cell phone + wifi for home

hello everybody! I'm staying in Japan for 8 months and need some recommendations from you Japan pro's. On a tight budget and trying to plan ahead for cell phone and wifi. for cell, would it be beneficial to just get a data only plan and then use an app for text/call? my texts and calls would be very minimal (maybe 1 or 2 people). on the other hand I will be using data a lot more. i have a laptop also. could i tether from my phone's data or will the turtle speeds be a headache? i'm trying to keep my costs down but i have my necessities so i was hoping anybody with experience can point me in the right direction.... with plans, prices, options, etc...
thank you in advance.

On a tight budget and trying to plan ahead for cell phone and wifi. for cell, would it be beneficial to just get a data only plan and then use an app for text/call?

Yes, that is theoretically possible. Line works for calling other line members. Then there's always apps like skype to fill in for regular numbers. Note that app calling is not nearly as reliable as normal calling.

i have a laptop also. could i tether from my phone's data or will the turtle speeds be a headache?

Yes, many prepaid data apps support tethering. Some are slow speed, others extremely fast. Depends on what you pay for.

i'm trying to keep my costs down but i have my necessities so i was hoping anybody with experience can point me in the right direction.... with plans, prices, options, etc...
thank you in advance.

What are your data needs/budget?

i was leaning towards just using data and apps but how are they not nearly as reliable as normal calling? same with texts? i would want reliability but i fear the cell phone plan with data and wifi at home would be too expensive. in the US i currently pay $40 for unlimited calls text and lte data (caps around 3gb though which i usually hit, then gets sluggish), internet at home i pay a little over $20 for unlimited high speed no caps. reasonable here but i know i shouldn't be expecting the same prices in Japan. basically ill be using my phone and laptop a lot for apps, text/call, self study, many websites, watch a lot of videos, downloading music, movies, so i assume i need a lot of data. i would love to have an actual phone number but i won't be making many calls, definitely more incoming then outgoing. texts probably none so an app or line would be fine for that.
I'm hoping to keep it as close to the $60 I pay here with slight wiggle room

i was leaning towards just using data and apps but how are they not nearly as reliable as normal calling?

It's mainly that making and receiving calls via data apps requires data service, which can be spottier than cell phone service especially outside the big cities.

same with texts?

Should be similar.

I'm hoping to keep it as close to the $60 I pay here

If that's a per month budget then you have lots of options including high speed options with no cap, and options that include voice. I would recommend looking at services such as so-net or bmobile:

http://www.so-net.ne.jp/prepaid/en/#plan
http://www.bmobile.ne.jp/product_voice.html

i understand now. my Japanese is very bad at the moment so reading the b mobile website is near impossible. from what i see theres an iPhone plan 8gb of data (not sure what speed) for about 4000 Yen and a 7gb wifi plan for 3200 Yen. that seems reasonable if I plan to go that route. do you know if they have english support ? i would like to find out info on their voice+data plans. i checked out so net but the top ups seem steep so b mobile is looking good.
you've been a great help thank you.

I will be going to Japan in September and I am also having trouble with the cell phone situation. I want to be affordable but I want to be able to use Line (hence why I wouldn't just get a feature phone).

Only I am not sure if my Galaxy S3 would work with a Japanese SIM Card...this is all very confusing...

Only I am not sure if my Galaxy S3 would work with a Japanese SIM Card...

It should work provided it is unlocked