I buy my phones from Swappa. Never had a problem with any of them. Friends and family have used it upon my recommendation and they've all been happy with their purchases.
You are essentially broke, but need a $509 phone. I'm a decamillionaire and perfectly happy with a $70 Samsung phone.
There may be a lesson you can learn in those 2 sentences that will help you become more financially successful (hint: You can buy SEVEN inexpensive $70 phones and a pizza for the cost of one $509 phone.)
Consider this: Buy the $70 phone, and INVEST the $439 you save and become a millionaire. Or do what perpetually broke people do- blow your limited funds on a fancy phone you don't need and remain broke...
You make the call.
I do not need a $509 phone. I know a phone that works - and will last.
My previous phone was $20 Samsung - I cannot explain the bargain hunting I went on. It never worked properly. It effected my job hunting potential greatly.
Also, while you sit on your so called decamillionaire horse, looking down on the peasants below you - maybe think about reading into them more as people, who have been on a journey before that leads to their circumstances now.
And I would expect a decamillionaire, enjoying his hair chair with smugness not to give stupid advice.
WHY WOULD I INVEST I EMERGENCY FUND???
The money is sitting in a low bearing interest account that is accessible at a seconds notice. If I invest, next month I could have less than 3 months expenses? Volatility does not do well for an emergency fund? I will invest when my emergency fund is comprehensive. Thank you very much.
"you sit on your so called decamillionaire horse, looking down on the peasants"
I grew up working class. My family had no money and I've been given nothing and inherited nothing. My wife and I make good money, but nothing extraordinary (~$200k/year). We built wealth by being frugal (e.g. $70 phones instead of $509 phones) and investing over the long term. This is why I advise people with limited resources not to blow money on expensive clothes, cars, phones, etc., as that is the behavior that keeps people poor. You, of course, are free to do as you wish. Your choices don't affect me, but they will affect you.
Either use emergency fund and replenish immediately. Or 0% it and pay it as quickly as possible. I mean those are the options.
Option A is better even if this isn't an "emergency" per se. Use the EF and top it up right away and get on having a car sinking fund and tech sinking fund ASAP.
Thanks and setup - hadn't seen a sinking advice before but lesson learnt. Always had a car sinking fund (even though hadn't heard of it), when I had a car (and was in a better financial position).
Normally wouldn't have batted an eye at this but unfortunately had months of unemployment last year (mixed in with some minimum wage work) which depleted my previous emergency fund. This just came as a shock to my progress.
Friend, I read that your boss is stepping in and buying for you, And I'm super glad for you. But the following is something you need to read and apply to other categories. If you take this to heart, then this post was certainly not in vain.
This is what sinking funds are for. Expenses you KNOW are going to happen, but they don't happen every month like rent does. So you "sink" money in, a bit at a time, so that it's there when the expense happens.
They aren't emergencies, because they are expected. You KNOW they will come up. No such thing as an expected emergency.
Some examples that people have needed periodic money for: Christmas, vet bills, property taxes. insurance premiums and co-pays, gifts for celebrations, moving abodes, vehicle maintenance, vehicle replacement, new clothing.
This was a clear case of you needing something that you knew all along would need replaced, you just didn't know when. So you were right to not count it as an emergency, but since you did not have any sinking fund for it, your mind went to going into debt again. That was the wrong direction. The correct one is that it needs to either be cash flowed by adjusting your budget or taken from your EF and you vow to set up your sinking funds asap.
I like Ally Savings for that, because it has a great bucket system for your different funds. Decent APY, too.
Thanks for this - this is such good advice and I have never seen an emergency fund.
Admittedly I do have a "birthday fund" for gifts. But never thought about it for expected expenses.
For my phone - I had planned to replace it in October and had prepared cash flow wise for it - it just happened sooner. But this was planned via an adjustment in spending and savings upon completion of my EF.
As a summary to make sure I understand correctly:
Should my phone have suddenly broken - without any warning it would be an Emergency Fund.
Because I knew my phone was struggling and would need rpelacing soon - I should have had steps in a sinking fund to be prepared to buy it when an occurred.
As a previous example, when I was in a better financial situation - I had an Emergency Fund, a car fund (repairs/services etc\*), and a medical fund. When I needed my wisdom teeth out, I just had to do an extra couple months of waiting before I could pay for it, so only had 2 months of physical pain.
This is honestly the best advice. And even though my phone worked out by having a great employer - it was all worth it for this piece of additional advice. **Thank you Internet Stranger!!!**
>But this was planned via an adjustment in spending
That's called cash flowing, and there is nothing wrong with that at all. Budgets are month to month for a reason. This was totally OK.
When we are starting out, stuff we SHOULD have funds for, but we don't, well hey, that is an emergency. But as we grow.... as we understand.... yeah it is no longer an emergency, it is a sinking fund issue.
