Verizon Pay As You Go Vs. Data for PDA?

Hello, I'm wanting to get the Samsung i760, but I'm a college student, and I can't afford the $44 fee for the unlimited data plan. I absolutely love this phone, but I do not like that I can't send picture messages without a data plan. Is it possible that I can have the unlimited text and pix plan, along with the pay as you go data plan? I do not want to use data for web browsing because I have wifi at home and on campus, but i do want to have picture messaging on the phone. Will the pay as you go plan cost a lot of money if i only use it for picture messaging?