Is A Daily Prepaid Wireless Plan For You?!

So what are the signs that a Daily plan is the plan to best meet your individual needs?  Consider the following tips and questions to ask yourself as you contemplate your various options.

• You use your phone regularly, but not necessarily consistently.  In other words, you don't leave your phone in the car and only use it for emergencies, but rather, you use your phones on most days, but not necessarily everyday of the week.

• You're lifestyle or preference is such that you don't feel comfortable committing to pay a fixed amount every month, but you're looking for better value that a PAYG plan typically offers.  In other words, while you may like to have a monthly plan, the thought of knowing that you now have a monthly commitment (emotional, not contractual) to pay a particularly about of money each month (ex. $40-$50) makes you uncomfortable or uneasy.

• Look for these things when comparing costs:
• The plan is usage based.  This means that you only pay a daily charge when you use your phone.  If you don't use your phone on  a particular day, you're not charged anything.  This really is a very key point that can make a huge change in the value of this plan type. If the plan is "subscription based," which means that you're charged the daily fee whether or not you use your phone, be sure to compare it to Monthly Plans.  The benefit of subscription plans is that it allows you to pay only one or a few dollars at a time, rather than having to come up with the whole amount on at a particular time of the month.  So it gives you better flexibility in managing your money, but it's virtually always more expensive than a Monthly plan would be.  The reason for this is that prepaid wireless carriers can have better confidence of getting a full monthly payment from you than for a daily plan type.  Of course, a subscription plan provides for much better revenue opportunity than a usage based plan.

• Find out what the minimum reload amount is.  The lower the amount (ex. $10 instead of $20, or even lower), the more flexibility you'll have in terms of when you have to add money to your prepaid wireless account.  Obviously the money you're required to add at a given time, the better it is for your wallet!

• What other services that are important to you are included, and if they're not, what's the cost?  The most important example is probably text messaging.  Don't be fooled by a low fee, or a seemingly ton of included features; pay attention to the features that you'll actually be using!

• How easy is it to change plans if you find that the plan doesn't meet your needs or fit with your lifestyle?  Prepaid wireless carriers that offer different plan types is best as you can more easily change between plan types if you should find that one doesn't meet your needs, or if your needs change over time.  That said, be careful as some carriers require certain handsets for certain plan types.  Ideally you don't want to have to buy a new phone to change plans!

Lastly, note that prepaid wireless carriers have been discontinuing this type of plan in favor of more predictable and profitable monthly plans!

Be Heard!  Let prepaid wireless providers know what you want; fill out the survey now.