All the rage to have the latest technology

This week my Blackberry broke and I found myself in need of purchasing a new telephone.  My contract has been up with my existing carrier for almost 2 years and I had been refusing to renew it because I have been really unhappy with the way in which cell phone bills have continued to increase over the years.  And, I figured that if I found a good deal with a different carrier I would not have to pay a fee to break my contract so I just did not renew the contract.  So, I contacted my then current carrier to advise them that my cell phone was not working properly and because I have the insurance on my phone I would like to get a new phone.  I was promptly notified by the lady on the other end that the model of my Blackberry was no longer available and therefore I would not be able to get it any longer.  Mind you, my model is approximately 4 years old but I am of the mindset that if it's not broken don't attempt to fix it.  But the only problem with that is now it's broken and I have to fix it.  So the lady on the other end proceeds to tell me that I can get a newer model of the Blackberry but that would mean getting a new telephone and that would put me back into a contract with the provider which I did not want to be in.




So now I'm stuck in a serious predicament.  What am I supposed to do?  Continue to pay these extremely high prices for monthly service?  Decrease my calling plan to roughly $45.00 per month for service that provides limited outgoing telephones calls?  Change the type of phone that I have which will still do nothing for my monthly bill because to be able to get email connectivity and unlimited data it would still increase my bill.  What options are out there for a budget conscious individual who wants to be mobile without being locked into a 24 month contract with the expectation of paying $70.00 - $90.00 per month depending upon the carrier.


I went for a couple of days perplexing about this situation.  And the other night I was watching television with my children when I saw an ad for mobile phone service without the monthly contract.  I thought to myself why even bother, even without the contract the monthly service is still probably more than I am willing to pay at this particular point and time.  Shortly after that my friend called me and I was explaining my dilemma to her and she told me that she had switched her phone service to one of the carriers that did not require you to be in a monthly contract and because she was also out of her contract she could take the number with her.  And the best part of the whole thing was that her monthly bill went down to $50.00 per month which includes all of the same options that she was paying $90.00 per month for.  She gave me the name and number of her new cell provider and I made the switch as well.  I had to purchase a new telephone but when I look at the amount of money that I saved in purchasing a $60.00 telephone over a 24 month contract at $90.00 a month versus the $50.00 that I am paying with them I think that it was well worth it.