Prepaid or plan?
By dreamertink
@dfollin (24247)
United States
January 23, 2013 9:14am CST
In the past I have done both,had a plan with a cell phone company and have had (still have)prepaid cell phones.
With a prepaid service I find it to be more conveinent.With the plans I could not find a totally unlimited minutes,text and web for a reasonable price.And usually the minutes are only unlimited after 7:00 pm,weekends and only mobile to mobile with some of them only being with other phones in their network.There are some people and businesses that I can only call on landline phones and during the day.
So,I end up spending moreon overage mintes!
Plus,I have found(especially now with a broken foot) that my income has dropped and I cannot afford the amount of the larger rate plans.Therefore I have had phones get turned off!
But,with a prepaid plan I can adjust my minutes or 30 day prepaid plans as needed or wanted.
The activation fee was free! So,when I decided to get a different phone the activation was free.
So,I end up spending moreon overage mintes!
Plus,I have found(especially now with a broken foot) that my income has dropped and I cannot afford the amount of the larger rate plans.Therefore I have had phones get turned off! But,with a prepaid plan I can adjust my minutes or 30 day prepaid plans as needed or wanted.
The activation fee was free! So,when I decided to get a different phone the activation was free.1 person likes this
10 responses
@Raine38 (12257)
• United States
23 Jan 13
I used to have a prepaid one and I'm totally loving it. I always take advantage of the promos and stuff that I think I've got lots if credits for calls and texts. Now I have no choice but to be included in my husband's plan. We travel a lot and I found out that prepaid tends to have poor signal in some places. I actually experienced one that just quit working and I already loaded it up with 20$ worth of credits.
2 people like this
@dfollin (24247)
• United States
23 Jan 13
Hi Raine,That is too bad that happened.....what a waste of $20!
@dfollin (24247)
• United States
23 Jan 13
Hi jillhill,That's great.
My son has a contract phone and can rarely get reception in places that I can.
My son has a contract phone and can rarely get reception in places that I can.
@maezee (41997)
• United States
25 Jan 13
Prepaid is probably the better way to go, because plans usually require a 2 year agreement (or longer!) which is annoying. Right now I am stuck on the last 6 months of my two year agreement, and then I am going to a no-contract phone. Not a prepaid one, but a by-the-month plan rather than a "locked in" plan. It's too expensive anyway.
1 person likes this
@purnima175 (435)
• India
24 Jan 13
When I got my first cell phone about 10 years or ago it was a post paid plan. I had lots of problems with my bills then and they would always put charges for the services I didn't use or applied for and despite repeated request they didnt stop charging for them. So i had to switch to pre paid plan. I am happy with it now as I get all facilities on my pre paid which i need and don't have to worry about bills. All I need to do is recharge my account when ever I am out of credit money. So usually I get recharge coupons of rs 500 ( about 9$) which are good for 3 months or so.
1 person likes this
@LovingMyBabies (85127)
• Valdosta, Georgia
23 Jan 13
I personally prefer prepaid as well. I can choose what I need and I like that. Plus there are no contracts to sign, no credit checks, no times that I cannot call someone, etc... I really like my prepaid phone. I pay $50 a month for unlimited everything! My sister for unlimited with a contract pays $100 a month, that is double what I pay for the SAME exact thing!!! She is stuck with it right now because she has a contract with them for TWO years... No thank you!
2 people like this
@donatello123 (326)
• Philippines
21 Feb 13
Well if you really don't use your phone a lot, getting a prepaid phone is of great advantage since you will be able to save a lot of money. I used prepaid phone for several years before but now I am using a phone with plan since I don't want to experience the hassle of running out of load when you really need to call someone. Especially in my line of work, I need to contact a lot of people and It will be inconvenient for me to buy cell phone load from time to time. I will still prefer postpaid rather than prepaid.
1 person likes this
@dfollin (24247)
• United States
21 Feb 13
Hi donatello123, I have a prepaid phone and do use it a lot.That is my only phone.I cannot find any contract plans that have unlimited minutes,where as prepaid do.
For example both my daughter and I have prepaid cell phones and we pay $55 a month for unlimited talk,text and web.And we checked recent contract plans and found the cheapest one being,$89 a month with unlimited text and web,but only 300 talk minutes a month shared! And if we go over it is 10 cents a minute!
@agrim94 (3805)
• India
24 Jan 13
Hi dfollin,
i am from India and we all use pre paid option here. The thing is we do not trust mobile companies and many a times they send inflated bills but thats not a problem in pre paid. Also here the valadity is not a problem as for as less as 20 cents your card is valid for one to 5 years. So all you need to put in money and use it till it finish and then put in more money. No need to put every 30 days. All services are available on pre paid.
1 person likes this
@rosekiss (30380)
• Eugene, Oregon
19 Feb 13
I have never used prepaid, only the plan, as that is what I am used to. I sue my phone everyday, so it is just easier for me, as i have unlimited minutes, so I don't have to worry about running over them and paying for the overage. I am one person that will stay with something if it works for me, and since the paln works for me, I am staying with it. take care, and have a very good day.
@tshihmin2 (186)
• Malaysia
24 Jan 13
Prepaid plan is good when you are not often making phone calls. It also help you to control not to overuse the phone. Postpaid plan is for business people whereby they will be making a lot of phone calls. On the other hand, it can make us a habit to make more calls like out of control because there's no restriction which is the bad thing. I prefer prepaid plan because I don't make much calls and I can feel that it really help me to control.
1 person likes this