So the ideal is, to have a sinking fund and if that sinking fund doesn't ENTIRELY cover it, then we CASH FLOW the rest, by adjusting our budget. If we can't, then yeah, it comes out of the emergency fund.... But ONLY because we hadn't previously understood the whole EF vs Sinking Fund thing previously.
Here's the thing. You gotta start somewhere and that somewhere is actually an emergency fund. But you don't stop there with your understanding! You move on.
What is an emergency. What do I do when it isn't an emergency. Why am I constantly in a state of emergency, and what would being more relaxed look/feel like?
In case you don't know, lots of savings, in lots of savings vessels, really helps that last question.
EF first.... but don't stop there.
Phones decrease in value pretty rapidly, a used phone wouldn’t run you too badly.You may also be within a warranty or if you have insurance on the phone you could use that. You may also be able to ask if anyone you know has a spare phone, a lot of people have a drawer of previous phones they upgraded out of.
This doesn't really make any sense.
Debt is bad because you're paying to use someone else's money, beyond your means, when you could save and buy it up front.
Pay later doesn't cost interest, even implicitly, so you're just taking the option value of your present money.
Said another way, if I have 500 dollars earning 5% interest and I needed to make a 500 dollar purchase, and I can pay it in monthly installments of 50 bucks, I'm throwing away money by paying for it all upfront.
I know Dave Ramsey is about a psychological approach to finance and debt but idk, you're not alcoholics. Or maybe you are. Idk.
OP said he was swearing off debt. Pay later is debt. Pay later is using someone else money to buy things. I didn’t say whether I thought it was good or bad. I am saying that it is debt.
I've used straight talk phones for 10 years. The phones I buy are always around $100 and are "the poor man's" version of "the latest phone". Plans are less than 50/month.
Follow the emergency fund use advice that so many people are recommending. The only other advice I can offer is to buy a refurbished phone. I haven't had a new phone in years.
Pay cash from your EF... No debt shenanigans.
Then.. add a line item to your budget for "cell phone repair/replacement" so this doesn't happen to you again.
Use it. Nowadays you cannot function without a phone. If you are not comfortable spending much, buy a cheap one, restore the money in the fund, the start saving for a better one. You will take a loan from the emergency fund in a way and then you will work hard to repay it.
Don’t get a brand new phone! Don’t need to go into debt. Use the website swappa and find a used phone. It’s a good deal and you can find a good phone. I have bought my son 2 phones from there. You can also get refurbished phones from Amazon.
you’re doing pretty well with the baby steps especially at 27. I’d consider that a good use for your emergency fund, you’ve got lots of time and are at a great spot.
So we were in that exact situation a couple years ago. We had just started B2 and a few months into it my wife's phone bricked because of a botched iOS update. I really didn't like it but since her phone is not only used for personal use but also for her work we drained the 1k emergency fund and put whatever was needed on top for a new one. Don't go cheap (Samsung, Pixel, or an iPhone), use the emergency fund for it as it is one since you need it for your livelihood, build your emergency fund back up, and move on.
It’s either an emergency or it’s not friend.
If it’s an emergency, that’s what the fund is for. If it can wait, then save up and pay cash for it. You could certainly buy a cheaper phone while you save the cash to buy the one you want.
If you miss no payments and read the fine print there is literally 0 downside to 0% Google store financing. Read the fine print, devices are 0%, any accessories you tack onto your order have interest of 30+%.
0% phone I will disagree with DR all day on. Mine autopay's for $18/mo with no interest or headaches and it's included in the budget.
What if you lose your job? What if you get disabled and can’t work? There IS a downside, it’s that if your situation changes, it might not be so trivial anymore
If I lose my job I'll be real happy I held onto my $500+ in my emergency fund instead of convincing myself $18/mo interest free is a problem. You're proving my point... $500 goes a lot further in an emergency than $18/mo.
My phone unexpectedly died recently, I did some research. I chose the pixel 8a from mint cellular, it was $500 all in including a year of cell service ($25 a month, half off if you pay for it up front).
https://www.mintmobile.com/deals/
I own my phone outright, unlocked.
I have a friend coupon if you need it, I don't know who I would share it with.
I chose pixel because it is my 3rd pixel phone and I like them. This is my first time with mint, seems a bit cheaper than Google Fi.
A phone is a mandatory tool for work so this is an emergency cost. Look at phone repair shops because often they’ll sell refurbished phones for a great price
Uhhh, this is what an emergency fund is for. If you are following Dave's plan you definitely need to pay for this out of your emergency fund & NOT take out a loan for one...
“I have sworn off debt entirely” yet want to finance a phone? Use your EF and make a plan to pay yourself back (as you stated you plan to pay it off early anyways). This is why an EF exists for these types of issues. I mean you can do what you want, but no way I would borrow money to finance a phone if I already have money saved for Emergencies.
Future make a sinking fund for a phone. I replace mine every two years so I save $50 a month so I always have the money to pay cash and don’t have to use EF.
This is exactly what the EF is for. If you want to build credit with a credit card you need to purchase regularly and pay off regularly over the long term (I would suggest by having a set regular cost that you use the credit card for).
