How I got 2 Samsung Continuum Galaxy S Phones for $50-And how to save money with Cell phones

We have Verizon as our cell phone carrier, while I was a bit saddened to find out the other day that they have discontinued their Every Two Program;I LOVED this program, if you had a single phone plan or were the main phone on a family plan EVERY 2 years you were given a $100 credit to use towards a new phone, if the other phone on the plan was due for an upgrade you could use one of their Buy 1 Get 1 deals, plus the credit and score a great deal. Although sometimes you did have to wait a few months like we did because you could upgrade the main line early but they wouldn’t always let you upgrade the other lines, but nothing that was to hard to wait for.

Not only did they take it away but if you were “grandfathered” in for one more upgrade Every 2 discount you got only $50 instead of the $100.

Well I was due for an upgrade and hubby was not due for a few more months, but I really wanted the Samsung Continuum phone, after talking with them I was able to get them to agree to upgrade hubby’s phone a few months early so we could take advantage of the buy 1 get 1 promo. I also had $50 from my every 2 credit. The phones were priced at $149 B1G1, with my $50 Every 2 credit it brought it down to $100, and then there was a mail-in-rebate for $50 so for 2 phones that retail at $579 each I got them both for $50 total.

I did have to change my plan to add the data package, which added about $30 to my bill each month, but I had figured out if I had to pay for a phone for hubby it would have to be at retail value(and sadly he really needed one his was an old flip phone that didnt always work haha) and it would have been around $300(for a low end phone and if he had wanted a smartphone it would have been about $400), and I have been wanting a phone that I can get cool apps on, check my e-mail ect since the last time I upgraded 2 years ago. Having to buy the 2 phones with out this deal it would have been about 400,-500 total which is MORE then I would pay in a year by adding the data package to the phones!

Total savings:
Added $710 for the next 2 years to our bill total
Spent $50 on 2 phones
Retail Value of the 2 phones @ $579 Each =1158

Total spent/will spend over the next 2 years by adding it-$760!
That means in 2 years I still come out $398 cheaper then the retail value of the 2 phones!!!

Now I know not everyone wants to have a smartphone or the data package that comes with it, but that does not mean you can not save money with your cell phones.

• When you are going to upgrade and another line on your account is not due for an upgrade, ask anyway which if there is a B1G1 deal going on you will be able to save big by getting 2 phones for the price of 1!
• Every few months check your cell phone companies website, see if they have any different packages that are better then the one you currently have, I do not know if some will extend your contract if you change your plan but Verizon always left our contract the same no matter how many times we changed the plan
• If they ask you if you think you can find a better deal else where(which I have had said to me), I just ask them if they really want me to go looking somewhere else. Most of the time they do not think a customer is really going to follow through when they say that
• Know what you will be using, yes the smartphones are what people are raving about, but really if you won’t be able to use it for all the cool stuff then why waste the money.
• See if the company you work for has a contract for discounts with your cell phone company, I know Verizon has contracts with many different companies that by working for them you get 15-20% off!

If you have any other great ways to save money on your cell phone bill please share we would love to hear them!