Prepaid Phone Cards

If contracts are not for you, you can pay for a specific amount of data usage/minutes in advance with a prepaid cell phone. Sometimes also called pay as you go phones or no-contract phones, these phones will end your service when you hit the amount of data usage or phone minutes you've paid for until you choose to buy more and refill your allotment.

When you use a pay as you go phone, you may need to use a prepaid phone card. These are cards that you pay a flat fee for and get a determined amount of data usage or phone minutes. You can use these cards to either activate a new prepaid phone or add minutes to a phone you already have.

When you opt for a prepaid phone, you won't need to commit to a long-term contract and can often avoid activation fees, overage charges, termination fees and fees for changing carriers. By buying a phone card, you can more easily manage your phone budget. For example, a great way to control costs when talking to friends and family abroad are international calling cards.

The flexibility to change carriers or only pay for what you use makes calling cards a natural choice as cell phones for seniors or children who may only use them in emergencies. Having a cache of prepaid minutes means you can get ahold of those you love when you need to without a high monthly bill. When you need more time, just purchase a top up card and add it to the phone.

There's a variety of carriers and phones that you can use with a pay as you go plan. You can even get a prepaid option with a newer phone, and from a wide range of manufacturers including Apple, Samsung, LG, HTC, Nokia and more.

There are a number of carriers you can explore for a variety of phones and plans. Popular picks include Cricket Wireless phones, Tracfone phones, Boost Mobile phones, AT&T GoPhone phones, Verizon Prepaid phones, Virgin Mobile phones, HTC phones, and more.