Now that times are tough, many are switching from a post-paid cell phone plan to a prepaid cell phone service.  What are the advantages and disadvantages of using prepaid cell phones?  Should you get a prepaid phone as well?

Advantages of Prepaid Cell Phones

Pay only for your call/text usage. A common complaint with post paid phone plans is that subscribers find additional charges on their bill for calls they never made.  With a prepaid phone, there’s no need to worry about incurring extra charges, missing your due date of payment, or paying late penalty fees.

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Easy to acquire. There’s no need to fill out application forms or sign up for the 1 year contract to get approved.   If you want to have your own prepaid cell phone, all you have to do is visit your chosen carrier and make a purchase.

Put a limit over your spending. It is easier to exercise control over your call expenses using a prepaid cell phone.   You can only reload a limited amount of credit that you can use for the whole week or the whole month.  With a post paid plan, you can always make a call at anytime or make your calls a little bit longer than necessary, racking up your bills for the month.

Disadvantages of Prepaid Cell Phones

Now that we have discussed the advantages of owning a prepaid cell phone, let’s tackle the disadvantages that you should consider as well.  Remember, if you need to make frequent calls from your cell phone every day, then you may be able to save more with a post paid plan.  Prepaid phones are great for those who only make phone calls occasionally.
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You always have to reload new credit. Once you’ve used up all your available credit, you will need to buy a new prepaid card or transfer funds to your cell phone to be able to use it for new calls or texts.

You can’t use a prepaid phone to build credit history. Cell phone companies do not provide credit reporting for their prepaid plan subscribers.  If you want to build up your credit history, then what you need is a post paid cell phone service.

The cost per call is higher than a post paid plan phone. Since prepaid cell phones charge calls by the second, not by the minute, you could end up paying for more if you make longer calls frequently.  If you need a longer airtime, then a post paid plan may be a better choice for you.

About the Author

Tara Tiemann is a credit analyst for Go-prepaid.com which has been a resource site for people who want to live debt free. If you are on a budget using prepaid debit cards,prepaid credit cards and prepaid cell phone service can save you big money!

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About the Author

Tara Tiemann is a credit analyst for Go-prepaid.com which has been a resource site for people who want to live debt free. If you are on a budget using prepaid debit cards, pre paid credit cards and prepaid cell phone service can save you big money!

TracFone has now started to bring free prepaid service to low income families in Ohio by utilizing a federal subsidy program. The catch is that only the first 68 mins each month is free, after that is 20 cents a min. So if you are someone who just wants cell phone for emergencies, this might be the program for you! If you are live in Ohio contact your local TracFone and ask about the low income program. This is the 2nd state tracfone has brought this program to,so even if you are not in Ohio keep an eye out for this company !

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About the Author

Tara Tiemann is a credit analyst for www.go-prepaid.com which has been a resource site for people who want to live debt free. If you are on a budget using prepaid debit cards, pre paid credit cards and prepaid cell phone service can save you big money!

Some people automatically assume that anyone using a prepaid service is doing so because they have bad credit. Lets face it, a lot of times that true, but not always!

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Prepaid services are great for anyone who is:

• serious about staying on a budget – with prepaid services you know EXACTLY how much you can spend or how many minutes you have. Once you go through the money on your account you get notified to add more money. You can add the money or not, its up to you. No more surprise bills at the end of the month!
• anyone trying to get out of debt! Credit cards are too easy to run up thus leaving you perpetually in debt!
• they are good for anyone going to college – many of the credit cards have a credit builder function so you can work on building credit
• anyone who wants to stay off the credit radar! Most prepaid services don’t pull credit !
• the prepaid cell phones are great for anyone of any age. My sister gives them to her son so that in the summer when he is at his dad’s he always has a way of contacting her & she has a way of contacting him whenever she wants!

There are many ways of using a prepaid card or cell phone. You can use them for business too, i worked for a company online a few years back that gave us all a prepaid Wired card that they would load our paychecks on every 2 weeks. It worked out great. I could use it to make purchases and when I needed cash, I would just go to a store, buy whatever I needed and get some additional cash out with my purchase.

If you are considering going prepaid, now is the time to do it! I no longer want to be at the mercy of the credit bureaus!