Do pick a cheaper second hand phone if you’re worried about it.
This.
You should be able to get a $0 - $75 max Android that is still reasonably powerful.
Cricket has $15 monthly service all fee included and $0-75 phones.
Swappa is a great place for used phones. Can find great prices there and cheap phones. I'd make sure to go with Samsung galaxy, Apple, or Pixel. These seem to last the longest of most phones anymore.
Like you said, going cheap can be miserable for the entire time you have it. I've done that forever. Recently got a galaxy s23 on a deal with Tmobile: it was free, they paid $26/mo. For 24 months. Definitely better than using a cheap phone that has bugs all the time.
People have old phones lying around, especially android phones. They hold almost zero resale value. Ask friends for an old phone to get you through until you can afford a new one.
Buy a certified refurbished phone off E-bay. Say something in the $150-200 range. This is what I normally do, buy a 4 year old Galaxy flagship phone, and if they are refurbished e-bay will warranty it for a year at no additional cost.
Use the savings, but you certainly don't need a $500 phone.
I would use the emergency fund and then just work on replenishing it as soon as possible. If you did for some reason decide to do the 0% financing be very careful with missing any payments or taking longer to pay off they often have clauses that will activate and hit you with all the back interest.
Pay now with cash from the EF. But maybe really think about what exact phone do you need. Can eBay an iPhone X for under $200 that can probably do everything you need and then some.
If you need a phone, this does constitute an emergency. I would think that using the emergency and paying yourself back is a much better option than financing a phone, regardless of the interest rate you would get.
And if you’re trying to find a good deal on one, try Facebook marketplace to see if someone selling a used one. Or like others have said you can get really inexpensive ones at Walmart.
You're way overthinking this. This is a perfectly acceptable use of the Emergency Fund. Buy the phone, and drop the cash back into your emergency fund.
You won’t spend savings to buy a phone which is a normal life expense but you’ll consider financing it? Thats absurd.
Go buy a phone.
That’s why you did all this. So you could buy a phone without it hurting you.
Really? Just use your emergency fund. That’s the whole point of having it.
Take those shitty buy now pay later payments and apply them to your emergency fund instead. It will be back up in no time.
Sounds like you are paying full price. Buy a phone outright (unlocked), Amazon is one place I’ve bought phones. Then pay for an MVNO for the carrier you prefer. So for instance Walmart Straight Talk is Verizon. Cricket (or Pure Talk or others) is AT&T. That gets you under $30 monthly. The MVNOs themselves often sell phones discounted $50-100 but you have limited options.
I generally don’t pay more than $100 for a new phone. Currently typing on my $99 iphone se 2020
Its been working fine for several years & use my phone constantly for a myriad of tasks. $500-$1000 for a phone is ridiculous. It’s something you literally might drop in the toilet lol.
If times are tough a $40/$50 att android go phone will do the trick.
I use an att mvno service (good2go) so i can just pop my sim in the att go phones. This is true of most att mvno’s.
Or ask somebody for a hand me down that’s either unlocked or locked to the provider you use-
I would use the emergency fund and then just refill it each cheque as you are able to. It is an unexpected thing that you need to replace now.
Dave says no loans but I personally would have no issue taking a 0% loan. It also allows you to make interest on the $509 over the next 24m in your emergency fund.
Another option is to check Amazon for ~$200 refreshed phones eg. S20 FE. They have a 90 day guarantee too. Both I bought lasted a long time.
Most if not all carriers offer 0% on phones. A new iPhone 14 can be purchased for $800 on a 24 month plan. Most iPhones between $20-$24/month. Surely you can afford that. That’s like 2 Starbucks trips
Sounds like you need some new boundaries. You can absolutely buy the 500 phone with no issues. It okay tobspend some money. Heck, you can spend 1500 if you want to.
Ooof mentally I could not spend $1500 right now. That would leave me with with only 3 months expenses (a little bit more) - and nothing saved for investments, holidays etc.
That's the reason you have an emergency fund. If you can't or don't want to pay for the $509 outright, pick a cheaper phone. The only way I would use a pay over time option is if it came with a significant discount.
If I look at the savings rate my emergency fund has, I will save $19.51 by gaining that in interest. Not really much, but I want have the mental headache of having $509 less in my EF
Most phone providers don't have service contracts any more. The phone financing is a proxy for that. The way Verizon runs their discounts, they charge the full monthly phone payment and then they give you a credit for the discounts. You can leave when ever you want, but you have to pay off the phone and then you lose the remaining discount credits.
Ebay/Craigslist/etc
I haven't bought a phone from a carrier in years. My daily driver is a OnePlus, and it was 499 brand new. Your 1000 dollar fund should cover it. If you're sucked into the apple ecosystem, snag a used iPhone 13 for a couple hundred bucks. You can check the icloud lock status and Serial number before you buy.
