I have cut to the chase to list several that I have experienced great service with so you can compare and decide for yourself. Sometimes prepaid phones are the best way to go when you are shelling out over $600 a year on a home phone with features that are not free. Prepaid and contract service cell phone plans have worked wonders for my family and especially for me considering the fact that I’m not a phone addict and only call when its important. Stop the arguments over the phone use and just get everyone their own prepaid cell phone plan, it will teach teens how to manage money when they run out of minutes time after time and it will save you money monthly on those extra charges thrown in by your phone company with no explanation as to what they are and where they’ve come from.

Verizon offers 4 different plans Basic,Select,Connect,Premium

1. Basic-$39.99/month starts at 450 minutes, unlimited night/weekend, Domestic Long distance included,unlimited mobile to mobile talk time, 5 numbers for family and friends included on plans with 900 anytime minutes, $1.99/MB, 20 cent texting,25 cent video/photo texting.

2. Select-$59.99/month starts at 450 minutes, unlimited nights/weekends,domestic long distance, unlimited mobile to mobile talk time,5 numbers for family and friends included on plans with 900 anytime minutes, $1.99/MB, unlimited texting, unlimited photo/video texting.

3. Connect- $69.99 starts at 450 minutes, unlimited night/weekend,domestic long distance,unlimited mobile to mobile talk time, 5 numbers for family and friends included on plans with 900 minutes, unlimited texting, unlimited photo/video texting, unlimited web browsing, unlimited mobile email.

4. Premium-$79.99 starts at 450 minutes, unlimited night/weekend, domestic long distance, unlimited mobile to mobile talk time, 5 numbers for family and friends included on plans with 900 minutes, unlimited texting, unlimited photo/video texting, unlimited web browsing, unlimited mobile email, v cast vpak, vz navigator.

Cricket- offers 6 affordable plans, this is the service I currently use and it offers more unlimited features than any other carrier that I know of.

1. $60.00- Unlimited talk,long distance,text and pic,global text,mobile web,411 directory,my backup,caller ID,call waiting,3 way calling,call forwarding,voicemail plus 200 nationwide roaming minutes per month and premium extended coverage.

2. $50.00- Unlimited talk,long distance,text and pic,global text,mobile web,411 directory,my backup,caller ID,call waiting,3 way calling,call forwarding,voicemail plus 3o roaming minutes per month and premium coverage.

3. $45.00- Unlimited talk,long distance,text and pic,global text,mobile web,411 directory,my backup,caller ID,call waiting,3 way calling,call forwarding,voicemail , premium extended coverage.

4. $40.00- unlimited talk,long distance,text and pic,Mexico text,caller Id,call waiting,3 way calling and voicemail.

5. $30.00- Unlimited talk and caller ID.

6. $40.00- Broadband Cricket offers unlimited high speed wireless Internet connection access.

AT&T- offers Nation Plan,Unity Plan and Senior plan for Individual

1. Nation plan $39.99 450 anytime minutes,unlimited rollover minutes,5000 nights/weekends,unlimited mobile to mobile minutes.

2. Nation plan $59.99 900 anytime minutes,unlimited rollover minutes,unlimited nights/weekends,unlimited mobile to mobile minutes.

3. Nation plan $79.99 1350 anytime minutes,unlimited rollover minutes,unlimited nights/weekends, unlimited mobile to mobile

4. Nation plan $99.99 Unlimited minutes,unlimited nights/weekends,unlimited mobile to mobile

Unity Plan offers two choices

1. $59.99 900 minutes, unlimited rollover minutes,unlimited night/weekend minutes,unlimited mobile to mobile minutes,unlimited at&t unity minutes.

2. $79.99 1350 minutes,unlimited rollover minutes,unlimited night/weekend minutes,unlimited mobile to mobile minutes,unlimited unity minutes.

Senior Plan

1. $29.99 200 minutes, 500 night and weekend minutes,unlimited mobile to mobile minutes.

AT&T also offers the pay as you go cards at

$15/30 days

$25/90 days

$50/90 days

$75/90 days

$100/365 days

The cards include basic features such as basic voicemail,call forwarding,call waiting,international calling,caller Id,three way calling,nationwide long distance with the opt to ad enhanced features at any time such as ring tones, text and data services.

Boost Mobile- offers the pre paid monthly unlimited plan as follows

Monthly Unlimited $50, features include unlimited talk,text,web,walkie talkie call waiting and voicemail, international text are free to receive and 10 cents to send.

Virgin Mobile- offers pay as you go plan and monthly plans, this is a great starter service for teens, as well as adults

1. $20 pay as you go includes 200 anytime minutes and rollover minutes

2. $30 pay as you go includes 400 anytime minutes and rollover minutes

3. $50 pay as you go offers 1000 anytime minutes and rollover minutes

You can add text & messaging at

$5/month for 200

$10/month for 1000

$20/month for unlimited

You can add mobile web for

$5/month 5MB

$10/month 20MB

$20/month 50MB

Monthly Plans

1. $29.99 200 anytime minutes, 1000 nights and weekend minutes starting at 7pm

2. $39.99 400 anytime minutes, unlimited nights/weekend minutes starting at 7pm

3. $49.99 Unlimited All

You can add $5 texting 1000 text package, $10 unlimited text package

$5 20MB Web or $10 50MB Web

You can also purchase the Broadband wireless Internet plan as follows

$10

10 DAYS

100 MB

$20

30 DAYS

250 MB

$40

30 DAYS

600 MB

$60

30 DAYS

1 GB

US Cellular- offers monthly plans and pay as you go

1. $45 350 anytime minutes,free incoming calls,additional minutes 15cents,roaming 69cents,incoming messages are free,pay as you go messaging 25cents,overage 25cents,250 text $4.95 month, 750 text $9.95 month, unlimited text $14.95 month, directory assistance is $1.50 per call within your calling area only. Included Features: Nationwide Long Distance, Voice Mail, Call Waiting, Caller ID, Three-Way Calling, Incoming Text Messages, Unlimited night minutes starting at 9pm

2.$60 600 anytime minutes, free incoming calls,unlimited night minutes starting at 9pm,additional minutes 10cent/minute,roaming 69cent/minute, All incoming messages: Free

· Pay-As-You-Go: 25¢/message

· Overage Rate: 25¢/message

· Text Messaging 250: $4.95/mo.

· Text Messaging 750: $9.95/mo.

· Unlimited Text Messaging: $14.95/month Included Features: Nationwide Long Distance, Voice Mail, Call Waiting, Caller ID, Three-Way Calling, Incoming Text Messages and directory assistance $1.50

Cell phones are going to make a great gift to give this holiday season as well but make sure you've done your research on the plans and cell phone service carriers.