Lower Prices

There's much ado about Verizon Wireless dropping the contracts and phone subsidies.

It will take my bill from $260 a month for four phones and a tablet with 5gb to $140 a month for four phones and 6gb.

On average a smart phone lasts us three years.  We've been taking advantage of the subsidy and renewing the contract when we do.

I did the math...  It's simple math.

$120 per month saved, x24 months for the contract is... $2,880.  Even if the unsubsidized phones are $600 a pop we can replace all four every year, essentially for what we're paying at present.

Remember how I said three years?  That comes to $5,040 saved, minus (4*$600) or $2,640 saved over three years.

And it actually saves more!  Because the subsidy isn't for the full price of the phone.  The Motox is $375 as I've configured it, and I paid VzW $200, so they only subsidized me for $175.

So a $600 phone is really $400 out of my pocket more than when they subsidize...  That's still better than what I am paying.

Putting the money aside is in that "adult responsibility" column that's been so very hard to learn.

It's also unlikely that our phone choices will be $600 phones.  That's an iPhone.

As I said, my Motox is $375 bought straight from Motorola with customization.  With half the memory it's a $450 phone from VzW.  $480 for the next phone we have... then $350 for Harvey and $210 for her mom's non-smart phone.  Worst casing... $450 + $480 + $350 + $210 = $1,670 to replace them all.  Even at two years we've saved more than enough with the new plan and have more than $1,200 still in our set-aside.

And this assumes that prices will stay the same or go up.  Electronics don't trend that way.

I think that Verizon Wireless' plan is going to work for them if enough people can handle buying that first off-contract replacement phone outright.