No contract means no commitment or agreement at all. Also, many prepaid cellphones can actually be converted to "post pay" with the same carrier at a later time. All you need is a cellular phone and a service provider.

When to use a prepaid cell phone?

- If you want cellphones for occasional use but don't want to pay a monthly service fee or enter a long-term agreement
- If you want to budget your phone use
- Have poor credit or credit related problems
- Enjoy privacy and prefer not to give out personal information
- If you are looking for a gift for someone

Prepaid cell phone are popular because there are:

- No contracts
- No credit checks
- No monthly bills

Prepaid Cell Phones Airtime

New cellphones come with an initial number of airtime minutes. Those minutes are used up as you are placing and receiving calls with your cell phone.

When all minutes are used you buy more prepaid airtime minutes (recharge) by dialing a toll-free number on your cell phone.
The purchased minutes are credited to your account - programmed (added) in your cellphone - and are then automatically deducted when you make calls.

Prepaid wireless services require that you purchase some amount of recharge minutes and add them to your phone within a specific timeframe, usually 30 to 90 days.

Be sure to know how often you must load new minutes. When you approach the end of the your minutes, you will probably receive an automated warning. Using your phone, you can also check your prepaid account to see how many minutes you have left.