How to Cut the Cost of a New Smartphone
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Here's your Money Briefing for Monday, September 19th. I'm Daniela Cheslow for The Wall Street Journal, filling in for J.R. Whelan. New iPhones are rolling out this month, and Apple's iPhone 14 Pro can run well over $1,000. Meanwhile, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 starts at a cool $1,800. But there are ways to get a new phone without breaking the bank.
You can actually add friends and aunts and uncles and cousins and other people you trust into your family plan. I think it's up to 10 people on certain carriers. That effectively can bring your monthly phone bill down.
The Wall Street Journal's Veronica Dagger covers personal finance, and in a moment, she'll join me with some pointers for how to get a deal on getting connected. That's coming up after the break.
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How expensive are new flagship phones like the iPhone 14 Pro and Galaxy Z Fold 4?
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A new phone can cost as much as a month's rent. So if you can get a discount on the hardware, that can make an upgrade a lot more accessible. But wireless plans can also put a giant dent in your budget. Fortunately, there are tricks for saving money there, too. And The Wall Street Journal's Veronica Dagger has been looking into those methods to cut the cost of an upgrade. She joins me now. Hi, Veronica. Hey, Danielle. How are you? I'm great. Flagship phones from Apple and Samsung are so expensive. What are some ways to cut down the sticker price of the hardware in my hand?
You might want to trade in your phone. You might want to shop around for subsidies from some of the wireless carriers. We saw that if you own an iPhone 12 Pro and want to upgrade to the $999 model 14 Pro, Apple offers $430 for the trade-in, bringing your cost to $569. If you traded in that same phone to AT&T, the carrier will credit you up to $1,000 of the cost of the new phone as long as you agree to a three-year commitment to use one of its unlimited data plans. T-Mobile offers a similar deal, a credit of up to $1,000 with a two-year commitment on its premium plan. Verizon also is another one of the major carriers, and those customers could get up to $800 off Know you're always going to be on the hook for sales tax.
And all of these offers I mentioned change by the minute.
You're mentioning a lot of carriers offering what seems like great deals for trading in your phone or for signing up for their service, but they do require some commitments to data plans. How much do these plans tend to cost per month?
So it really depends, but the average phone bill in the United States is about $151 a month, and that's according to J.D. Power. We spoke to an analyst at Bankrate, and he said the cost of your monthly service plan often consumes more of your budget than the expense of a new phone. So definitely want to be a little cautious when signing up for a new plan because those costs can really add up.
So what are some ways to knock down your monthly bill for wireless service?
So one way is to first check if you're eligible for discounts through your employer, professional associations, or if you're a student, you might get a discount that way.
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