GetRichSlowly shares the story of how one of his readers, Laura, was able to save this way. The plan she wanted with contract cost $140 a month. Without contract it was $110 a month. The savings there is $360 a year. She had to pay $500 to get a new phone without the usual discount you get from signing up for a contract, but that's still $60 cheaper for the year when you add it all up.
"I soon learned from the sales associate that apparently no one had ever bought a phone outright and taken them up on the no-contract plan," Laura writes. "It's not advertised and therefore usually not asked about. They just assume that no one will want to pay more now in order to save later.
"The sales associate couldn't believe that I was "baller" enough (his exact words) to pay $500 for a phone — even though I was actually saving money within a year. He even asked me what I did for a living to be able to afford such an extravagance!"
