Cell Phone Plans: Comparing Monthly Contracts to Pay as You Go Plans

In this day and age of cell phone use, you have quite a few different options when it comes to paying your cell phone bill. Currently, there are two different ways to do this. You can have a monthly contract, or you can use use a pay as you go plan (also known as a go phone).

Monthly Contract -

Most people are familiar with the monthly contract. You set up your service plan to include what you want. This enables you to determine how much Internet access, text messaging, or talk time that you will need. After this, you simply browse the types of plans that are offered and pick the one that you feel is right for you. And at the end of each month, you'll pay a set amount of money for your phone. That's it.

Many of these phone plans will also allow you to purchase a really nice phone when you agree to a contract of one to two years. Some of the phones might even be free. The drawback to this is the fact that you have to have a contract. So if you change your mind and want to use another phone company, you'll have to pay a penalty fee in order to cancel the contract (in most cases).

Pay as You Go -

The pay as you go plan is a little different than the monthly contract plan. With a pay as you go plan, you'll need to add minutes when your allotted time runs out. The bright side to this plan is that there is no contract; the amount of time that you talk, text, or surf the Internet will determine the price. So if you use up a lot of minutes quickly, then you may be better off with a monthly contract.

However, if you hardly ever use your phone, or you want a backup phone then a pay as you go plan may be perfect for you. Pay as you go plans also come with a few cheap phones, but they are usually not nearly as nice as the phones on the monthly contract plan.

Purchasing an Unlocked Phone -

You may want to look into buying an unlocked phone for whatever phone carrier you use. These phones are often times a lot more expensive than a phone that's on a monthly contract plan; however, you now have the option of not having to worry about the added expense of buying a new phone if you need to switch providers.

Unlocked phones simply require you to have a sim card, which you can swap out and replace with a different one when you change to a different phone company. You can buy unlocked phones from eBay, Amazon, and other similar stores. Just make sure that it states that the phone is "unlocked". Ask the buyer if you're not sure.

Cell phone plans can be a hassle, but they don't have to be. Some individuals will be better off with a monthly contract plan, and others will prefer a pay as you go plan.