I'm looking for a prepaid cell phone, a cheap one. I don't want to get a monthly bill because there are going to be periods of the year where I'm not going to use my cell phone. I don't talk a lot, but I don't talk a little. The last phone I had, I used an average of 600 minutes a month. What's a good deal and what are the details of the plan? I also want to know do prepaid phones use SIM cards? if they do can you put the card in another phone and have it work?

Prepaid phones usually don't use sim cards, usually, unless you get one like virgin mobile. Since you said you use about 600 minutes a month, I'm just going to tell you, prepaid phones are NOT for you, if you plan to use the cards. The cards cost from 10 to around 70 dollars depending on which service you choose and how many minutes/units you purchase, and the minutes cost at least 10 cents a minute unless you get a monthly plan, and that excludes text messaging and other perks. The other problem will be that the minutes are rounded up after 1 second of use, so you will find your usage will be MUCH higher than 600 minutes. My mom has a prepaid phone that she rarely uses, she buys 250 minute/units every 4 weeks or so and it costs like 60 dollars. Prepaid phones are useful if you have a child who needs to call home or just an emergency phone for infrequent or little use, but to use everyday, it's going to be extremely expensive and unpractical.

I have been searching for a plan too. I can't believe how tough it is to beat information out of the companies. I was at Wal-Greens the other day. They had a big rack of cards giving the price and how long you had to use the minutes, but didn't tell how many minutes you got.

I have been searching for a plan too. I can't believe how tough it is to beat information out of the companies. I was at Wal-Greens the other day. They had a big rack of cards giving the price and how long you had to use the minutes, but didn't tell how many minutes you got.


You can find how many minutes it is if it's a money card, but making a simple equation of how much each minute costs, (remember that if you only use 4 seconds for a call, it's an ENTIRE minute you lose usually,) and how much money the card has on it.

Basically, prepaid phones that use cards are a huge rip off.

Well thank you, but now I'm not sure what to do because I don't want to pay for months I'm not going to use. Every year I go traveling with my family and I don't get reception so I don't see the point of getting a monthly plan

I use virgin mobile myself, and I can top up like 10 dollars and leave it all month and not use it if I want and it will stay active, but I usually use the month2month plan they offer, it works pretty well for me.

Well thank you for your help.

First, to Charlotte, I think you are confusing prepaid phones with prepaid phone or pay as you go plans. Prepaid phones are one time use phones, but prepaid plans DO use a Sim card.

I have an AT&T Go Phone, I've had the plan for more than 5 years and just upgraded to a new phone. All I neded to do was transfer the Sim card, charge the battery and start usng it.

I prefer the AT&T simple rate option. This option is a flat $.25 per minute. I am required to add a minimum of $25 every three months to keep the minutes going. If I don't add more before the expiration data I lose my balance. My next expiration date is 11/27 and I currently have a balance of just over $25. Since I use the phone rarely, this works great for me. Most of the other plans (including AT&T's "Unlimited") have a daily access charge of $1. So if you use the phone just once in a day for one minute you get charged $1 plus the air time charge. This wouldn't work for me. The way it works now, I pay less than $10/month.

I agree however, if you are going to use 600 minutes a month, then a prepaid plan is going to cost you more. Even at $.10 a minute, with access charges you would be paying close to $90 month. But if you average the use over a year and you will have several months of no usage, then a prepaid may work for you.

Well, Whatever you do, do not get the Verizon Impulse pay as you go. Its such a rip off. I have it because my mom doesn't want me on a plan. One day I was looking at the back of the card and it said in small print " Verizon can charge you up to $1.25 a day, even if you dont make or recive calls." Its all stupid. >_<