Poll of the Day > Buying a cell phone and plan?

(+) Yeah! (+)

So do I just buy any phone I want, then buy any provider plan I want? Is it that easy?

Looking at a Samsung S8 and then maybe Sprint because it says unlimited talk, text, and data is $50 per month.
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You can usually put the phone on a tab and pay less up front, but pay a little bit more per month. It basically just splits the cost of the phone over the contract period. You could just buy an unlocked phone and put it on a plan but I don't see a good reason to do so.
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I have an unlimited plan where I get to upgrade to the new phone whenever it comes out

But I don't OWN the phone. I'm just leasing it

Kanakiri posted...

You can usually put the phone on a tab and pay less up front, but pay a little bit more per month. It basically just splits the cost of the phone over the contract period. You could just buy an unlocked phone and put it on a plan but I don't see a good reason to do so.

MICHALECOLE posted...

I have an unlimited plan where I get to upgrade to the new phone whenever it comes out

But I don't OWN the phone. I'm just leasing it

These.

Pros and cons to contract vs no contract. No contract (t-mobile prepaid, cricket, etc) you need to pay full price for the phone but pay less monthly. Contract you pay less up front for the phone (sometimes nothing!) but more monthly.

Either or will work. It's probably cheaper to do no-contract if you plan on keeping the phone for more than a few years. Bonus to that is you can get a used one for cheaper (be careful and do research!!) and it'll work on the network.

Idk.

Having cash upfront isn't an issue. I can buy the whole phone; I don't want to lease, and paying more monthly later is irrelevant since I have the money for a phone now.

Is it a good idea to just go to a Sprint store and have them set up the phone and coverage for me? I suppose it might be cheaper to buy a phone online.
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Check what the no contract price vs contract price on the plan and phone and how long the contract is

I will just use these an example

50 a month
900 for phone up front

Vs
65 a month for 2 years
0 for the phone up front
Savings on the phone work out to be 37.50 a month, but after contract differance the it would still be 22.50 cheaper a month to be on contract

But if it is
87.50 a month for 2 years, that means you are financing the cost of the phone over the 2 years, and it doesnt matter, anything more then that it is better to buy out.
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