(sallyvillarreal)
Prepaid cell phones aren’t only for drug dealers on the HBO show The Wire. Those who rarely talk or text and would rather not be tied to an electronic leash may want to look into prepaid plans. They could be cheaper than monthly plans, and could work for those who are on a tight budget.
In a post on Moolanomy, Miranda lays out the reasons prepaid service work best for her:
In my family, cell phones do not represent the primary communication. We have VoIP for our regular phone, and the cell phones are mainly for when we’re away. My cell phone is a pre-paid, per-minute deal. I rarely need to use my phone, so my per-month cost averages out to right around $4 month. And I like having the phone in case of emergency, or so my husband can reach me when I am not at home.
If you’ve ever used a prepaid cell phone plan, why did it work for you? If you came back to a monthly plan, what made you make the shift?
Is Prepaid Cell Phone Right For You? [Moolanomy]
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Tracfone hacks:
Always buy a phone with “Double minutes for life”
Always search the internet for promo codes before buying new minutes
Tracfone disables USB functions on their phones, so you have to send your pictures by Email if you want to see them outside the phone. Buy a Sim card reader and you can access your pictures – and phone book.
Tracphone just had a great deal. $10 for a flip phone and $100 for a whole year with 1000 minutes. This is great for your forgetful parent who wants a phone but doesn’t really do tech. Sure, the phones aren’t anything to write home about, but if you want communications, you got it.
I’ve always used prepaid because I hate talking on the phone. My kids prefer text, and they’re the only ones I communicate with for the most part. It’s cheap, I’ve had the same phone number for close to a decade, and I can cancel whenever I want, so I can’t see any reason not to use prepaid.
I have used Tracfone for years – BRILLIANT service. $99/year, with rollover minutes (and always a great extra minutes deal at renewal). Cheap, good no-frills phones with single-rate roaming (same rate as local). My phone has worked in remote places where friends with super-expensive plans could not connect. I have roamed up and down, coast to coast in the US, with no connection problems. I would recommend this without hesitation.
I used to have a Verizon smart phone, but after my boss got me a Blackberry, I never used it. So as soon as the contract was up, I bought a $15 T-Mobile dumb phone and ported my number over to it. I’ve had that number for over 10 years and wanted to keep it. $10/month autopay (I’m forgetful) and I don’t have to worry about not having a phone close to hand.
For a bonus, I can let my son use it, and don’t have to worry about overages. When it runs out, he’s out of luck until the 4th.
Went to a pre-paid phone so I could avoid all of the extra taxes and fees that come with the “Customer No-Service” Contracts you have to be married to for two or more years. I also basically got sick of how I was treated as a second class citizen after the big carriers locked you into a long term contract. After all, what incentive do they have to help you with ANYTHING once you signed the two year paper? Pre-paid has afforded me to pay as I need to and very few dropped calls unlike my iPhone friends who are locked into crappy contracts with AT&T and their extraordinarily crappy network. I’ve had the prepaid phone for a year and have saved over $1200 by switching.
Being that I don’t use my phone a lot, I’ve been on Virgin Mobile for years. My plan is a per-minute one that is not longer available, and I usually have to put $15 in every 3 months just to keep it active, I use it so little!
I have a T-Mobile pre-pay phone that I’ve had for about 5 years now. I only use my phone to call and occasionally text. The minutes last a full year and if you buy more ($100 worth at a crack) you get 10% more minutes. I don’t need to be in constant contact with all of my friends. I have Facebook updates to ignore for that already.
It’s awesome I use my phone so little that a plan would be horribly expensive. Besides I don’t sign contracts that removes the companies desire to remain competative with the competition. Can any phone company match my cost of $10-15 per month for a call and text plan?
I had a really basic pay as you go phone back in ’05. Never again. 40 cents a minute (and they counted every second used, including the pre recorded “you have 3 dollars remaining on your account” message they played at the begining of every call once you went under a certain amount), 15 cents a text (in and out.) I had it for about 3 months and spent about 250 dollars. No thanks.
There are several advantages to switching to a prepaid phone. I personally use the Net10 service with it’s unlimited plan and I pay only $50 for all the talking, texting, web and emailing that I want. The coverage works wonderfully – it’s nationwide to be more precise. This works out especially to my advantage since I travel quite frequently for business. I keep in touch with my kids and friends throughout the day for a fabulous price. The phone I use is actually the new LG900 Smartphone and I got it last week at Radioshack for just $30! Yes a smartphone for that price – definitely a great deal I wouldn’t recommend passing up!!
i am super happy with my tracfone prepaid family plan. for my husband myself and my two kids i pay less than $30 a month, have great nationwide coverage, for the kids very cheap phones for only $9.99, that way if they should break them i don’t worry too much, it is cheap to replace them, and they work well for the kids so far. my reasons for going prepaid are surely obvious to most by now. savings. with prepaid i save a lot of money in comparisn to what i used to have to pay on contract, in addition i allways know where i am with my budget, and most important the kids are on a budget too and will have to learn to deal with it. no more cellphone bill shock. prepaid with tracfone’s family plan suits my needs perfectly.
I switched to prepaid a long time ago because I realised that the contract companies are ripping their clients off in all sorts of ways. With prepaid they have no hold over you, so they can’t rip you off. I have actually saved a lot of money by using my Net10 phone, and I have had no coverage hassles at all. I would definately not go back to a contract phone.