Month-to-Month, No Contract Plans | FindTheBest Month-to-month, no contract plan: For once, a fair deal Got an hour-long emergency call from your parents? Received a flurry of unwanted text messages out of the blue? Pay-as-you-go plans add up quickly if you deviate from the original structure you set, so proceed carefully. Even once you’ve selected your specific plan, you’ll likely need to monitor yourself and your phone habits. One company might charge you by the day, another by the minute, and a third for any month in which you make a call. The problem is that all the rules and fees vary significantly from one plan to the next. You can pay for one, practically ignore the other, and pocket all the cash you saved. For example, you might be a data fiend-constantly using GPS or watching videos on the move-but totally disinterested in actually talking on the phone. With these plans, you can pay only for the exact amount of data, texts and minutes you use. If you’re disciplined, data-driven, responsible and self-restrained, the pay-as-you-go option is your best bet. It’s no wonder the phone companies are pushing these the hardest. Once you factor in the resale value of your phone, the payment plan option is simply the worst way to go, whatever way you slice it. A top-shelf phone like the iPhone 6 can potentially net you $400 after one year, or around $300 after two years, using a site like eBay or Gazelle. On paper, this makes the payment plan a cheaper option than the two-year contract-by our calculations, you save about $40 compared to a two-year contract if you trade in at the 24-month mark.īut all of this ignores one key wildcard: the resale value of your phone. That said, the payment plans allow you to trade in your phone early for a new one-typically at the 12-, 18-, or 24-month mark, depending on which option you choose. After 30 months of payments, you end up paying about $50 more under this method than if you had selected a two-year contract. The way the plan works: you pay $0 the day you get your new phone, but then you pay about $20 on top of your normal monthly fee in roughly 30 installments (the exact rate and number of installments vary by plan, but the overall concept is very similar). If you’re just looking for an individual plan, the first option is arguably the worst.
0 kommentar(er)
