Prepaid Cell Phones

I got my first cell phone when I was in college. Having a cell phone was a good idea considering I had an hour drive each way and a slightly unreliable car. My first cell phone was a big, clunky Motorola flip phone with service through Frontier Cellular. It was also analog instead of digital like today's cell phones. Frontier Cellular was bought out a few times and eventually became Verizon Wireless. Over the years, I've upgraded my cell phone a few times. My current phone, Samsung Stratosphere, is my first smartphone. I really don't use it for much other than checking email and occasional Google searching. I only use about 1GB of my 4GB monthly data plan, so I should probably try to use it more often. I just prefer a larger screen, so I use my laptop for web activities.
These days, there are a ton of options to consider when you are signing up for cell phone service. There are a lot of different carriers with varying plans, including prepaid plans. Each carrier has it's own line of cell phones too. Even prepaid plans offer only certain phones. T-Mobile prepaid cell phones can be an entirely different selection than the prepaid phones offered by Tracfone.
Prepaid phones are actually a pretty good idea if you don't use your cell phone much. Prepaid phones are even available as smartphones. Data usage just comes out of your minutes.
. Prepaid plans also let you carry unused minutes over from month to month. My mother has a Tracfone that she uses to carry in the car with her. About four times a year she buys a 60 minute, 90 day card for $20.00 and adds it to her phone, so that it remains active. She has a ton of minutes from being lightly used and carried over from month to month for years. Her total cell phone bill for one year is about $80.00. Most people have a monthly cell phone bill that costs way more than that, whether they use it or not.
If you have a cell phone that isn't used much every month, a prepaid cell phone plan might be worth looking into.