New Cell Phone

[kitkong]

Hi

I'm in Manitoba and I'm looking for a new cell phone, previous I only have used a prepaid phone. I don't need a lot of data but would love a smart phone or at least something easy to text with. Any ideas on a plan. I'm looking but it seems all pay as you go's are priced similar to a monthly plan now.

Thanks
Kit

PS. Off to look at the prepaid plan listed below...

[bhlombardy]

I used to go monthly -- in fact, I was adamant about it. Although I knew I was sacrificing a bit by paying for my hardware up front, under some delusion that I was somehow saving money.,

But you're right, the monthly costs associated are about the same, and you still

All I was doing was permitting myself an 'out', in case I wanted to cancel at a moment's notice. That kind of behaviour only prevented me from getting the "good" phones (unless I expected to pay through the nose for them, paying the upfront retail cost). I had a fear of commitment.

Until I woke up and realized I had been with the same carrier for 8 years (up to that point in my story) -- and I have been very pleased with my carrier (Telus). However, as you pointed out, I was paying just as much (or more) as everyone else -- and I was denying myself all the benefits that come with the contracts (price-protected rate plan, current phone, etc). So (for me) it was a simple case of when I decided to upgrade, to just take the leap and go contract.

I was then able to get the ACTUAL phone I want, not pay for it, and pay the same monthly rate I was already paying.

I'm now on my 7th year under contracts (it doesn't seem that long) and 15 years overall as a mobile customer. And I really have no complaints. I've got a great smartphone (Galaxy S3) and I'm very pleased with the plan I have. I know I'm going to be on this plan for another 2, but again, I have no vision that I wouldnt be.


If your carrier is treating you right, and you really don't foresee a future without a mobile phone, then why not commit? Get the perks of commitment, with little more effort (if at all) from you?

(I've got the phone commitment thing taken care of, I'm just still not sure about that 8 year relationship I'm in with my girlfriend. )

[nwf1946]

Got news for you, no supplier gives you a phone you either pay upfront or in your monthly bill. If you check some of the more expensive phones you will fine that you must take a more expensive plan if you do not want to pay for your phone upfront. The most expensive phone is the one paid off monthly.

[endi2000]

Unless you use Virgin on a prepaid method. We have our monthly prepaid plan set up so the payments come off the credit card each month. They credit 10 or 20% of the plan back to our account. After 8 or 9 months - there is a pretty amount of $ sitting there for us to use on a new phone, the plan itself - or the other stuff Virgin is tied to.

And the funny thing is, this plan is so old that they used to credit $5 back each month (they called it a paycheck plan). But when we used the cash to pay for our plan - we had to change the payment method which eliminated the $5 kickback. A couple of months ago - we had to go back to the credit card paying - so we figured the $5 credit would no longer happen. But it does!! We got a text this morning saying they had credited it. So for $22.40 each month - we get paid back $5 each month - our emergency 200 minutes each month costs us $15 - AND we are self employed - so it gets written off on the income tax (y)