• Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Policy
  • Guest Post
  • Archive

One Cent At A Time

A Personal finance blog to get rich

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Beautiful Life
  • Becoming Rich
  • Beginners Guide
  • Extra Income
  • Productivity
  • Saving Money

How to Find Cheap Phone Sets

February 24, 2014 3 Comments

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

One of the items our parents never spent a single dime on, is cell phone. The cost of carrying a phone is manifold. Interestingly cost varies between providers and countries you use them in. After starting to use cell phones I spent probably upwards of $5,000 already.

cost of phone sets

it’s important to find every possible ways to cheapest price for phones or least costly phone plans that can suit your need. At the end do eliminate every possible add-ins that you will never use. Try to find possible deals, even check out if cell phone carriers provide special discount to employees of your organization.

(See Also – Phone apps that may save you money)

If you work for a big company there’s high chance that there is a specially negotiated offer price for the employees. Previously I looked in to overall strategy for reducing phone bills. In this post I’ll concentrate on ways to reduce the cost of handset only.

Ways to reduce phone set cost

Buy refurbished cell phones
Buying refurbished gives you healthy price concession and in most of the cases refurbished phone work just as great as the brand new out of the assembly line phone. If you understand how companies refurbish, buying refurbished item may not seem that bad actually. We have our wireless router which is refurbished. That Linksys router costs more than $100 to buy a brand new model. I got it from eBay for as low as $45. It has been about a year and we didn’t have any problem with our router so far.

During manufacturing process tiny glitches appear on few of the models, this may be due to malfunctioning of the machine or temporary negligence of the assembly line worker. Often the defects are very very minor can be fixed easily. Go for a refurbished model, if the same warranty applies as on the brand new model.

Eliminate features you don’t need
Latest phone features are sold at a premium. Cheaper models don’t include the very latest technology, but they still include great features. If you can eliminate features you probably won’t use, like text messaging, a music player, downloading ring tones, etc, you’ll get a cheap phone satisfying your every need.

Buy a phone with a plan
Phone manufacturers offer deep discounts on even the latest cell phones if you sign up with a plan. Typically in US the duration is 2 years. Signing on the contract line often brings the price down. Price of newest iPhone 5s comes around $500 without contract but with 2 years contract with At&T or Verizon let you take one home for $199 (plus fees and taxes).

Choose an older model
Phone manufacturers come up with new models every year, the newest models, and each year, previous year’s price for the mobile phone sets drop dramatically. You can get cheaper phone sets by looking for older models. You still get the newer version but not with the premium price. I never bought my iPhone models as soon as they came on market. I still have iPhone 5 since last 5 months. Although we have iPhone 5s and 5c on the market. And SMB still sues iPhone 3.

Buy a phone without a plan

Often buying phone without contract helps. With contract you end up paying for fixed number of minutes every month. Where as with pay as you go phone (in some countries this is known as “prepaid” plans) you buy fixed number of minutes based on your anticipated need. You don’t need to pay termination fee to change your carrier.

When you add up 24 months of limited expenses, you eventually pay less for the overall cost of having a phone service.

Readers, what was your experience in reducing cost of cell phones?

LIKE THIS POST?
I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information )
Join our community of 8000+ subscribers to increase your net worth and build wealth
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
The tool that changed the way I manage my personal finance - Personal Capital, The Best Free Personal Finance Tool

Want to start a WordPress blog now? The onecentatatime.com blog is hosted by Siteground Web Hosting. For only $3.95 a month, Siteground can help you set up and host your website/blog quickly and easily.

About the Blogger Hi I am SB, a personal finance enthusiast with a career in software development. I am an immigrant to the USA since 2005, after being born and brought up in India. This 40 something technocrat lives and breathes personal finance whenever he gets time from the day job, job as a husband and a dad

Some links on this page may be affiliate links, if you make a purchase following the links, I may earn a commission. Read affiliate disclosure here
« Do You Have One of These 6 Money Sucking Habits?
7 Budgeting Problems and How to Avoid Them Happening to You »

Comments

  1. Connor Harley says

    February 25, 2014 at 10:38 AM

    I recently got a phone from a buy-and-sell website. It is a spare phone which is brand new and I was able to get it 30% lesser. That was a big savings already for me.

    Reply
  2. Subhorup Dasgupta says

    May 16, 2014 at 11:11 PM

    SMB still “sues” iPhone 3? 🙂

    Not meant to be a plug for any particular brand, but many of the manufacturers from India and China offer great models at ridiculous prices. I am talking of a 60-70% markdown for similar but better branded phones. To date, I have not heard of anyone complaining about their useability or value for money.

    Reply
    • SB says

      May 18, 2014 at 10:10 AM

      Yes when I wrote this. Now she has 5s 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.



Create your own blog in 20 minutes and $20

Personal Capital, a free tool to change your financial health today

I use and suggest Upstart, for your personal loan need

CreditKarma, a free tool to check your credit scorey

I use Coinbase, for my crypto investments

101 Cents at a Time

101 Ways to Earn Extra Money on the Side
201 Frugal and Perfect Birthday Gifts
101 Ways to Save Money Everyday
101 Ways to be Better and Successful at Work
101 Ways to Save Environment and Energy
101 Frugal and Romantic Anniversary Ideas
101 Low-Cost Men's Fashion Ideas
101 Personal Finance Tips
101 Ways to Reuse Household Stuff
101 Things to Do, When Nothing to Do
101 College Graduation Gift Ideas
100 Tips for Ecommerce Startup
101 Ways to Enjoy Indoor During Winter
101 Ways to Beat Procrastination

Popular Posts

Quick Cash - How to make $100 legally, in a day
Living well on less than $15,000 a Year
Top survey sites for side income
What to do when auto repair goes wrong
Where should I invest my money now?
20 Ways to be productive and happy at work
51 Ways to get out of debt
Be a better person in 15 days, 15 ways
Income ideas for retirees and senior citizens
51 side jobs for college students
Urgently need a large amount of money?
Should I buy or should I rent?
Best Personal loan providers
25 Ways to save environment
25 DIY car repairs to save money
How to decorate office cubicle
How to show your wife you care
50 Financial Rules for Success
51 Frugal weekend family activity ideas
Become Rich By Saving 1 Hour Of Daily Wage
How much do I need to save for retirement?
How to negotiate your salary

Follow us on FaceBook

About Author

SB

Blogger by choice and IT manager by profession. Finance is my passion and gardening is my greatest satisfaction. Born in India, settled in US, Husband and a father. I created this blog in 2011 with a vision to help others. Thanks for your patronage. More info on my "about" page.

View all posts


Subscribe

Join our community of 5000+ subscribers to increase net worth and build wealth

Advertisements

Personal Stories

How I got a new HP computer replaced
Was COVID circulating in USA in fall of 2019?
How my credit score went up 800+
Why I didn’t invest in Bitcoins
How I controlled impulses to buy things
Why this blog is named One Cent at a Time

Subscribe via Email

Site Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in this web site are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Read full Affiliate disclosure


One Cent at a Time is published by SB. The opinions expressed herein by him are his own and not those of his employer or anyone else. All content on One Cent at a Time is for entertainment purposes only. By reading this blog, you agree that SB and/or One Cent at a Time is not responsible for any actions taken after reading this blog. For the full disclaimer, click here .

Major Media Mention

One Cent at a Time Media Appearances

Copyright © 2023 One Cent At A Time · Designed by Nuts and Bolts Media