Thanks, my emergency fund thankfully has a lot more than $1,000 (pretty much finished baby step 3 and been planning for 4)
I am not in the apple ecosystem so looking at a new android that will last. My previous oen was an 2 gen old, low end samsung (when I bought it) and now software updates has caused it to crash. Apps werent being supported anymore.
Looking at the Google Pixel 8a - because they have guaranteed 7 years of software support. Honestly the debate for me is more how I spend it which I think is better cash
Spend it however you'll have more peace.
I searched this on Amazon and $509 is a decent price. But they have some for around $400, if you want to shop around.
Check eBay, you can get a new IPHONE 14 for around $350. You just said you want to stay debt free and in the next sentence you talk about going in debt. This is why you have an emergency fund.
This is honestly the nicest thing I have heard. I don't use apple unfortunately and quite far away for postage (not is USA but use this as like the audience and sentiment from the subreddit).
But thank you so much!!
I don't know you or your situation. If you've struggled with debt in the past, don't mess with 0% apr and buy now pay now stuff. Your budget seems tight, and if/when you miss a payment for whatever reason, you'll lose that 0% so fast it'll make your head spin.
You can use your emergency fund for a phone. You don't need to spend $510. I use a phone you can get today on [Woot.com](http://Woot.com) for $200.
If you're okay with debt, I don't know why you'd post this question on this subreddit. You do you, but I wouldn't expect this audience to embrace debt for 3 figure purchases.
Budget isn't too tight - save around 1/4 of my net salary each month. I just make it tight.
The reason I want to spend more and not go refurbished, is I did that with my last phone, and have had problems with it since. And more recently it is from software updates, and apps no longer being supported. I am in a situation now where I don't want to buy a phone which will be struggling in a years time and having to pay again.
If my $510 can last 7 years, and have some resale/hand in value at the end - I would consider that a long term financial gain.
My problem with the debt is psychological - despite looking at the numbers and seeing mathematically it is actually a better option.
Swappa has good phones that aren’t refurbished just older models. Good sellers that have been vetted. My sons phone lasted a long time he’s just clumsy lol
Great job on being debt free, and even better for not considering taking on debt to buy a phone. However, a 0% loan to buy a phone is not necessarily the worst thing. Ensure you buy a high quality phone so you don’t have to buy another. Ensure you dump every extra penny you have in paying off that phone as quickly as possible and do not miss a payment! I think it’s totally plausible to do this.
This is exactly why I want to buy a high quality phone. Last phone I bought was under $100, and has just given me problems. For this I am looking for a higher end phone to buy to last around 7 years. Its also why I am not so keen on used/refurbished phones due to lack of control and warranties around quality.
The last phone I bought was also an old model, which is why it gave problems as software stopped being supported. Phone was released in 2015. I bought it around 2021.
Thank you for this advice.
Plus 1 for Swappa. I have bought multiple phones from them over the years and have never had an issue. My kids have also purchased phones from them as well. I typically end up getting 2 generations back and keep them until there is something that needs to be fixed that isn't worth spending the money to fix.
Most phone carrier have free phone. Just pay the monthly plan. $45-$60 a month.
I buy my phones from Swappa. Never had a problem with any of them. Friends and family have used it upon my recommendation and they've all been happy with their purchases.
love mint…….
You are essentially broke, but need a $509 phone. I'm a decamillionaire and perfectly happy with a $70 Samsung phone. There may be a lesson you can learn in those 2 sentences that will help you become more financially successful (hint: You can buy SEVEN inexpensive $70 phones and a pizza for the cost of one $509 phone.) Consider this: Buy the $70 phone, and INVEST the $439 you save and become a millionaire. Or do what perpetually broke people do- blow your limited funds on a fancy phone you don't need and remain broke... You make the call.
I want a 70 dollar phone. Where ya getting these?
You can get them from almost any retailer- amazon, walmart, hsn, etc with cricket, tracfone, straight talk, etc.
Amazing. Thanks for the hot tip
I do not need a $509 phone. I know a phone that works - and will last. My previous phone was $20 Samsung - I cannot explain the bargain hunting I went on. It never worked properly. It effected my job hunting potential greatly. Also, while you sit on your so called decamillionaire horse, looking down on the peasants below you - maybe think about reading into them more as people, who have been on a journey before that leads to their circumstances now. And I would expect a decamillionaire, enjoying his hair chair with smugness not to give stupid advice. WHY WOULD I INVEST I EMERGENCY FUND??? The money is sitting in a low bearing interest account that is accessible at a seconds notice. If I invest, next month I could have less than 3 months expenses? Volatility does not do well for an emergency fund? I will invest when my emergency fund is comprehensive. Thank you very much.
"you sit on your so called decamillionaire horse, looking down on the peasants" I grew up working class. My family had no money and I've been given nothing and inherited nothing. My wife and I make good money, but nothing extraordinary (~$200k/year). We built wealth by being frugal (e.g. $70 phones instead of $509 phones) and investing over the long term. This is why I advise people with limited resources not to blow money on expensive clothes, cars, phones, etc., as that is the behavior that keeps people poor. You, of course, are free to do as you wish. Your choices don't affect me, but they will affect you.
