Do you fear commitment? Are you trying to keep a teenager on a budget? Would you happily go phoneless if not for those few times a month you couldn’t do without it? Then the Prepaid phone may be your new best friend, whether a daily or monthly plan suits your needs.

A Prepaid Plan isn’t for everyone. But it’s just the ticket for people in situations like these:

Forget the past. Maybe your credit history isn’t what you’d like it to be, or maybe you don’t have one yet. When you sign up for a Prepaid phone, that doesn’t matter—no credit check.

A toe in the water. If you haven’t already downloaded your life onto a phone, Prepaid is a way to find out what you like, what you’ll use and how much you’ll need. Then you’ll know what you want if you move to a regular contract.

Kids today. Sure, you want your delightful dependents to be able to call you, but you know they’ll want to call all their friends too. A Prepaid arrangement gives you more control over their phone use.

In case of emergency. Suppose you love your landline, hate small talk, or travel twice a year: Keep a low-demand Prepaid phone around for life’s little flat-tire situations.

Internet sages often disdainfully point out that with Prepaid, you’ll probably have fewer devices to choose from—nothing fancy. Some even consider it a disadvantage that “you get what you pay for,” nothing more. But if you don’t need anything “fancy” and don’t want to pay for features and services you won’t actually use, take a Prepaid Plan for a spin.