How Prepaid Cell Phones Save You Money

In the past the most popular cell phone services have always been the contract model. However, there are now more and more prepaid services than ever to choose from, offering several benefits over the contract option. Here are some of the main reasons why you might consider getting rid of your contract phone and going prepaid instead.

Never Overspend

When you choose a prepaid cell phone service you can always control how much you spend. Many people on contract phones will realise they never use the minutes they pay for every month (therefore throwing money away) or that they accidentally go over their allowance without realizing and end up paying more than the set monthly amount.

With a prepaid cell phone service you can make sure that you only pay for the minutes that you use, instead of wasting over 20% of your minutes each and every month. You also control how much you load onto your balance every month, meaning that you can never go over a budget that you set yourself up front.

This can be extremely useful if you are giving the phone as a gift to, for example, teenagers who tend to talk for too long or those who are bad at keeping track of their talk time. Whoever uses the phone will be aware of how much money they have available at any given time and will make sure that they don't go over that amount - because they can't. This really helps you figure out exactly how much you need to call each month, helping you to save money.

Save Money When Roaming

Contract services can really hit you hard with huge costs when you are roaming, often without you realizing before you took up the plan. However, roaming becomes much more cost-effective with prepaid plans due to the fact that many of them include roaming at the same standard charge as local calls.

If you travel often then this is a great reason to check out the roaming prices of prepaid services, where the companies will often have deals with tower networks to increase your coverage wherever you go.

Know What You Are Being Charged

Surprise charges can be a regular feature of contract cell phone plans. There may be hidden fees or charges for accidentally running over your allotted minutes. Most customers will find their average contract bill to be around 20% more than what they originally expected when taking out the plan.

With prepaid cell phone plans there are no surprise charges due to the fact that you always pay in advance. There is no invoice at the end of each month, it is a simple system where you decide exactly what you want to spend. The thing is, when you use up your minutes, you're done. You're not going to get hit with overage charges (depending, of course, on the plan you choose) or pay extremely high rates when you go over your minutes--you'll have no minutes to use. If you want to talk more, you have to buy more talk time.

No Contract

Taking out a contract service means you are bound to that provider for a certain length of time. At minimum this will be a year but contracts can often extend to several years. If you cancel the contract before the term runs out you will be liable to pay a cancellation fee, usually equating to the cost of seeing your contract out to the end.

Prepaid cell phone services allow you to change provider whenever you want, and you are not locked in to a specific 'plan' that gives you a fixed amount of minutes each month. If you choose what to spend, you can always change this down the line according to your needs.

Some of the more popular prepaid wireless providers are Cricket, Tracfone, Boost Mobile, and Virgin Mobile prepaid. You can also find plans with varying different models from T-Mobile, Cingular, and Verizon. As you see, you have some options to look at and find what works best for you and your family. If you put in a little time to discover what the different plans offer and what the benefits of prepaid cell phones are, you will be able to make a well-informed decision and end up saving a nice chunk of money on your monthly bills.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are some great reasons to choose prepaid over contract phones. If you are still not convinced you should bear in mind that more and more wireless providers are now offering prepaid plans with all the common benefits of contract plans, at cheaper prices and without the risks listed above.

Prepaid plans will still have the great cell phone reception that you need, some stylish and well-priced handsets and great customer service. What they don't have, though, are any of the hidden costs or restrictions associated with traditional contract plans.

So take a moment to think about why you are still using contract cell phone providers. Could you be saving money by switching to a prepaid cell phone service today? Read more about prepaid cell phones and see if they are an option that will work for you and save you money.