Cell phone without a contract

[Sanity Claws]

Does anyone know any way to get a cell phone without signing on to one of those 1 or 2 year contracts? I last had one about a year ago and know I would use the cell phone only in emergencies. I just don't like to talk into the phone in public places and have strangers hear my personal conversations. (To each his own) I would prefer to use a phone card or some other way to pay for the service.
Does anyone have any idea whether there is something like that available?
Thanks in advance for your input.

[Orsino]

1. It's called "prepaid cellular"...

...and it's available all over creation.

[democracyindanger]

2. prepaid cell phone is what you're looking for

virgin mobile sells them, probably a lot of others, too.

[LeftyMom]

3. This is who I have

but thier coverage area kinda sucks, so they may not be in your area. I like that I have long distance included though.

http://www.metropcs.com/

[Oeditpus Rex]

6. *That's* the other one!

I've been tryin' to think of that one. Been goin' back and forth trying to decide between Virgin and T-Mobile, since Cingular has a hose up my ass.

[LeftyMom]

7. I do not have nice things to say about T Mobile.

I swear, they drop more calls... :grr:

[pinniped]

8. T-Mobile sucks big time. EMERGENCY CALLS ONLY

EMERGENCY CALLS ONLY
EMERGENCY CALLS ONLY
EMERGENCY CALLS ONLY
EMERGENCY CALLS ONLY

Get used to seeing this if you hook up with those bozos.

I got hoodwinked by Catherine Zeta Jones.

I couldn't wait for that stupid contract to end a couple months ago.

[LeftyMom]

9. Oh trust me I hate them

not my phone company but they earned my ire many many dropped calls ago.

[bridgit]

10. that's them alright, we have them too...

:thumbsup:

[LSK]

4. I use virgin mobile

www.virginmobileusa.com

I have not paid a cell phone bill in 2 years. I buy a phone card about once every 2 months for $20. Long distance, caller id, and voicemail included.

It works well if you are not a big talker and dont use a lot of minutes.

They sell the phones and cards at Best Buy, Target, Walgreens, etc.

[Sanity Claws]

5. Thank you!!

I've got enough info now to know what to ask for.
You guys are the Best!

[meow2u3]

11. Boost Mobile's pretty good

It's the prepaid version of Nextel, and, judging by my experience, it's pretty good.

They start you off with $10 worth of airtime which is included in the purchase of a new phone. Afterwards, you have to refill it with $20, $30, or $50 reboost cards.

The walkie-talkie, a.k.a, "chirp" costs a buck a day. Nights (9PM-7AM) and weekends cost 10 cents a minute; 10 cents a minute from one Boost, Nextel, and/or Sprint phone to another; and 20 cents a minute for all other daytime calls.

I have no problem using it.