Image of being trapped behind fence representing being caged by phone plans

Choosing the Best Prepaid Phone Plan for You

Feeling trapped? Then you’re not on a prepaid phone plan!

Having a prepaid phone plan usually means that you didn’t need to go through a credit check when you bought it, you don’t have a contract and you are currently saving money. In short, there are many reasons to consider a prepaid phone plan and there are many options to consider.

A Prepaid Phone Plan for the Budget-Conscious

Prepaid phone plans are in particular suitable for the frugal customer. Usually they come with no frills, but instead, the actual plans are generally lower. You pay up front for talk, text, and data, with no risk of overage charges or other surprises at the end of the month.

At US Mobile, you can go into our prepaid plans‘ page and explore what your monthly bill would be based on your current usage. If you don’t know how much you’re using on average, check your last phone bill. Another thing you can to clearly see what you would potentially be saving if you switch carriers is to look at our Savings Calculator. It will plot out what your current cost is, what the average US cell phone bill is, and compare them with your own-crafted plan with US Mobile.

Another thing you can see is what you would be saving if you switched carrier. Have a look at our Savings Calculator. It will plot your current cost is along with the average US cell phone bill, and compare them with your own-crafted plan with US Mobile.

Cheap Prepiad Phone Plans

Best Plans for Your Kid

Getting your kid a phone can be both costly and scary. However, a prepaid plan will help with both those concerns. If you go for prepaid, instead of postpaid, you’ll make sure that your kid isn’t using more than what you’ve paid for. You won’t have to face the horror that you might remember from back in the days when you dialed up to the internet with a modem, costing you $$$ for every hour you were online. The kid can use the phone until all the talk, text, and data is used up.

Speaking of data, you might even consider going with a talk- and text only plans for your child. That way you can ensure that they don’t go online without an adult supervising. The smallest talk/text plan you can buy for your kid is $7 including the monthly service fee. It will work both on a cell phone but also on any kind of GPS/Phone watch. If you have children in their teens, we would recommend adding more texts than minutes to the plan. In our experience, teens seem to prefer to communicate with text. For an unlimited text plan. you only pay $7/month (excluding service fee) at US Mobile.

Pay-As-You-Go Phones

When it comes to phone selection you should start by deciding if you need a basic phone, just for calling and texting or a smartphone. Smartphones have operating systems enabling apps, streaming movies and music, accessing the internet and taking photos or even recording videos.

Secondly, you should decide on a prepaid phone, where you pay month-to-month based on usage, or a postpaid phone. A postpaid phone is usually offered at a discount and you pay every month instead of upfront for it. The caveat here is that you’ll have to stay with that carrier until your contract is over (generally after 24 months). If/When you want to switch carriers, you need to make sure that the phone is unlocked. Check out Can I Unlock My Phone for more details on that.

To conclude, choose a prepaid phone plan if you want:

  • Freedom to change phones and carriers without penalty.
  • Pay for calling, texting and data services in advance, which usually lowers your phone bill.
  • Flexibility to upgrade and downgrade your plan and come and go as you want.