Sounds complicated for an old guy like me.
Is your monthly rate 144 until you “own” the phones?
I’m so glad to be done with trying to chase and optimize all that.
1 Like
I’m pretty sure that is the price of the “service” which would continue “forever”. They probably handle it like tmob does - charge you a monthly payment for the phones & then give you a credit which covers that monthly payment. Then, after 2 or 3 years (or whatever) you own the phones. The charges go away, but so does the credit, so you just continue paying for the “service”/coverage.
Because you’ve decided to keep your phone forever? …or you’re no longer using such communication devices? …or what?
I kept my last phone 4 years and am into my third year on my current phone. I always felt like I needed to upgrade ASAP since there is a bit of the cost baked in to the service price. The $144 (is that for 4 phones?) sounds like a good deal if its real. I think I was at like $80 a month with just one phone.
We didn’t look around much at family plans when our kids got phones…we had newish phones we were happy with at the time, so buying them $150 samsungs as starter phones and the cheap family plan worked out. Now if I get bored and want to spend $500 on a new phone, I can just go and do that now, or two years from now.
The total monthly bill will be $180.16/mo. I have to pay $372 up front.
The phones are $5.56/mo/ea after a $27.78/mo/ea credit.
I took the cheapest plan they offered at $36/mo/ph. I don’t think I’ll benefit from a richer plan.
This all includes the auto-pay “ach” discount of $10/mo/ph.
So you get $4000 in credits towards phones to use for 3 years, but the monthly charge is $44 more per month (x36), with $372 up front, or ~$2000. So you save $500 a phone? Is that the 16 Pro Max or 15?
I guess that’s close to what I expected - a better deal on the higher end phones if you stay in the upgrade cycle.
In this particular scenario, I’d be getting the 16 Pro Max (and giving up the 12 Pro Max (but I don’t think the promotion cares what phone you’re trading in)). There are discount amounts for other phones, but, lately, I’ve been of the opinion “go big or go away”.
The S23 FE, which is what I would consider getting my kids, offers a 10.67 monthly credit, which seems like it is on the losing side of the equation, or just barely break even if all goes well. Looks like part of it is that you are trading in the old phone which may not be worth much to you anymore, but in theory cuts down on the 2k credit.
Meh, this is what I hated debating every few years. I’ll just stick with the $400 phones and keep them for 4 years. Amazon should have some deals between now and Christmas.
1 Like
You are absolutely correct on both counts.
Me too, and yet, here I am. :tup:
1 Like
my $0.02
Nobody really has unlimited data.
Data is throttled back to a non-functionally tiny data drip after a certain amount of unthrottled data is used.
Be certain, when comparing different plans from different carriers, to verify the consistency (or lack thereof) of throttling points. IE if data is throttled at 20BG on one carrier and 25GB on another, then a different price may or may not be warranted based on your individual needs.
2 Likes
Also, sorry to go all Dave Ramsey on you, but I don’t like being beholden to a carrier that locks my phone. Let me pay for it up front. I prefer to pay retail for a phone and get a cheaper monthly rate.
I am currently using Mint for $25 per month.
1 Like
They are still doing that in the US?
Thought that went extinct after it became so easy to unlock your phone via 3rd party apps.
Don’t IMEI numbers make that difficult? Or maybe only the traditional service providers regulate that…can you just get a sketchy sim card and use any hack-unlocked phone?
I’m no expert, so take this with a lick of salt, but in order for me to get the “free” phone they first charge me a loan payment on my monthly bill and then immediately give me a credit to cover that. Once I’ve paid off the phone I could take it to a different carrier. If I stop having mobile coverage with [company] they’ll yank away that credit & then charge me straight away for the unpaid off balance.
It’s still very much a thing in the US, at least as a vehicle in enticing people to upgrade/replace their phones. Rather than paying $$$ or $$$$ for a new unlocked phone, you can have considerably less (or no) up-front cost…if you accept being locked to the carrier and paying by installment in your future bills.
FTC has been attempting to impose rules to constrain locking phones to a particular carrier (I think they’re pushing for a 60-day limit), but the practice of carriers selling phones via installments on the bills (and making it expensive to change carriers) will probably continue.
1 Like
In Canada carriers can’t do locked phones anymore. And they implemented regs so that the contracts for phones are limited to two years. I guess that helped a bit.
I think you guys are treading a line. Actuarial nerds like ourselves are trying to get the best long term prices by maximizing utility while restricting payments to only those that are necessary.
Contrast that to unscrupulous malfeasors who will get a $1000 free phone with a false identity, immediately cancel the contract, then sell forward that phone for $950 and abscond with the cash. Cell phone providers have to work against this practice.
I am open to getting the most frugal cell phone and cell plan that meets my needs. I am open to learning about ways to get this, but I won’t do anything shady or criminal to get there. So far, I have found the cheapest way is to buy the phone outright, then search for a cost efficient cell plan. I have not found a “free phone” with a higher cost, handcuff plan to ultimately ever be cheaper - but I can afford to buy the phone outright. YMMV.
But I am open to learning if there are cheaper ways. Let me know.
1 Like
Seemed like numbers was getting a pretty good deal with two caveats:
- It required a trade in with value
- The deal economics eroded once the credit period expired as the base contract was higher than alternatives.
This is someone easier to manage when it involves a single decision across multiple users/phones where every user is happy to upgrade again in exactly 3 years to perpetuate the cycle. Will there be an incentive in exactly 3 years that works for everyone? Do you want to keep your phone 2 more years? Now you have to get the phones unlocked to switch carriers, and spend an afternoon dealing with all that.
1 Like
So the deal you are considering has a time commitment to implicitly pay off the initial phone discount, but once that time period has elapsed, there’s no reduction in monthly price. So you end up just giving the carrier the gravy train of a implicit phone payment on a phone that is paid off?
I’m mostly with you. I also prefer to pay up front for my phone and get a frugal phone plan. However, I prefer to pay for a better phone. It’s something that gets a lot of use, and I enjoy the features of a better product. Of course YMMV, and I see how a cheap phone is the best option for many users.
Since I just had to get a new phone, I did take advantage of a credit with my current service provider. The cost of my phone was about half off as long as I stay with them for a short period of time (think it was in the 3-6 months range). They aren’t adding anything more to my bill for that discount. That was not a compromise for me at all, as I am not planning on switching providers in the near future. If I did leave in that period, I’d have to pay full price for the phone.