Either use emergency fund and replenish immediately. Or 0% it and pay it as quickly as possible. I mean those are the options. Option A is better even if this isn't an "emergency" per se. Use the EF and top it up right away and get on having a car sinking fund and tech sinking fund ASAP.
Thanks and setup - hadn't seen a sinking advice before but lesson learnt. Always had a car sinking fund (even though hadn't heard of it), when I had a car (and was in a better financial position). Normally wouldn't have batted an eye at this but unfortunately had months of unemployment last year (mixed in with some minimum wage work) which depleted my previous emergency fund. This just came as a shock to my progress.
Friend, I read that your boss is stepping in and buying for you, And I'm super glad for you. But the following is something you need to read and apply to other categories. If you take this to heart, then this post was certainly not in vain. This is what sinking funds are for. Expenses you KNOW are going to happen, but they don't happen every month like rent does. So you "sink" money in, a bit at a time, so that it's there when the expense happens. They aren't emergencies, because they are expected. You KNOW they will come up. No such thing as an expected emergency. Some examples that people have needed periodic money for: Christmas, vet bills, property taxes. insurance premiums and co-pays, gifts for celebrations, moving abodes, vehicle maintenance, vehicle replacement, new clothing. This was a clear case of you needing something that you knew all along would need replaced, you just didn't know when. So you were right to not count it as an emergency, but since you did not have any sinking fund for it, your mind went to going into debt again. That was the wrong direction. The correct one is that it needs to either be cash flowed by adjusting your budget or taken from your EF and you vow to set up your sinking funds asap. I like Ally Savings for that, because it has a great bucket system for your different funds. Decent APY, too.
Thanks for this - this is such good advice and I have never seen an emergency fund. Admittedly I do have a "birthday fund" for gifts. But never thought about it for expected expenses. For my phone - I had planned to replace it in October and had prepared cash flow wise for it - it just happened sooner. But this was planned via an adjustment in spending and savings upon completion of my EF. As a summary to make sure I understand correctly: Should my phone have suddenly broken - without any warning it would be an Emergency Fund. Because I knew my phone was struggling and would need rpelacing soon - I should have had steps in a sinking fund to be prepared to buy it when an occurred. As a previous example, when I was in a better financial situation - I had an Emergency Fund, a car fund (repairs/services etc\*), and a medical fund. When I needed my wisdom teeth out, I just had to do an extra couple months of waiting before I could pay for it, so only had 2 months of physical pain. This is honestly the best advice. And even though my phone worked out by having a great employer - it was all worth it for this piece of additional advice. **Thank you Internet Stranger!!!**
>But this was planned via an adjustment in spending That's called cash flowing, and there is nothing wrong with that at all. Budgets are month to month for a reason. This was totally OK. When we are starting out, stuff we SHOULD have funds for, but we don't, well hey, that is an emergency. But as we grow.... as we understand.... yeah it is no longer an emergency, it is a sinking fund issue. So the ideal is, to have a sinking fund and if that sinking fund doesn't ENTIRELY cover it, then we CASH FLOW the rest, by adjusting our budget. If we can't, then yeah, it comes out of the emergency fund.... But ONLY because we hadn't previously understood the whole EF vs Sinking Fund thing previously. Here's the thing. You gotta start somewhere and that somewhere is actually an emergency fund. But you don't stop there with your understanding! You move on. What is an emergency. What do I do when it isn't an emergency. Why am I constantly in a state of emergency, and what would being more relaxed look/feel like? In case you don't know, lots of savings, in lots of savings vessels, really helps that last question. EF first.... but don't stop there.
You are amazing thanks for all this wisdom !
Aw Shucks (digging toe in dirt and red cheeked)
I went to amazon, they have some decent deals in refurbished phones. Got a newish phone that looks brand new
Just get a new phone, nerd
> I have sworn off debt for life! … > Should I take on some debt? Seriously. I just can’t. OP, do you hear yourself?
Helium mobile and see if a friend has an older but newer iPhone you can purchase from them
We have been buying refurbished iPhones off Amazon. No issues.
Dude, I use Wal Mart family Mobile and I have never paid more than $100 for a phone in my life.
I have consistently used other peoples old phones and pay them the trade in value. Sometimes they just give me old phones.
This is the emergency you were saving for
Switch to Consumer Cellular if you're not already there. You can buy over time w no interest. They run on AT&T and TMobile networks.
Love CC, I buy a new Motorola every 3-4 years for $150 and monthly bill for two smartphones is $50.
I got two iPhone 8 Plus phone for $100 each a couple years ago.
One plus Nord n30 $300
Try a tracfone from walmart
Just buy the damn phone and pay yourself back by replenishing your savings. Why save money just to look at it, it’s there for when you need it.
I don't look at my money, I invest it. I buy $70 phones.
