If the rumors are true, one day soon you’ll be able to buy an iPhone for under $400 without being locked into a contract. It also looks like Americans will have the option to share data plans with multiple devices, rather than having to pay for a separate monthly plan for each gadget.
Also: What your trash says about how efforts (or failures) to save money.
Also: What can the Miami Heat’s three-headed monster experiment teach you about getting your finances under control?
There are more no-contract options than ever before: You can prepay your bill or pay as you go, and, if you decide you don’t like the phone or the payment terms, you can walk away with no termination fees—which might cost you over $300 if you were locked into a wireless provider contract.
Whether or not the FCC winds up requiring wireless companies to alert customers about to get hit with overage charges, there’s one simple cost-effective way any cell-phone user can avoid fees for going over their data and minute limits. The solution—opting for a prepaid phone plan—is getting more and more popular everyday.
Prepaid wireless is a clear trend: The fourth quarter of 2009 marked the first time that customers signing up for prepaid cell phones outnumbered new subscribers opting for contracts.
You’re not going to see an iPhone or Google’s Nexus One on this list. But if you’re trying to trim monthly bills, a prepaid plan and a cheap handset is a smart way to go.
It costs a fortune to advertise during the Super Bowl. So it’s interesting that so many of the commercials seem aimed not at the spendthrift rich, but at folks who are still shell-shocked by the recession, and who remain reluctant to open their wallets.
To many customers, the recent cell-phone plan price cut heralded by AT&T and Verizon actually amounts to an upsell.
