Prepaid Cell Phone Plan Buying Guide: Virgin Mobile Vs. T-Mobile

Why Choose a Prepaid Cell Phone Plan?
With prepaid cell phone plans, you only pay for the airtime minutes you actually use when making wireless calls. This kind of pay-as-you-go, prepaid cell phone plan, is ideal for consumers who don't use their cell phone's often, or who want to put themselves or their teenagers on a cell-phone budget. This is especially true for those who can't figure out how much the taxes and surcharges are going to be on a monthly bill - and that's just about everybody.

If you use your cell phone daily, or frequently, a prepaid cell phone plan is not the choice for you - you'd be better off choosing a monthly plan with unlimited air time. But if you mostly use your phone for emergencies and travel, you can save big money by switching to a prepaid phone.

Don't believe me? During a recent scan of my finances, I discovered that my cell phone and its two year plan were costing me nearly $500 a year to just sit in my car, virtually unused. By switching to a prepaid cell phone plan, I was able to save nearly $300 a year, and I now enjoy one of the newest phones on the market. For the casual cell phone user, switching to a prepaid cell phone plan can fatten your wallet.

How Does A Prepaid Cell Phone Plan Work?
You purchase airtime minutes for your phone in advance, or on a "Pay As You Go" basis. This can usually be done conveniently either by buying a phone card from a local retail store or directly on a website, using a credit card. Some prepaid cell phone plans even allow you to purchase minutes from your phone. Then you start talking. When you run out of minutes, you just add more.

Ah, but you knew there was a catch. And there is. Some prepaid cell phone plans put a time limit on your minutes - that is to say, they expire if you don't use them. This kind of bait-and-switch can and should be avoided with careful planning, and it's one of the reasons that Virgin Mobile (whose minutes never expire if the phone remains active) and T-Mobile (whose minutes don't expire for a year with the purchase of $100) are among the more popular providers.