Cell phone contracts vs. pay as you go
What is the main difference between a pay as you go plan and a cell phone contract? Well, for pay as you go, you don’t have to sign your name to anything! If at the end of the month you don’t feel like paying for more minutes, then you have no obligation to do so. However, you are also sort of on your own as far as plans go. A lot of pay as you go phones are getting more and more plan-oriented, but you still end up with a basic common denominator… the more you talk, the more you pay.
Also, getting any “cool” phones at a price that you can afford usually means that you need to get a contract. Take, for example, the Nexus One… it retails for around $560 without a contract, but if you sign the agreement, you can buy the phone for a scant $180. This is why most people do not even think twice about a contract phone. However, pay as you go plans may have more to offer than you think.
A lot of prepaid phones are cheap, but there are some out there that are cool. For example, there are cheap handsets available from certain companies that you can even charge up with unlimited minutes per month if you want! These are not the incredible handsets that you will find at your T-Mobile store, but they can suffice. It really depends on what you want.
The bottom line is this… if you want flexibility in your cell phone payment plans, then prepaid or pay as you go phones are just going to work better. However, if you don’t mind a monthly bill if it comes with the perks of a contract phone, then that might be the way to go. Honestly, I think you may get more bang for your buck with a contract phone, but if you don’t have a steady income, or if you are worried about payments, it is a whole lot better to just go without service than to get slammed with penalties for missing a payment.
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