Pay-as-you-go or Two Year Contracts; Which Fares Best?

    Cellular phones are meant to make lives easier, quicker, and more hassle-free. Though, it seems that the opposite could be said of the numerous cell phone plans floating all around, making people unsure of where to start. As if multiple plans that include contracts with multiple companies weren’t enough of a struggle, whole new plans have been arising at every stop. These newest plans are pay-as-you-go, and they are meant to appeal to consumers who are too afraid of long term phone commitments.
    The theory behind pay-as-you-go is that many people spend too much money on their cell phone plans, and many people do, so they charge people only the minutes that they use. The negative of this is that, these “charge only what is used” minutes are usually much higher in cost per minute than what the big shot cell phone companies charge when looked at realistically. For example: some of the best pay-as-you-go plans charge a dollar a day for every day that they are used and ten cents a minute for each minute of talk time that doesn’t occur on nights or weekends; this means that people can expect to pay $75 dollars on average just for 450 anytime minutes, if they were to use their phone everyday in that particular month. This example stresses the fact that the best pay-as-you-go phones are the one’s that that charge monthly, the daily plans are not even worth a second glance.

    Here are two lists. The first list compares the best plans at reasonable prices for the four major cell phone companies. The second list compares the best pay-as-you-go rates for the companies providing in that field.

Contract Plans

AT&T:

• 450 anytime minutes
• Rollover minutes
• Free 9PM night and weekend minutes
• Free mobile to mobile minutes
• Unlimited texting
• $60/month

SPRINT:

• 450 anytime minutes
• Free 7PM night and weekend minutes
• Free mobile to mobile minutes
• Unlimited texting
• $50/month

T-MOBILE:

• 500 anytime minutes
• Free 9PM night and weekend minutes
• Free mobile to mobile minutes
• Unlimited texting
• $50/month

VERIZON:

• 450 anytime minutes
• Free 9PM night and weekend minutes
• Free mobile to mobile minutes
• Free calls to five people of your choice
• Unlimited texting
• $60/month

Pay As You Go

Boost Mobile:

• Unlimited talk
• Unlimited text
• Unlimited web
• $50/month

Straight Talk:

• Unlimited talk
• Unlimited text
• Unlimited web
• $45/month

Metro PCS:

• Unlimited talk
• Unlimited text
• Unlimited web
• $50/month

   The final verdict is: If you don’t mind commitments then by all means dive into Sprint or T-mobile; they offer the best bang for your buck among their competitors’ plans, and are both very reliable companies. Though, if you’re too afraid that you might overuse your anytime minutes by a substantial amount, then any of the three unlimited plans are great options. Just know that their services can be shaky from time to time. Another deciding factor could be the use of internet, and that win would go to the three pay-as-you go companies. Although their internet can be unreliable and not even comparable to the four major cell phone companies, those four companies will charge you even more money per month for a data plan. Another important mention is that if you are wondering how much unlimited plans cost among the major cell phone companies, they are in the range of $90/month and up.

    Use your head out there and always take into consideration your own personal talking habits, there’s always a plan that will fit you perfectly; price-wise and minute-wise.