Author Topic: New Iphone AT&T  (Read 1028 times)

JGS1980

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New Iphone AT&T
« on: July 20, 2021, 10:12:00 AM »
Okay wise Mustachians,

My wife wants a new-to-her Iphone and currently has a 6s version. It works fine, but I want to stay married :)

We have a joint AT&T wireless account that I must keep because my work pays for my cell phone, but not hers.

Her split is 57.62$ per month. 9GB plan/month is fine, she says.

What's the most cost effective way to get her a better phone and stay on the same provider and plan.

Thanks for your input, I'm not the most tech savvy guy.

JGS

NumberJohnny5

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Re: New Iphone AT&T
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2021, 01:05:55 PM »
More info please.

How much is your plan if it was just you? Are you getting a set reimbursement for having a mobile phone, regardless of the actual cost? Or are they looking at the bill and paying 100% of what is yours (so if a single line costs $80/mo vs the $60/mo it does now...would they pay the full $80?)?

If that's the case, then there's really no reason for your wife to stay on your account. I mean, if you were choosing between paying $80/mo for just her on her own AT&T account, vs combining the two and saving both you(r employer) and your wife nearly $25/mo each, that's a no-brainer. But if that's not the case, then you have options.

I'd look into Cricket. They're known for having some good phone deals, especially with the iPhone. They tend to be locked to Cricket, but can be unlocked (for free) after six months of service, so set the calendar to alert you just after six months has passed (you don't want to cancel in a year to jump ship to a better provider, just to find out your phone's locked to the prior provider; at best it's a hassle, at worst you have to start the waiting period again). Anyway, Cricket has a $40/mo plan that comes with 10GB of high-speed data (you're not cut off after 10GB, you're just severely throttled...so no more Netflix on the go, but you can still use Google Maps to get to where you're going). Bonus, Cricket is owned by AT&T and uses the same towers, so she probably won't notice a difference in service quality (I say probably because you just never know for sure). You could even look into switching both services over, they have some decent family plans. The Cricket More plan is $90/mo for two lines ($90 total, not per line), comes with unlimited (and definitely throttled) 5G data and 15GB of hotspot data. You can get cheaper plans if you don't need unlimited super-fast data, or are ok with data caps, or....

Now, if you must stay with the current setup, just keep an eye out for iPhone deals through AT&T. Walmart had a decent deal where it was $5/mo for 30 months to get a new iPhone SE, but you could pay it off early (it didn't actually extend your contract by 30 months or anything like that). If you can hold off a bit, I can all but guarantee that there will be some awesome deals for older iPhone versions on Black Friday (the iPhone 13 or whatever they call it should be released by then, so everything will move down a spot...iPhone 11 will now be two generations old and will likely have some really good deals).

NextTime

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Re: New Iphone AT&T
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2021, 01:42:23 PM »
We have an AT&T family plan with 7 people currently.

I was looking at the upgrades the other day and they had some decent deals on older iphones, as long as you chose the installment plan.

iPhone SE for $5/month for 36 months = $180 total
iPhone 11 for $10/month for 36 months = $360 total

If you change it from the installment plan to full retail price, the iPhone 11 goes to $600 and the SE goes to $400.
So that's a huge difference.

I'd never seen the 36 month installment plan. 
I browsed the fine print and it looks like you can pay off the installment plan early, but I'd have to read it more thoroughly to be sure.
I'm not really in the market, I was just seeing what was out there for my brother.









JGS1980

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Re: New Iphone AT&T
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2021, 05:44:27 PM »
More info please.

How much is your plan if it was just you? Are you getting a set reimbursement for having a mobile phone, regardless of the actual cost? Or are they looking at the bill and paying 100% of what is yours (so if a single line costs $80/mo vs the $60/mo it does now...would they pay the full $80?)?

If that's the case, then there's really no reason for your wife to stay on your account. I mean, if you were choosing between paying $80/mo for just her on her own AT&T account, vs combining the two and saving both you(r employer) and your wife nearly $25/mo each, that's a no-brainer. But if that's not the case, then you have options.

I'd look into Cricket. They're known for having some good phone deals, especially with the iPhone. They tend to be locked to Cricket, but can be unlocked (for free) after six months of service, so set the calendar to alert you just after six months has passed (you don't want to cancel in a year to jump ship to a better provider, just to find out your phone's locked to the prior provider; at best it's a hassle, at worst you have to start the waiting period again). Anyway, Cricket has a $40/mo plan that comes with 10GB of high-speed data (you're not cut off after 10GB, you're just severely throttled...so no more Netflix on the go, but you can still use Google Maps to get to where you're going). Bonus, Cricket is owned by AT&T and uses the same towers, so she probably won't notice a difference in service quality (I say probably because you just never know for sure). You could even look into switching both services over, they have some decent family plans. The Cricket More plan is $90/mo for two lines ($90 total, not per line), comes with unlimited (and definitely throttled) 5G data and 15GB of hotspot data. You can get cheaper plans if you don't need unlimited super-fast data, or are ok with data caps, or....

Now, if you must stay with the current setup, just keep an eye out for iPhone deals through AT&T. Walmart had a decent deal where it was $5/mo for 30 months to get a new iPhone SE, but you could pay it off early (it didn't actually extend your contract by 30 months or anything like that). If you can hold off a bit, I can all but guarantee that there will be some awesome deals for older iPhone versions on Black Friday (the iPhone 13 or whatever they call it should be released by then, so everything will move down a spot...iPhone 11 will now be two generations old and will likely have some really good deals).

Thanks for the input. I have no idea how much my employer pays to give me a new phone every couple years and pay the monthly tab as well. It never comes to me and is blocked out at the AT&T website. 57$ is just for one line.

I'll look into black friday deals and maybe walk into Walmart  to see the prices.

$180 for an Iphone SE isn't too shabby, so I'll take a look at that as well as an Installment Plan.

Thanks everyone, keep it coming if new ideas come in.

alsoknownasDean

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Re: New Iphone AT&T
« Reply #4 on: July 21, 2021, 11:32:21 PM »
Probably the best way is to buy outright. If an iPhone 11 is $10 per month they're going to be making the rest back some other way.

Although new iPhones are likely to be released in September or so.