Well ... I'm Back In Debt

[Fishindude77]

Dropped my cell in the lake over the weekend so had to get a replacement. They pretty much won't let you pay cash for a phone and insist on adding incremental payments to your monthly bill to pay for the phone over a two year period. Would have much rather written them a check and kept monthly payments the same, but they claim this is the way to go, warranty is included, etc., etc.

It's confusing and not worth haggling with them, but it just kind of chaps me anytime I have to take on a higher or additional monthly bill of any type.

P.S. ..... You don't realize how dependent you are on these darned devices until you are without one for a while. How did we get this way? Seemed like we got by fine for a whole lot of years without a cell phone.

[msomnipotent]

What carrier? I have Verizon and can pay cash for any phone they offer. I'm looking right now for a phone for Father's Day and don't want the credit check. I'm also house hunting, so no opening new credit for me.

Walmart and Best Buy have quite a few phones to choose from, too. We rarely buy phones directly from Verizon.

[Petunia 100]

You should try an MVNO. Less than half the monthly cost for using the same network and you generally do just buy a phone outright at the start (and again whenever you choose).

Who is your carrier? Just Google "MVNO for <your carrier>".

[rennigade]

I still dont understand paying for a cell phone monthly...then after 2 years you actually own the phone.

Years ago my wife had an iphone 4s through sprint...at the time she paid $99 for the phone...that was it...no monthly payments for the phone...it was $99 for a 2 year contract.

Her bill then was $50/month, unlimited text/data...and 500 minutes of talk.

Last year she tried to upgrade to an iphone 6s...phone was $99 I believe but then there was a $20ish/month fee added to pay for the phone...which would have went 2 years. The plan was the same price...$50/month...but when you add the $20/month fee...now her plan would be $70/month.

Can someone explain to me how this is a better deal? Phones used to be a set price/promotional price of $100...now people are being suckered into paying $20-$25/month to rent the phone until the 2 year mark. I dont understand this logic? She would have had to pay over $500 more for this 2 year contract because they were forcing her to rent the phone...unlike the 4s where you could flat out purchase it for $99 with a 2 year contract.

This is the exact reason she left sprint and went to project fi. She paid $200 for the phone which is a hair high...but her monthly plan has been $27/month for the past 8 months. It amazes me that people stick with the big 4 carriers. (sprint, att, verizon, tmobile)

And yes...I know project fi rents spectrum from sprint so it is the sprint network...but all technical/billing goes through google...which has been awesome.

[Jluke]

Can someone explain to me how this is a better deal? Phones used to be a set price/promotional price of $100...now people are being suckered into paying $20-$25/month to rent the phone until the 2 year mark. I dont understand this logic?

**I think I have this right:**

It's a better deal for the provider... they aren't being subsidized by the phone companies for the phones anymore so they are passing that expense on to the customer...

Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, Cricket and other similar providers may be worth looking into.

I've had VM forever and I buy my phone at full price; my bill is $33.45/month.. $35-$5 discount + $3.45 in taxes/fees.

If you have 4 or more phones /devices on a plan or are grandfathered in (like DisneySteve) you'll probably do better with the big 4

[rennigade]

It's a better deal for the provider... they aren't being subsidized by the phone companies for the phones anymore so they are passing that expense on to the customer...

Right...I just dont understand why the end user allows this to happen? People vote with their money every single day. People want this for whatever reason...I still cannot figure it out and havent had anyone give a rational explanation as to why its a good thing.

[pflyers85]

Some of it is also the stigma that comes with brands like Boost, Cricket, VM, etc. Many of my friends make fun of me for using Cricket as my carrier. "Prepaid plans are for ghetto and trashy people with bad credit."

I had Verizon for years and paid nearly $80/mo for service and that was with a 20% discount I got from my employer. I pay $35 month for Cricket. I save nearly $550 per year for the same level of service.

[97guns]

Some of it is also the stigma that comes with brands like Boost, Cricket, VM, etc. Many of my friends make fun of me for using Cricket as my carrier. "Prepaid plans are for ghetto and trashy people with bad credit."

I had Verizon for years and paid nearly $80/mo for service and that was with a 20% discount I got from my employer. I pay $35 month for Cricket. I save nearly $550 per year for the same level of service.

If you use cricket tell them your on AT&T, it's the truth

[cypher1]

If you use cricket tell them your on AT&T, it's the truth

I may need to switch over to Cricket looking at those rates. While I don't like AT&T, T-Mobile is still pretty bad in my area.

[creditcardfree]

I just bought a $179 Motorola G4 from Best Buy for my daughter. Put in the SIM card from her old phone, followed the steps on the Verizon website and her new phone works. She still has our same plan and our bill is still the same.

We did buy a different Motorola at first and had to return it as two different Verizon stores and online could not get it to activate. Not sure why. Motorola states it was unlocked and able to work on all carriers. Lost $35 to Best Buy because of their restocking fee when returning the phone. And I did complain!!

But my point is you don't have to pay the monthly fees. You have to buy a phone that is unlocked and pay outright.

[pflyers85]

If you use cricket tell them your on AT&T, it's the truth

Oh I know. I explained that Cricket runs on AT&T's network and why they can charge less to their customers for the same services.

[97guns]

Here's the deal I just went with, $20 a month promotion for unlimited data but 10gb of LTE, still cheap after the promotion, they run on T-Mobiles network

https://www.savingadvice.com/forums/frugal-questions-answers/85807-changing-cell-carrier-save.html

[97guns]

I may need to switch over to Cricket looking at those rates. While I don't like AT&T, T-Mobile is still pretty bad in my area.

i was all set to go with cricket until I found out about the $25 activation fee and $10 or $15 for the SIM card, that broke the deal for me, told the salesman I left my wallet in the car and I'll be right back

[TexasHusker]

I would hire a dive team first, to see if you can locate the phone. Toss into a ziplock of rice and it might be just fine.

[~bs]

not really trying to jump you, but I never understood people taking phones into a marine environment without securing it somehow. For $5-10, you can get a floating waterproof case/pouch that is bungee corded to you or not (your pick). or if you have one of the fancier new phones that are waterproof, they have floating lanyards to attach to your phone.