Are Pay-As-You-Go Cell Phones Worth It?
There are a ton of commercials on television advertising the different cell phone companies and their plans for prepaid_cell_phone_250×251consumers. But a paid, monthly contract phone plan may not be the right kind of phone plan for you and your budget. It really depends on your usage and personal preference.
In lieu of a monthly contract phone plan, you have the option to have instead a prepaid cell phone. With the prepaid phones, you are not locked into a 1 or 2 year service plan and do not face having to pay hundreds of dollars in penalties and fees should you choose to switch to a different prepaid phone. The pay-as-you go plan allows you to prepay for the minutes you expect to use on your phone and then the amount of minutes actually used will be deducted from your account. With contract plans you may have the option to rollover those unused minutes but essentially you are paying for the minutes whether you use them or not.
Since many monthly contract phone service provides usually require a credit check before opening a phone account, those with bad or no credit histories may opt to use a prepaid phone instead, which requires no credit check. The pay-as-you-go phone plan can also be a better choice for your budget as you can set the amount of money you can afford to pay each month, instead of facing a high monthly bill you may not be able to pay off each month.
There are several different options available for prepaid phone plans. Citing two examples here, we will discuss the popular Tracphone and Net 10 prepaid phones.
Tracphone
Tracphone boots to be the leader in prepaid wireless service in the US. They offer several value plans, where you can purchase minutes for a flat rate fee each month. Text messaging is available on the phones. You can also add bundles of minutes at any time you are running low. Brand name phones are available starting at $14.99. If you already had a cell phone number, you can transfer your old number to your new Tracphone. You can activate and refresh minutes online or via the telephone.
Net 10
The Net 10 prepaid phones charge $.10 a minute for all calls (local, ling distance, and roaming nationwide). The cost of the actual phone ranges from $19.99 to $59.99 and includes many of the popular brand named models (LG, Motorola, Nokia) in a select group of styles. Phones have text messaging capabilities, which cost the sender $.05 per message. Users prepay money to activate and use the phone. Net 10 offers 4 inclusive programs, where users pay a flat-fee to access different amounts of prepaid minutes. You can get 150-400 minutes for a flat rate fee or you can pay for the Net10 Unlimited program that gives you unlimited calling and texting for a flat rate a month. (Note: The Unlimited plan is not available in all areas.) Whenever you need to replenish minutes, you can log on to the Net 10 website or call the toll free number.
If you have been working on your budget and need to find some areas where you can cut costs, compare how many minutes you actually use on your cell phone each month and see if it might be more financially smart to switch to a prepaid wireless plan than it would be to continue renewing your monthly contract with your present provider. Just remember, only make the switch at renewal time or you can expect to pay upwards of $200-$300 to break your contract.
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Help answer the question about cell phone compare plan
What is the BEST prepaid cell phone plan?Comparing prepaid companies (in the US) – how much per minute, cheap phone (I don't care if it's super fancy or anything), the best plans. I can't find a comparison chart or anything. Oh, and I don't want Virgin Mobile… and it'd be best if I could buy minutes/card at a store as there won't be a credit card available.
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Tisha Kulak Tolar is a writer for LeaveDebtBehind.com where she regularly writes about debt consolidation, getting out of debt, debt settlement and saving money.
here is the website that I've used….check it out and make a decision!
http://www.cellguru.net/providers.htm
If you want to know the best value for cheap calling, i believe the best services are 'virgin mobile' and T-Mobile.
I have used 'virgin mobile' for over a year, and their rates per minute are very cheap, and a great deal. you also have manydifferent pre-paid options you can choose from at virginmobile, depending on what style of talking and payment fits your needs.
Right now, I am in the process of switching from virgin mobile ,to using t-mobile 'to go' pre-paid plan. I am not unsatisfied with VirginMobile ,but I just weanted ot get a new phone, so i purchased an 'unlocked' Motorola SLVR L7, and I plan on poppihg a t-mobile SIM card into it to use as a pre-paid phone.
Virgin Mobile does not use SIM cards in their phones, so that option was out of the question.
TMobile pre-paid is also a more simple pre-paid service for you, because it gives you less plans to choose from, and it is a more basic/easier to understand option.
Both are good choices to go with.
A few questions for you:
- is there a certain type of phone you are looking for?
- would you consider purchasing an 'unlocked' phone, so you can put in the SIM service that you want
- Is there a maximum amount of money you plan on spending per month?
I hope this is helpful for you. You should check out the companies websites for more info.
Usually the refurbished phones are just "Open Box" items. I.e. If we open a box to show the phone to a customer, and then they don't end up buying it, we'll usually send it back to At&t. They will inspect the phone, make sure there's no problems with anything, and then sell it as a refurb. The only reason that I can think of to pay the extra $70 is for the warranty program. Refurbs usually carry a 90 day warranty, while new phones carry a 1 year warranty.
Personally I'd go with the refurb. If something goes wrong, you could practically buy another phone with all the money you saved at the onset. If the phone works out, then you saved $70
I think the phone is no good without a calling card, as far as text, im not sure if that is possible on a calling card, try reading the fine print on the back of the calling card
You have to buy the monthly plan in order to get the unlimited texting for $10. The unlimited texting on pay as you go costs $20. As far as getting a monthly plan it simply depends on how much you talk. I have the unlimited calling and texting plan (no web pack) and it costs $101.97 a month with taxes.
( http://www.virginmobileusa.com/rates/home.do )
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If you dont use your cell phone alot best buy is Net 10 f its offered where your from. If you're going to use the phone alot. Some providers offer pre payed by the months such as Verizon Wireless' "Easypay" or Virgin Mobile's Pay by the Month plans..my personal opinon is Virgin Mobiles pay by the month I pay 50 a month and get 300 anytime min. and 3000 night & weekend min. and nights start at 7 …hope this helps
Pay as you go comes in a plan, but no contract. They come in prepaid cards. You can load them on and they will deduct money depending on which option you chose. Depending on how much you use your phone, it may save you money to get prepaid or pay as you go. If you talk a lot, but maybe only for a month or 2, get an unlimited pay as you go card. But if you want unlimited talk and text, or you use your phone a whole lot, it may be best to go with a 1 or 2 year plan. Some really good providers are AT&T GoPhone, TracPhone.
Also, I started out with pay as you go and then started to talk more and upgraded to a plan.
Cingular has a $10 monthly charge for unlimited texting if you get a plan. If I were you, since you mostly use the phone for texting, get a cheap plan so you can talk.