You really need to be checking out howard forums for this kind of information. There are a few ways to get cheap data through Verizon.

1) There is the venerable qnc and 1x networks that can usually be accessed and consume minutes ( free nights and weekends ).

2) There is a trick to getting EVDO speeds by using InPulse ( it's not as crazy as it sounds ). You end up paying $15/month for unlimited EVDO/data assuming that's all you use it for until they finally close the loophole.

And there are similar tricks with other providers.