Authored by Phil Dotree in Communications
Published on 10-10-2009
There are quite a few cell phone plan options out there, and knowing more about them can help you to save money. You may have heard about pay as you go cell phone plans. If you aren’t on your phone a lot, or if you’re uncomfortable with the idea of a long term cell phone plan, a pay as you go cell phone plan may be perfect for you.
Pay as you go cell phones operate exactly as their name implies; users buy a certain number of minutes, and the phone will only function if there are minutes left on a plan. More minutes for pay as you go cell phones can be purchased at any time, either via the phone service, online, or at major stores where pay as you go cell phone cards are available. When minutes are purchased, they become instantly available.
The benefits of a pay as you go cell phone are fairly easy to see. If you don’t use a cell phone very often, you can be sure that you’re not paying for any minutes that you’re not using on a month by month basis. The minutes for the plans are inexpensive for one-time purchases, and are easy to buy and use. If you decide to switch carriers at any time, it’s not difficult to do. You can use your current cell phone number if you decide to switch to a pay as you go plan. There are also no overage charges, as when you’re out of minutes, your pay as you go cell phone will simply not place or receive a call. The phones needed for a pay as you go plan are very affordable. If you travel out of the country often, a pay as you go plan will prevent you from wasting money on a cell phone plan that you won’t be using.
However, there are also some drawbacks to pay as you go cell phones. For one, pay as you go cell phone models don’t tend to have a lot of extras. Data service is almost unheard of, and features like cameras tend to be fairly low quality on pay as you go phones. Text messages can get extremely costly, as they take up minutes on a pay as you go plan, and rates are generally higher overall. If you decide to purchase a pay as you go plan, you won’t get benefits like free nights and weekends. These types of benefits are common with more standard, contract-based cell phone plans. You might also find that it’s annoying to have to keep track of the minutes you’re using on your cell phone plan, and the inconvenience can be enough to drive you to a standard plan.
Nevertheless, if cell phone extras don’t appeal to you, you might find the benefits of a pay as you go cell phone plan appealing. Of course, it will all depend on your own cell phone usage, but it’s worth sitting down and evaluating whether a pay as you go plan could save you money. For cell phone minimalists, pay as you go plans can be a fantastic choice.
