Staying In Touch Makes "Cents"

Those who are old enough to remember where they were when they heard that President Kennedy was assassinated cringe at the thought of giving a young person their own cell phone. The fact is though that the world has changed a lot since the early 60's, and children are not as safe as they once were. Cell phones not only provide instant communication in times of crisis, they also help parents stay in touch with their children at summer camp, or young adults away at college.

The challenge is however, how to provide this service to children without risking getting phone bills that would require taking out a second mortgage to pay. One possible answer is using prepaid wireless plans. This allows a customer to buy a set amount of minutes without the need of a contract. The user can never exceed the amount of minutes that are purchased. This could be a great way to help teach a young person how to budget, plus many of the prepaid wireless plans are very economical. See the chart below to determine if prepaid wireless makes good sense and "cents" for your family.

Why switch to prepaid wireless?
If you’re not a big cell-phone yakker, you can escape those fat monthly payments.

Plans that can ring up savings
Here’s a sampling of prepaid plans from some major wireless carriers, listed in alphabetical order. Offerings change often, so check carriers’ Web sites for updates. Bear in mind that minutes will often expire unless you continue to buy new ones.

Boost Mobile Pay-As-You-Go boostmobile.com 20 cents a minute during the day, 10 cents a minute nights and weekends. Unlimited walkie-talkie service to other Boost customers for $1.50 a day.

Cingular GoPhone Pay-As-You-Go cingular.com $1 a day on days you use the phone for a voice call, with free calls to other Cingular wireless customers and 10 cents a minute for other calls. An alternative plan offer 25 cents a minute for all calls.

Liberty Wireless libertywireless.com 10-cents-a-minute flat rate. 800 minutes for $44.00 (about 6 cents a minute), or 2,000 minutes for $99.99 (about 5 cents a minute).

T-Mobile To Go t-mobile.com From $10 for 30 minutes (33 cents a minute) to $100 for 1,000 minutes (10 cents a minute).

TracFone Prepaid Wirelesstracfone.com From $19.99 for 40 minutes (50 cents a minute) to $79.99 for 400 minutes (20 cents a minute).

Verizon INpulse Pay As You Go verizonwireless.com 99-cents-a-day access fee whether or not you make calls. Unlimited night minutes and calls to other Verizon wireless customers. Other calls 10 cents a minute.

Virgin Mobile Pay As You Go virginmobileusa.com Most basic plan charges 25 cents a minute for first 10 minutes of the day and 10 cents a minute after that. Other plans available for people who use more phone time.