Is your smartphone feeling a little outdated? If you’ve been on a plan for some time, you might be able to upgrade for free, or just save some money by changing your plan.
Are you on a post-paid plan?
If you are on a post paid plan, was your phone included in it? And for how long have you been on this plan?
If your phone was included in your plan and you’ve had it for over 24 months, you might be throwing away between $10 and $30 each month! This is because contracts that include a phone have a fee added each month, which, over a certain period (usually 24 months), will have covered the cost of the phone.
Once the contract period is up, your telco probably won’t cancel the fee (who can say no to free money?). Instead, you can now swap to a similar phone plan for cheaper fees, or you can enter a new contract and get a new phone without having to pay any extra (you may even be able to get a cheaper plan).
If you’re not on a post-paid plan, or your plan isn’t up
Upgrading in this situation will probably cost you quite a bit. You will either have to purchase a new phone outright, or set up a new lock-in contract. Before you do this, you should consider if you need a new phone, or just want one. If your phone is less than two years old, it will still be compatible with all or nearly all of the apps available for it, although it might be running a little slowly. Sluggish performance is certainly frustrating, but is it worth the cost of a new phone to fix? By adjusting some settings or freeing up some space you may be able to significantly speed up your current device and extend its lifespan.
What can you do with your old device?
You can always give it to a friend or family member if you wish, but you can also sell it online. Have a look at prices for used smartphones on ebay to get an idea of how much you’ll be able to get for it. It might just be enough to put that new smartphone back into your budget. Before you sell your old smartphone, you should make sure that all your private data has been encrypted and deleted.
