Every month when I get my wireless bill, I look at the number of unused minutes and texts and start ranting. "That's it, I've finally had it," I say. "I'm going prepaid."

Except I don't.

My service plan fits me like a size 2 foot in a size 15 shoe. So far in February I've used zero of my 5,000 night and weekend minutes; 55 of my unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes; 11 of my 450 anytime minutes; and sent just 28 of the 1,500 text messages available in my plan.

On average, I pay over $60 per month for the 120 minutes of voice and 150 text messages I send every month. My rollover minutes go to waste and my text messages go unused.

The contract on my first phone – which broke after four months from biking in the rain too often – is long expired, as is the contract from my fourth phone – which died in a beverage-related accident during grad school. (I bought my refurbished second and third phones from a local cell phone repair shop.)

Given my propensity to destroy anything and everything with circuits, it's really not worth my while to renew my contract in exchange for a fancy new handset. I'll just break it.

My current phone, a low-tech, indestructible Nokia model that draws sneers from techies, has lasted me over two years – a record in my book. It texts and calls just fine, which is all I use it for.

So why do I stay with postpaid service? Laziness, most likely.

During my monthly bout of aggravation with my service plan three weeks ago, I called AT&T to see if I could switch to its Go Phone prepaid service. The answer: yes – but I could only do so at one of its carrier stores, which happens to be located halfway across town. I don't have a car. None of my friends have cars. Hauling myself halfway across Madison, Wis., to deal with a store clerk on my day off does not sound like fun to me.

I suppose could sign up with a prepaid carrier like Boost Mobile, but I don't want to have to buy a new phone. First of all, I don't want to spend money on one. Second, I like my phone. It's like a raggy old sweatshirt I wouldn't wear in public, but that I can't bear to part with. I don't want to give it up for another carrier.

I'm also worried about coverage. I might not use my phone for anything but talking to my family and texting my boyfriend, but I need my phone to work at trade shows around the country. The last thing I need is zero bars when I'm on deadline in some random conference center.

Despite complaints from all those data-heavy iPhone users, AT&T's basic coverage has never failed me. I have grown accustomed to the sight of those comforting bars. I fear that prepaid coverage isn't as good as postpaid – a concern that's probably not entirely rational – but my ability to do my job during crucial times of the year depends on my cell phone coverage. AT&T's network is my safety blanket.

All of this makes me sound pretty lazy, but I don't think I'm all that different from the majority of wireless subscribers. Like everyone else, I'm busy. Most days of the month I have better things to do than fret over the massive amounts of unused texts and voice minutes on my service plan.

Dean Bubley's blog, titled "Customer loyalty, tolerance and contempt", sums up my situation pretty well. As Bubley puts it, many operators seem to confuse inertia (i.e. people being too lazy to switch) with loyalty. I think most people, including myself, fit into the first category.

I suppose there's really no logical reason I need to stay on a postpaid plan. After thinking about it some more, maybe I'll go prepaid after all. Maybe. I just don't think I'm aggravated enough.