I'm thinking of getting a cell phone.

Loneliness, Depression & Relationship Forum

Help Support Loneliness, Depression & Relationship Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
J

johnny196775

Guest
I never had a cell phone before and was wondering if people can get one that works for two weeks at a time, or is it you pay by the hour? What happens when your time runs out? Are prepaid phones disposable? How does all this work?

And have a nice day everyone. :)
 
I can't help you, I don't even have one myself. I thought I was alone!

I'd get one if I had a reason to, but I'd rather avoid the expense right now.

Good luck with your future purchase.
 
johnny196775 said:
I never had a cell phone before and was wondering if people can get one that works for two weeks at a time, or is it you pay by the hour? What happens when your time runs out? Are prepaid phones disposable? How does all this work?

And have a nice day everyone. :)

Prepaid phones can be cheap enough that you could throw them out. Though, I don't see why you'd buy something that can be used again if you were just going to throw it out. There are plenty of month-by-month plans. I don't know if there any bi-weekly or hourly, but monthly, surely are plentiful.
 
You can buy a pre-paid and pay to refill minutes a little at a time. The minutes go faster than you think, and it can get very expensive. I wouldn't recommend it unless you know for a fact that you'll hardly ever use it.

There are very reasonable pre-paid plans. I've seen them for as low as $30 a month for unlimited minutes (for a basic phone, which hardly anyone uses anymore) and $50 or $60 a month for unlimited minutes on a smartphone. I'm not sure where you live, but in the US, Cricket, Verizon and Virgin all have pre-paid plans, depending on the state you're in.

The best option is often a family plan though, so if you have a relative with a phone, you could try and get on their plan.
 
My prepaid plan is 45 plus tax. I bought a cheaper smart phone, too. Although, I'm paying for it now. Not literally, but it's rather on the sluggish side. However, I like it anyway.
 
Locke said:
You can buy a pre-paid and pay to refill minutes a little at a time. The minutes go faster than you think, and it can get very expensive. I wouldn't recommend it unless you know for a fact that you'll hardly ever use it.

This is very true. I had a prepaid phone last year. The minutes went very fast, and I am not a big phone guy at all. All I use the phone for is to find out where and when things are going on, to let people know I'm on my way, and for emergencies, should I need it. In fact, I mostly used texts because they cost 1/3 of a minute instead of a whole minute. And they still went fast.

The other way they get you is time. Even if I didn't use all of my minutes, which I didn't, I still had to buy more minutes by a certain day. Otherwise the minutes would be gone.

I found out about this other phone company though. It's called FreedomPop and apparently, according to my friend who has it, there is no phone bill as long as you stay under a certain limit of minutes and data. I think it's 200 mins a month which refills every month, which is more minutes than I had at all with my pay to go phone. All you have to pay for is the initial cost of the phone, which is like $100 or so. But as far as I've looked into it, beyond that it's free as long as you don't exceed the limit.
 
johnny196775 said:
I never had a cell phone before and was wondering if people can get one that works for two weeks at a time, or is it you pay by the hour? What happens when your time runs out? Are prepaid phones disposable? How does all this work?

And have a nice day everyone. :)


Get one because they do come in handy !

I bought a very cheap one for £20 about 3 years ago. You can send texts and ring people up, very basic. To get credit I buy top ups. My first £5 lasted an whole year. My brother was the only person who wanted my number. Now a few people have my number and I get the odd text. Nothing compared to everybody else though !
 
When I go into the cell phone store or wherever i buy the thing, how do they get activated?

And thank you all for your replies.
 
Depends whether you want a smartphone or not. (The smartphones are the iPhones and the Samsungs, the fancy ones that let you use apps and play games and stuff). You can get a basic phone, ie one just for using as a phone, for next to nothing, then top up your credit as you need to. I'm not sure about smartphone tariffs where you are but in the UK you normally pay a set amount every month for 12/24 months. If you don't mind paying more upfront you can buy the phone outright and then you're not committed to any long-term monthly payment.
 
I always thought I didn't want a smartphone... until I bought one. Now it keeps track of my daily calorie intake, reminds me of the things I need to do each day, lets me know exactly where I am and then guides me to where I wish to go. It takes decent photos, so I don't need to carry a camera everywhere. It lets me read 'books' when I'm sat outside. It plays all my music without having to carry an iPod. It works like a torch when I can't find the keyhole. It wakes me up in the morning. It times my meals so that I don't forget and overcook things.

It's basically doing the job of 10-15 other gadgets and it's doing them all from one little device that I carry around in my pocket. Oh, yeah, and it makes calls... :D
 
I only want to call phone numbers. I'm afraid they will tell me to activate my cell phone with another cell phone in which i do not have. And i do not know any people well enough to ask to use theirs.
 
If you purchase a 'Pay As You Go' phone, then it will either already be activated or you'll just have to call a service number from the handset you purchased to get it up and running.

If you purchase a contract phone then the service provider should set everything up prior to sending you the handset.

Either way, you will not be required to use any other cell phone.

I hope that sets your mind at ease ;)
 
Cavey said:
If you purchase a 'Pay As You Go' phone, then it will either already be activated or you'll just have to call a service number from the handset you purchased to get it up and running.

If you purchase a contract phone then the service provider should set everything up prior to sending you the handset.

Either way, you will not be required to use any other cell phone.

I hope that sets your mind at ease ;)
Thank you very much. :D
 
Today I got my first ever cell phone. It took the cell phone expert about an hour and a half to activate my phone. I hope it a easyer when i have to get more minutes. I guess you only need to buy the phone once. I hate phones.
 
Hour and a half... What? Were they molding the plastic for it? Shouldn't have taken that long. And yes, a phone only needs to be bought once. Unless you want a new one every time you use it.
 
I am sorry but i have a silly cell phone question for you all. I have used 13 minutes on it and it seems to want recharging. The cell phone i got came with a charger that plugs into the wall. It is a NET 10 wireless. Excatly how do i recharge it? Do i turn it on first or keep it off? the directions were worthless.
 
Either is fine. I leave mine turned on so I don't miss and calls etc. while it's charging.
 
One hopefully final stupid question about recharging my cell phone. Will it be obvious when it is fully charged? Like it will beep or something?
 
Mine has a light that changes from red to green, but yours could have anything from a picture of battery that is slowly filling and then full when it's finished, a percentage metre that shows 100% when finished, a light that changes colour. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you'll know one way or the other when it's done :)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top