One man cut his family cellular bill by $800 switching to prepaid cell phones.
Read this first hand account of a man who now pays less than $10 a month for his and his family’s wireless bill. He writes about the myths and misunderstood facts about prepaid and makes that point that people simply do not know that they have options other than contract cell phone offers.
The prepaid myths he cites are the following:
1) Switching to prepaid is more expensive because you are in a contract and have to pay a termination fee. I thought that this was generally the rule, but I guess there are ways to get out of the cancellation fees that can often cost several hundreds of dollars. I’ll look into this and let you all know what I find out.
2) Almost three quarters of people think prepaid cell phones are only good for those who don’t use their phones that often or use them sparingly. The writer goes on to cite that if you use 400 or less minutes a month, you will do better with a prepaid carrier.
3) Many people think that using the same amount of talk time on a prepaid or pay as you go phone costs the same as what you would pay for a monthly contract.
4) Prepaid phones don’t get good reception and only work well in certain areas of the country.
According to this article, the average cell phone owner uses approximately 260 minutes per month. His rule of thumb is that if you are using under 400 minutes, prepaid is probably a better option. Read the full article here.
Another widespread myth is that prepaid is only for people with poor credit. In a way, some people stigmatize these types of plan, thinking maybe they are a lesser kind of service. According to another article, it is possible for a family with two cell phones that collectively uses 700 minutes a month or less to save over $200 a year.
For extremely light cell phone users (100 minutes a month), there are plans that will cost only $10. But be warned that these types of cell phone offers have no night and weekend or in-network calling options. You also want to be careful with text messaging, which can cost $.20 each and add up very quickly. Remember, you pay to send them and receive them. If you send pictures and text messages frequently, then you will want to look for a bundle that will include these services.
Read my reviews on Tracfone, T-Mobile prepaid, and Virgin Mobile.
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