Save your phone, Save your bill

You are reading this article because well, you want to save money!  Cellphones have been an integral a part of our lives in the young years of the 21^st century.  It’s almost like owning a car.  We can live without it, but we would giving up too many conveniences that we’ve grown accustom to.  Your cellphone bill has been lumped with all your other living expenses and utilities.  So how can we reduce the amount we pay per month for the luxuries of text communication and social media browsing?  Well this is a two part answer.  The first of which has to do with taking advantage of these new zero down plans that’s cellular providers have been offering recently.  Part two has to do with technological modesty and conservation.

Cellular providers in the past couple of years have started offering new plans that’s don’t require a down payment on your phone.  They are able to offer this because they roll the cost of your phone into your monthly bill.  The data plan is then reduced to help alleviate the cost of the phone.  Traditionally we would have to pay $200 down for a new phone in tandem with a two year contract.  At the end of the term, it would be most beneficial to sign up with a new phone to take advantage of the new contract promotion.  You could get a $800 phone for only $200 if you agree to sign a contract for a two year agreement with that cellular provider.  If you didn’t pick up a new phone at the end of your contract, you would still be left paying the same amount monthly with the same phone.

With the new plans, once you’ve paid off your phone, your monthly plan reduces anywhere from $20 to $30 per month (for most smartphones on the current market)!  The data plans are also cheaper because they’ve reduce them to compensate for the rolled in cost of your phone.  Now there is less obligation to purchase a new phone to take advantage of the subsidized prices of resigning a new contract.  I’ll revisit the car metaphor once again.  It’s like finally paying off your car and saving that monthly fee.  The vehicle is still serviceable and you could drive it to the ground and the most bang for your buck.

Part two we are addressing technological modesty and conservation.  So I’ve briefly described to you how to take advantage of the new pricing models offered by cellular providers, but now we must look within.  Our culture tries to convince us that we always need the newest and shiniest device out there.  Somehow at the end of your two year contract, your smartphone no longer feels adequate because you’ve seen ads for the latest iteration.  It’s just a marketing ploy and we are all better than that!  Sure… you could continue leasing cars, but you’ll be stuck with a car payment for the rest of your life.  Live conservatively and use your things until they actually need to be replaced.  Don’t always believe all the hype that is out there.  There are more important things that we could spend our time and money on than the cellphone with more memory.