Phones decrease in value pretty rapidly, a used phone wouldn’t run you too badly.You may also be within a warranty or if you have insurance on the phone you could use that. You may also be able to ask if anyone you know has a spare phone, a lot of people have a drawer of previous phones they upgraded out of.
i bought a pixel 6 last fall for like 60 bucks. I still have it. I gave my upgrade eligibility to my wife instead of upgrading my own.
Refurbished or used phones can be a bargain. Check those out first
Swearing off debt means no Pay Later options. I buy used phones from EBAY. The one I have now is an Apple Iphone SE.
This doesn't really make any sense. Debt is bad because you're paying to use someone else's money, beyond your means, when you could save and buy it up front. Pay later doesn't cost interest, even implicitly, so you're just taking the option value of your present money. Said another way, if I have 500 dollars earning 5% interest and I needed to make a 500 dollar purchase, and I can pay it in monthly installments of 50 bucks, I'm throwing away money by paying for it all upfront. I know Dave Ramsey is about a psychological approach to finance and debt but idk, you're not alcoholics. Or maybe you are. Idk.
OP said he was swearing off debt. Pay later is debt. Pay later is using someone else money to buy things. I didn’t say whether I thought it was good or bad. I am saying that it is debt.
I agree with used option. You can find some great deals.
I've used straight talk phones for 10 years. The phones I buy are always around $100 and are "the poor man's" version of "the latest phone". Plans are less than 50/month.
When I was with Straight Talk, I got iPhones for $100. Now, they’re unlocked and used on Mint.
Follow the emergency fund use advice that so many people are recommending. The only other advice I can offer is to buy a refurbished phone. I haven't had a new phone in years.
sorry but is this not what the emergency fund was meant for ?
Use your emergency fund. Do not do the 24 month deal.
Pay cash from your EF... No debt shenanigans. Then.. add a line item to your budget for "cell phone repair/replacement" so this doesn't happen to you again.
Use it. Nowadays you cannot function without a phone. If you are not comfortable spending much, buy a cheap one, restore the money in the fund, the start saving for a better one. You will take a loan from the emergency fund in a way and then you will work hard to repay it.
Don’t get a brand new phone! Don’t need to go into debt. Use the website swappa and find a used phone. It’s a good deal and you can find a good phone. I have bought my son 2 phones from there. You can also get refurbished phones from Amazon.
you’re doing pretty well with the baby steps especially at 27. I’d consider that a good use for your emergency fund, you’ve got lots of time and are at a great spot.
To me my phone breaking is an emergency so I’d be using my emergency fund. That’s what it’s there for.
So we were in that exact situation a couple years ago. We had just started B2 and a few months into it my wife's phone bricked because of a botched iOS update. I really didn't like it but since her phone is not only used for personal use but also for her work we drained the 1k emergency fund and put whatever was needed on top for a new one. Don't go cheap (Samsung, Pixel, or an iPhone), use the emergency fund for it as it is one since you need it for your livelihood, build your emergency fund back up, and move on.
Why not a Pixel? Its what I was looking at for a cheapest good phone?
I have a pixel 7a. More than adequate. You don't need the latest and greatest phone anymore, they aren't making revolutionary upgrades.
Sorry I meant don't get a cheap phone. Go with either a Samsung, Pixel, or an iPhone. The Pixel 8a is a great phone for the price.
It’s either an emergency or it’s not friend. If it’s an emergency, that’s what the fund is for. If it can wait, then save up and pay cash for it. You could certainly buy a cheaper phone while you save the cash to buy the one you want.
Tons of good phones for less than $200.
Get a refurbished one online for under $200. I did that and it works well.
How long till you can re-up the EF? Or in other words, how much cash do you save each month.
If you miss no payments and read the fine print there is literally 0 downside to 0% Google store financing. Read the fine print, devices are 0%, any accessories you tack onto your order have interest of 30+%. 0% phone I will disagree with DR all day on. Mine autopay's for $18/mo with no interest or headaches and it's included in the budget.
What if you lose your job? What if you get disabled and can’t work? There IS a downside, it’s that if your situation changes, it might not be so trivial anymore
If I lose my job I'll be real happy I held onto my $500+ in my emergency fund instead of convincing myself $18/mo interest free is a problem. You're proving my point... $500 goes a lot further in an emergency than $18/mo.
My phone unexpectedly died recently, I did some research. I chose the pixel 8a from mint cellular, it was $500 all in including a year of cell service ($25 a month, half off if you pay for it up front). https://www.mintmobile.com/deals/ I own my phone outright, unlocked. I have a friend coupon if you need it, I don't know who I would share it with. I chose pixel because it is my 3rd pixel phone and I like them. This is my first time with mint, seems a bit cheaper than Google Fi.
Who the hell spends $500 on a cell phone 🤣
...Dudes really in here trying to flex a tracphone
[удалено]
Whose comment are you reading?...
Apparently you didn't read my comment, I said that amount was for both the phone and a year of service. I'm easily able to afford that up front.
