[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Tracfone is crap. It's like 15 cents a minute per call, and the phones look like s--t. They really target the folks who don't sit and talk all day on a cell phone and only use it for an emergency. But it's still expensive, a 60 min card is like $25 and you have to punch the code in your card.

Most cell phone companies offer pre-paid wireless which is a much better option for people with bad or no credit.

[Paradox]

I use a prepaid service, because for the amount of time I use, the prepaid service I use is, by far, the best deal for me. Right now, I am using about $10 per month.

You have to figure out about how many minutes of usage you need per month, then compare the companies and rates to see which one comes out best for you. http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm has a nice chart.

For me, Tracfone is not a good value, but I know some people who swear by it, but they only buy minutes when they are on sale and using various coupon codes online.