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Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Journey to a New Phone

Does it ever feel like all your expenses come at once? Fun ones (vacations), awful ones (taxes) and even boring ones (car maintenance). It so feels that way in my life right now. Guess it is the change of season.

I am in desperate need of a new cell phone. Mine is so wonky lately. I don't receive all my text messages, some of the ones I do get come hours late, my phone freezes quite often, doesn't hold a charge and is so slow. I have taken such good care of my phone because I knew I wouldn't be getting a new one for awhile. Last year when the iPhone 6 came out, I wanted it, but with the girls coming a few months later, I knew it wasn't in the cards. Plus my phone was working just fine.

I have an iPhone 5, so it is not THAT old, but it has some wear and tear on it. I may have drown my phone in breast milk a few times and dropped it countless times, but it is still ok.

So now I am faced with the should I get the new iPhone 6s? It takes better pictures which is great for on the go with the girls, it will be faster, I can get my messages, etc. But it is so much money.

And I just dropped $429 on a snowboard pass. Did I need it? Nope. Did I want it? Yes I did. Now please snow so it doesn't go to waste.

And we just purchased our flights to Mexico for April. It wasn't too pricey since we used miles, but even with the girls flying on our laps, you get taken by the taxes. Ugh. So many taxes coming back from Mexico. But it will be worth it to see the girls meet their great great aunt.

And the list goes on. I won't bore you with all the awful and boring expenses.

So I need some people to help me out here. Apparently there is a new program that most carriers are offering. AT&T offers the Next plan and it seems like a leasing plan. Pay for your phone over x installments and a few months before it is finished you can upgrade. Or you can buy the phone outright, but you pay a higher monthly fee for smartphone access (what the what? I don't pay this now), a higher activation fee and such. Basically from my minimal research it will cost the same monthly if I do the lease program (that's what I am calling it) as it would to buy it outright right now. What are the benefits of each? Do you still keep your phone after the "lease" is up? Or do you have to trade it in? If you keep it, do you pay more like you would for a car lease?

Help me out here. I need people with experience so I make the best decision.
She is quite pretty in rose gold

10 comments :

  1. I just went through this ordeal last month when I actually switched away from iPhones and to a Galaxy (it's way better btw). It doesn't really matter which payment method you choose, they both suck. Either way you're screwed into paying full price for the phone. It was a tiny bit cheaper to do the installment plan so that's what I went with. You do get to keep your phone, as well you should since in the end you'll spend over $600 for it (depending which phone you buy)!

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    1. Ugh. That is rough to make someone pay over $600 for a phone. I guess all the companies figured out new ways to make us pay more. I have such a great deal/plan now, but it is a grandfathered plan. I bet it goes away as soon as I get a new phone. I thought about going to the galaxy as my whole family has them, but I just don't think I want/would like something other than apple. Apple die hard here. Haha.

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    2. Yep looked like all cell phone carriers are doing it too. Our plan didn't change except that they upped our shared data for free, so that was one good thing, although we didn't get close to using it all before but oh well. Less to think about I guess. My phone is waterproof and dustproof and shock resistant so it was worth moving away from the iPhone for all of that as I'm a clutz. And I took it to Burning Man and it performed like a champ and took some pretty awesome pictures. But I was never a big Apple fan so switching was easy for me haha!

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    3. I do love the quality of photos that the galaxy takes. And I didn't know it was water and dust proof. That would have been helpful when I was pumping, haha.

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    4. The S6 Active is, the others aren't. Definitely helpful while pumping or just being around kids in general, haha!

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  2. Omgosh, I just went through this. I always wait the two years until my eligibility to renew is up, and then I get the latest version. I did that this time, but I guess my monthly rate goes up too. So, that's what I went with, but it still stinks! I got the iPhone 6s and I really like it. I got the 64 gb storage because I take so many photos/videos and my biggest issue with my old phone was the storage. It definitely stinks either way, and they totally rip you off, but I do like the phone overall. Good luck with the process!

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    1. Ya I guess I have come to terms with it. I am doing the leasing type of option as suggested by others. Plus they say it is a bit cheaper over time. I can't wait to get a new phone with a better camera and more storage. My current one is 32gb and I use that up pretty fast. Always having to put my pictures on my computer.

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  4. Once you've made all your monthly payments, you own the phone. I know this because I traded mine in last Christmas time and just had to pay what was left on my "lease". It's not really a lease...it's basically just a credit line where you buy the product over a certain amount of months.

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    1. Great to know. What phone do you have now? And thank you for the clarification.

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