[poundwise]

My wife has a Virgin Mobile phone and we like it because it is used relatively little and with the auto 'Top-Up' option we've selected we only have to 'recharge' the minutes every 90 days and only have to do so with $15. We most often Top-Up prior to 90 days but greater than 60, so this works out well for us.

I'd recommend Virgin for infrequent/lite usage. Otherwise, take a look at Alltel. They have a good per minute rate and, unless they've changed recently, don't make you recharge at any pre-set interval, so its completely in your control how much you spend. The only negative (I am recalling this from memory and it may be different now so check) I believe is that they do have a roaming rate (yes, on a pre-paid) that is different than the standard rate. If you live and work where you won't incur this though, then that would not be an issue.