# Pay as you go cell phones

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-as-you-go-cell-phones/479026>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 29, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-as-you-go-cell-phones/479026 "2008-12-29T03:22:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-as-you-go-cell-phones/479026/21 "2008-12-29T20:32:12Z")

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> [@wring](#):
>
> I find that folks who are cell phone mainl users ted to calll your cell numbe first, w/o considering "are they likely to be at home or work’

I’m firmly a cell phone user (don’t even have a land line at my apartment). But while I can possibly see the “they are likely to be at home”, why the freak would I call someone at their work phone? And, aside from my mom’s, I can’t see why I would know _anyone’s_ work phone number.

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**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-as-you-go-cell-phones/479026/22 "2008-12-29T21:04:58Z")

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Prepaid plans are fine if you intend it for anything from quick messages like “buy milk on your way home” and “I’m stuck in traffic and will be late” to actual 911 emergencies. If you want more than that, prepaid is not for you.

I have the prepaid AT&T GoPhone and it’s satisfactory. All minutes roll over if you buy more minutes before the old ones expire. They nag you well in advance of the expiration date via email and a voice message when you make a call, so there’s very little chance of missing it. I don’t know what happens when you run very low on minutes because I always keep a large reserve. But I imagine you would get the voice message, and you can add minutes from the phone by the 611 service number. And you can call “\*777#” for free to get a free text message with your current balance. (That works on most systems, not just AT&T. There’s a technical name for codes like this, but I’ve forgotten it–short system messages or something like that.)

Here’s a very helpful prepaid comparison site that someone first posted here long ago. It has been kept current.

[http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid\_compare.htm](http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm)

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