Ok, so you decided you want or need a wireless phone. You have some idea of what you want. But oh, the choices and decisions to make!

Selecting a phone is not so bad but all those wireless plans is just absolutely confusing. Believe me you are not alone, wireless plans are probably the most confusing aspect of this entire market.

In fact, there are books that are written just on this subject alone to help unravel all this confusion that providers sell. So let's get started and try to give you some basics on finding the best plan that will suit your style and your budget!

There is a huge selection of wireless phone plans to choose from today. But the question is, how do you choose the best wireless plans?

Dependent on your location, you could have as much as five or more providers that offer services in your area and each one has a variety of plans for you to consider, according to your needs and intended usage.

It is very important that you do your homework before meeting with a provider so you know exactly what you need them to offer you.

Lets take a look at what you need to consider.

It is critically important that you know how much local, regional, and national coverage you are going to need in your plan.

If you travel alot out of your region, you probably should consider one of the nationwide plans in order to be covered. Once you have decided on the coverage you need, then you need to consider the number of minutes you can expect to use each month. By looking at previous bills or prepaid card receipts you should be able to work this out fairly easily in an effort to find the best wireless plans.

The size and type of phone that you need is usually determined by the options you want to include. If you are planning on using the phone to send and receive email, then you will need one of the higher-end phones that are Internet ready and that comes with a plan that offers economical rates for data transmission.

If you do not need internet access, then you can get all the features you need in a phone that is much less in price.

Frequently, service providers offer you a reduction in the cost of the phone with the purchase of their plan. The best wireless plans generally are either a one-year or a two- year contract.

But before you sign up for service, be sure you have a clear understanding of the terms of contract termination. This is critically important!

If you have to move or break your contract for whatever reason, there can be and in every plan I have studied a sizeable penalty which can at times be equal to the monthly repayment multiplied by the number of months remaining on the contract, so it is important that you know and understand every part of the contract before you sign it and are aware of any exit clauses that exist.

I can't stress this enough. Thoroughly read and understand your contract before signing. You certainly don't want to have Murphy's Law kick in and find out that you have to pay two hundred or more dollars to cancel your service.