I know you don't want to get hooked on a crackberry but I think virgin mobile has a deal on right now where you can get unlimited text, unlimited bbm, and evenings/weekends after 5pm for only 30 bucks a month.

And virgin kind of does what koodo does and will give you a tab for your phone rather then a contract. So basically the phone costs X amount of dollars and I think 3% of what you pay towards your bill goes to paying that tab. Once the tab is up you can quit them or get a new phone.