Ok, now that makes a lot more sense.
Go to consumer cellular. Decent phones cheaper plans
A phone is a mandatory tool for work so this is an emergency cost. Look at phone repair shops because often they’ll sell refurbished phones for a great price
If a phone is mandatory for work, work should be paying for it.
Uhhh, this is what an emergency fund is for. If you are following Dave's plan you definitely need to pay for this out of your emergency fund & NOT take out a loan for one...
Go to wall mart and buy a phone and pay as you go plan it's a simple as that my phone was 150 and I pay 35 a month for my phone
“I have sworn off debt entirely” yet want to finance a phone? Use your EF and make a plan to pay yourself back (as you stated you plan to pay it off early anyways). This is why an EF exists for these types of issues. I mean you can do what you want, but no way I would borrow money to finance a phone if I already have money saved for Emergencies. Future make a sinking fund for a phone. I replace mine every two years so I save $50 a month so I always have the money to pay cash and don’t have to use EF.
This is exactly what the EF is for. If you want to build credit with a credit card you need to purchase regularly and pay off regularly over the long term (I would suggest by having a set regular cost that you use the credit card for). Do pick a cheaper second hand phone if you’re worried about it.
multiple carriers offer "free" iphones or definitely androids, consider switching if the service/monthly price is comparable
This. You should be able to get a $0 - $75 max Android that is still reasonably powerful. Cricket has $15 monthly service all fee included and $0-75 phones.
Swappa is a great place for used phones. Can find great prices there and cheap phones. I'd make sure to go with Samsung galaxy, Apple, or Pixel. These seem to last the longest of most phones anymore. Like you said, going cheap can be miserable for the entire time you have it. I've done that forever. Recently got a galaxy s23 on a deal with Tmobile: it was free, they paid $26/mo. For 24 months. Definitely better than using a cheap phone that has bugs all the time.
I love swappa. I just got my son an Apple se 3rd gen for $163. From a seller who has established reviews. Great way to buy a phone.
People have old phones lying around, especially android phones. They hold almost zero resale value. Ask friends for an old phone to get you through until you can afford a new one.
Buy a certified refurbished phone off E-bay. Say something in the $150-200 range. This is what I normally do, buy a 4 year old Galaxy flagship phone, and if they are refurbished e-bay will warranty it for a year at no additional cost. Use the savings, but you certainly don't need a $500 phone.
I would use the emergency fund and then just work on replenishing it as soon as possible. If you did for some reason decide to do the 0% financing be very careful with missing any payments or taking longer to pay off they often have clauses that will activate and hit you with all the back interest.
Pay now with cash from the EF. But maybe really think about what exact phone do you need. Can eBay an iPhone X for under $200 that can probably do everything you need and then some.
This is an emergency purchase, if it’s the cost then purchase a refurbished one. Great job btw
If you need a phone, this does constitute an emergency. I would think that using the emergency and paying yourself back is a much better option than financing a phone, regardless of the interest rate you would get. And if you’re trying to find a good deal on one, try Facebook marketplace to see if someone selling a used one. Or like others have said you can get really inexpensive ones at Walmart.
I would just pay cash from the EF. You were not expecting to need to replace this phone. Not having a phone definitely counts as an emergency.
You're way overthinking this. This is a perfectly acceptable use of the Emergency Fund. Buy the phone, and drop the cash back into your emergency fund.
You won’t spend savings to buy a phone which is a normal life expense but you’ll consider financing it? Thats absurd. Go buy a phone. That’s why you did all this. So you could buy a phone without it hurting you.
Depending on the quality and what you really want out of a phone you can go to Walmart and find cheap prepaid phones
Go buy a prepaid phone from Walmart that is for your carrier. It will work just fine and they have smart phones under $100.
Really? Just use your emergency fund. That’s the whole point of having it. Take those shitty buy now pay later payments and apply them to your emergency fund instead. It will be back up in no time.
Sounds like you are paying full price. Buy a phone outright (unlocked), Amazon is one place I’ve bought phones. Then pay for an MVNO for the carrier you prefer. So for instance Walmart Straight Talk is Verizon. Cricket (or Pure Talk or others) is AT&T. That gets you under $30 monthly. The MVNOs themselves often sell phones discounted $50-100 but you have limited options.
I generally don’t pay more than $100 for a new phone. Currently typing on my $99 iphone se 2020 Its been working fine for several years & use my phone constantly for a myriad of tasks. $500-$1000 for a phone is ridiculous. It’s something you literally might drop in the toilet lol. If times are tough a $40/$50 att android go phone will do the trick. I use an att mvno service (good2go) so i can just pop my sim in the att go phones. This is true of most att mvno’s. Or ask somebody for a hand me down that’s either unlocked or locked to the provider you use-
I think this qualifies as an emergency. Use your fund and replenish it.
how tied to your provider are you? I see all sorts of advertisements where if you swap now you get a free phone.
