One of the great things about BJ (and AP in general) is that it helps me see different angles and plays that, while not in a casino, help you save money and "score" in that way. I've come across one and thought I'd post it here.
Enter the iPhone. Having an iPhone is a very expensive proposition since it's useless without a data plan and txt plans have really increased in price dramatically. Checking the available carrier rate plans, on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, the cheapest plan you can have with data is $79.99. None of the carriers give you unlimited minutes at those prices so you still have to watch your usage. We will focus on AT&T and their unlimited minutes, largest data plan and txt will run you $140/month. Naturally, there's millions of people on this plan since most people want/need unlimited minutes.
Currently, you have to choose a carrier when buying an iPhone and the phone they send you will ONLY work on that carrier. However, it's a little known that fact that Apple will also sell you what's known as an "unlocked" iPhone that will work on any carrier. In fact, this phone doesn't even come with a SIM card, you have to provide your own. It's intended for people who travel a lot and need to swap out SIM cards or for countries where the iPhone is not yet available. At $650, it's an expensive purchase but a GREAT advantage play.
Here's the steps:
1 - Buy an unlocked iPhone from Apple. The 16GB version is $650 and you can get it online or at an Apple store.
2 - One of the cheapest carriers out there is Straight Talk, a company that has an affiliation with Wal-Mart. They will sell you unlimited minutes, unlimited text message AND unlimited data for only $45/month. You can also pre-pay for 6 months and get that price as low as $42.50/month. Again, keep in mind that this is for unlimited everything. From the Straight Talk web site, they will sell you SIM cards (no phone, just the card). Just make sure you order the Micro-SIM that Apple requires.
3 - Once you have the iPhone and the SIM card, you are ready to go. Register the SIM card with Straight Talk on their web site; it's a simple 5 minute process and pay for your first month of service.
4 - Put the SIM in the phone and run through the iPhone activation process. This process is quicker if you do it through iTunes.
5 - The last technical step is creating what's known as the APN. This is the setting that tells your phone which data carrier you're using. There is a web site that helps with this at www.unlockit.co.nz that you can access from the iPhone. The only hitch is that since your data is setup yet, you will need to have a Wi-Fi connection. You can do this from a free connection at a library or McDonalds.
After that, you're set to go, you now have a full-featured iPhone that only costs you $45/month for everything you could possibly want.
Let's run through the math on this:
Straight Talk First Year = $650 + ($45x12) = $1190 = $99/month
AT&T First Year = $0 + ($140x12) = $1680 = $140/month
This means that even though you may have to pay $650 for the phone now, after 9 months you are way ahead of the curve and the phone is now just going to cost you $45/month for however long you want it for however long you want to use it.
A quick word about Straight Talk. When you see these carrier like Virgin Mobile or Boost or Straight Talk, these are not companies with their own cell towers. They basically buy blocks of time on the existing networks that are exclusively owned by AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. For example, Virgin buys on the Sprint backbone and Straight Talk buys on the AT7T backbone . . . thats right, by being on Straight Talk, you get the exact same service that you would on AT&T :)
This an advantage play in real life and saves you money :)
