Not Made Of Money

Prepaid cell phones often seem like an easy answer for people who would like to have a cell phone but don’t have a perfect credit score. These people can skip the process of signing a lengthy contract for their cell phone and, instead, simply pay for their phone service as they use it. Did you know, however, that prepaid cell phones are also good for your budget?

Prepaid cell phones protect their owners from “surprise” charges on their monthly bills. Once the user has burned through his allocation of minutes, the phone simply stops working. There are not charges for extra minutes. Have you ever had one of those months where you talked on your cell phone much more than you thought you did? You were shocked when you saw that extra $50 on your billing statement weren’t you? That experience could have been avoided by using a prepaid cell phone.

Prepaid cell phones are also useful when you have teenagers in your house. A friend with a teenage daughter has often shared stories with me about trying to shut down services that her daughter has unwittingly signed up for through the cell phone. She could save all of that time by giving her daughter a prepaid cell phone. These phones simply won’t allow the daughter to engage in those phone services unless she pays for them first.

The only downside to prepaid cell phones is that you’ll probably have to purchase your own phone rather than choosing one of the free phones that are typically offered when you sign a new cell phone contract. Don’t let that scare you away from using prepaid cell phones, though. Some of these phones are less than $20 at Walmart. Just don’t expect to find the latest innovations in cell phones in your prepaid cell phone.

Before you renew your next cell phone contract, you should take a moment to check out prepaid cell phones. In some cases, you may even be able to stick with your current provider. Some companies offer prepaid plans through a subsidiary company, but others simply have prepaid plans available under their brand name. These plans aren’t usually advertised heavily, though, so you’ll have to visit your carrier’s website to look for them.

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