Do you talk a lot? T-Mobile has an unlimited data, unlimited text, 100 minute no-contract plan for $30/month. I'm using it with my Nexus 4. Additional talk time is $0.10/minute.
How did you actually get that plan with your Nexus 4? I've been a T-mobile customer for several years, always owning my phone outright (now a Nexus 4), but they gave me a serious run-around, telling me that particular plan was a promotional thing that could only be used with a Walmart handset.
Bought a micro-SIM card on the website (Wal-Mart sells them too), popped it in the phone, chose the plan from the list when activating the SIM card on the website. You got a run-around because you talked to a real person when that's a web-only (t-mobile.com or walmart.com) plan for new customers.
My ex had a similar issue. It seemed like they were trying to say that data plan was meant for non-smart phones. It was meant to cover the applications on the original Razrs and such but not the higher bandwidth needs of newer phones.