Step 2 is converting to phones that don't cost $750! There are some great phones for less than $300 unsubsidized nowadays.

One thing I learned is that there are things in life you shouldn't be cheap about, and one of them is most definitely a smartphone. You're buying a device you'll be using every day, likely pulling it up for few seconds every little while. You definitely don't want to have a smartphone that looks like crap, hangs up all the time and in the end won't let you do half of the things it was supposed to do. This would be introducing an incredibly big source of frustrations into your daily routine. I wouldn't be surprised if additional psychiatrist bill would be bigger than money saved on the phone.

I was stuck for three years with a crapphone (LG P150) that was too weak to lift its own operating system (Android). After those three years of torture (and using it only for calls and text messages, as turning on Internet would max out the processing power and memory and would require taking out the battery) I can say such phones should not be allowed on the market. Especially not pushed by telecoms on contracts. It's especially sad to look at people who get burned by this when buying their first smartphones. It's basically a story of shattered dreams. It's just evil.

So folks, either buy a dumbphone (if all you need is text and calls), or shell out for some decent tech. Buy that Nexus or S4. It's worth the money.

I've got a Moto-G from Republic Wireless. $149 to buy the phone and $10/month. It's perfectly fine.

My SO switched to the same thing about 4 or 5 months ago. She was paying $40/mo with AT&T and had a crappy alcatel lucent phone. She has absolutely loved the Moto G. It is very, very similar to the Galaxy Nexus with a few updates. Definitely a good deal!

I completely agree with you. My point is that, in 2014, $750 is way more than twice as much as it costs to get a phone that exhibits exactly zero of the problems you describe. In fact, that has been true since at least 2012, when I bought the Nexus 4 that I'm still using.

So I agree, shell out for some decent tech, it's totally worth the money, but be excited that it only costs a couple hundred bucks to do so!

I agree. I'm used to european prices and also haven't consider that Nexus phones are actually quite cheap. I bought my current phone (S4) over a year ago for around $650.

I'm going to stick to buying high-end phones now and yes, I'm excited to learn it's not as expensive as I thought anymore :).

I'm all ears! Can you suggest some? I was thinking of grabbing the Nexus 5 for $350 or $400...

Yep, that one. The Moto G series is great too, though the G2 seems to be sold out.

This reminds me of a comment from cockeyed.com's article about the price of an XBox One from the rent-to-own shop Aaron's [1]. The concept is the same, large payment up front is much cheaper than renting, if you can do it.

> $2,082 for a game console? Have you lost your mind?

> This is a ridiculous retail proposition. What fool would sign up for this?

> Not me, but I couldn't help noticing that Aaron's Xbox price ($79/month for 24 months) is the exact price and duration of my AT&T wireless contract which I signed to take delivery of my fancy new Galaxy Note smartphone.

> This is embarrassing.

[1] http://www.cockeyed.com/citizen/aarons_and_rentacenter/ps4_x...

I was quite surprised at how many people were surprised I bought my N5 outright last year, but I now pay nearly a third for a SIM only plan than others are paying for their smartphone plans.

Have converted a few people to that mindset - but (let's ignore the point about if you don't have much cash, locking yourself into a long term phone contract isn't smart, people will do it anyway), it is easier for people who live month to month to have it bundled like that, it's a bit like buying a sofa from DFS on credit...

Help me understand the math. With contract I pay $200. Without I pay $750. Difference = $550. Divided by 24 months = $23. Do I pay more than that to ATT each month? Assumption is that I get a new phone every 2 yrs which I have been for the past many cycles.

With a prepaid provider, I pay $50/month for unlimited internet, calling, and texting. There are no extra taxes or "recovery charges".

$750 + ($50 * 24) = $1950

Last I checked, AT&T was about $100/month. It also charges a $36 "upgrade fee".

$36 + $200 + ($100 * 24) = $2636

That also assumes you upgrade immediately after paying your 24th month of service. Otherwise, tack on $50 overpayment for every month you wait to upgrade.

Wow. My laziness/inertia is costing me real dollars.