Cell Phone Buying Guide

Cell phones are ALWAYS changing, and somehow making us feel like a phone that comes out a week later, is better than the one you currently have. It is annoying, trust me, I know. What I will tell you today will point you in the right direction in terms of staying on a budget for a big family, a small couple, or just going all out and getting the best phone known to man. (For that week anyway) When you're buying a phone, be sure to make it a LITTLE future proof. 4G for example, if you are getting a new contract from any provider, best to make sure it is 4G, even if they do not have 4G in your area yet, they will in a year or two. Do NOT get a plan to fit a phone, get the phone to fit the plan. Lets talk about that a little bit shall we?

Alright, if you go to AT&T or Verizon just to get an iPhone, thats not a nice money saving attitude, if you go to Verizon because the signal in your area is the best, and none of the other carriers have a good signal for you, then that is a good decision, and the only one in your case. What im really saying is don't commit to a 2 year contract for a simple phone, that in two years will be outdated. It would be in your best interest to pick a carrier for its plan, its signal, and the upgrade eligibility.

Now that you have picked your carrier, shop around to see what kind of deals you can get! Shopping online saves a ton of money and can easily get you an incredible phone for a penny. Yes. A Penny. Amazon has amazing deals when it comes to phones, phones that would usually cost hundreds in the store, cost little to nothing on their site. Look on sites such as http://www.engadget.com to find information like that from February 10-12, T-Mobile is having a deal that ANY Smartphone is free with a two-year contract. ANY one is free, after that, the phone that would have cost you nothing, will then be $250 yet again. The thing to take away from this is to don't take a salesman word for it, look around online, and sometimes in the store to find amazing deals that save you hundreds.

Times now are rough, specially for data plans and smart phones. AT&T and soon Verizon will be offering tiered data, meaning that you only get a limited amount of data before they cut you off. That isn't good, if you see a company that has Unlimited data, thats good, because eventually all carriers will be having tiered data. If you get a contract with unlimited data, its best to get it, because they cannot take that away, you are then "grandfathered" into that plan, and they call it a "contract" for a reason.

Watch out what you do with your plan, unless your climbing mountains, insurance isn't really a need, all companies, if you whine enough will replace your phone if it breaks. thats an extra $60 bucks a year you just saved, Wireless tethering? $30 bucks a month? NO WAY, just jailbreak your iPhone or root your Droid and do it for free! There is another $360 a year saved. And you do NOT need all the minutes in the world, VoIP is becoming a huge thing, and Google Talk can save you hundreds for all you chatty people. And you just saved a good $500-600 a year, GOOD ON YOU for reading this article.