales person. Call the Verizon Customer Service number. Believe it or not, they will give very good advice and direction regarding the most economical phone plan to fit your needs, PROVIDED you are very clear about your wants and needs, and also prepared to draw a line between you wants and your needs.