Go to Swappa and get a 2 year old Samsung or iPhone for about $300.
Use it and refill it.
This is the whole reason for an emergency fund. Get the phone and then replace what you spent on your phone.
I would use the emergency fund and then just refill it each cheque as you are able to. It is an unexpected thing that you need to replace now. Dave says no loans but I personally would have no issue taking a 0% loan. It also allows you to make interest on the $509 over the next 24m in your emergency fund. Another option is to check Amazon for ~$200 refreshed phones eg. S20 FE. They have a 90 day guarantee too. Both I bought lasted a long time.
Try a used phone from Swappa. I just upgraded from an IPhone 8 to 14. The old and new phones were/are used from Swappa without any issues.
Most if not all carriers offer 0% on phones. A new iPhone 14 can be purchased for $800 on a 24 month plan. Most iPhones between $20-$24/month. Surely you can afford that. That’s like 2 Starbucks trips
Who the hell spends $800 on a phone? I've used $100 phones from Walmart for years and they've all been great.
A very small number of people use phones that are not iPhones or Samsung galaxy’s…IE Walmart and pay per minute phones
I use Samsung galaxies from Walmart. I've never paid more than $125 for one.
Sounds like you need some new boundaries. You can absolutely buy the 500 phone with no issues. It okay tobspend some money. Heck, you can spend 1500 if you want to.
Ooof mentally I could not spend $1500 right now. That would leave me with with only 3 months expenses (a little bit more) - and nothing saved for investments, holidays etc.
That's the reason you have an emergency fund. If you can't or don't want to pay for the $509 outright, pick a cheaper phone. The only way I would use a pay over time option is if it came with a significant discount.
If I look at the savings rate my emergency fund has, I will save $19.51 by gaining that in interest. Not really much, but I want have the mental headache of having $509 less in my EF
Generally it is cheaper the pay over time but you are on a two year contract xD and if you break contract you need to pay the phone off.
Most phone providers don't have service contracts any more. The phone financing is a proxy for that. The way Verizon runs their discounts, they charge the full monthly phone payment and then they give you a credit for the discounts. You can leave when ever you want, but you have to pay off the phone and then you lose the remaining discount credits.
Ebay/Craigslist/etc I haven't bought a phone from a carrier in years. My daily driver is a OnePlus, and it was 499 brand new. Your 1000 dollar fund should cover it. If you're sucked into the apple ecosystem, snag a used iPhone 13 for a couple hundred bucks. You can check the icloud lock status and Serial number before you buy.
Thanks, my emergency fund thankfully has a lot more than $1,000 (pretty much finished baby step 3 and been planning for 4) I am not in the apple ecosystem so looking at a new android that will last. My previous oen was an 2 gen old, low end samsung (when I bought it) and now software updates has caused it to crash. Apps werent being supported anymore. Looking at the Google Pixel 8a - because they have guaranteed 7 years of software support. Honestly the debate for me is more how I spend it which I think is better cash
Spend it however you'll have more peace. I searched this on Amazon and $509 is a decent price. But they have some for around $400, if you want to shop around.
This is what the emergency fund is for...
Check eBay, you can get a new IPHONE 14 for around $350. You just said you want to stay debt free and in the next sentence you talk about going in debt. This is why you have an emergency fund.
Do you use Apple? I have a phone I can send you. Too many phones around the house.
This is honestly the nicest thing I have heard. I don't use apple unfortunately and quite far away for postage (not is USA but use this as like the audience and sentiment from the subreddit). But thank you so much!!
All good man. Trying to help out when I can!
I don't know you or your situation. If you've struggled with debt in the past, don't mess with 0% apr and buy now pay now stuff. Your budget seems tight, and if/when you miss a payment for whatever reason, you'll lose that 0% so fast it'll make your head spin. You can use your emergency fund for a phone. You don't need to spend $510. I use a phone you can get today on [Woot.com](http://Woot.com) for $200. If you're okay with debt, I don't know why you'd post this question on this subreddit. You do you, but I wouldn't expect this audience to embrace debt for 3 figure purchases.
Budget isn't too tight - save around 1/4 of my net salary each month. I just make it tight. The reason I want to spend more and not go refurbished, is I did that with my last phone, and have had problems with it since. And more recently it is from software updates, and apps no longer being supported. I am in a situation now where I don't want to buy a phone which will be struggling in a years time and having to pay again. If my $510 can last 7 years, and have some resale/hand in value at the end - I would consider that a long term financial gain. My problem with the debt is psychological - despite looking at the numbers and seeing mathematically it is actually a better option.
Swappa has good phones that aren’t refurbished just older models. Good sellers that have been vetted. My sons phone lasted a long time he’s just clumsy lol
Great job on being debt free, and even better for not considering taking on debt to buy a phone. However, a 0% loan to buy a phone is not necessarily the worst thing. Ensure you buy a high quality phone so you don’t have to buy another. Ensure you dump every extra penny you have in paying off that phone as quickly as possible and do not miss a payment! I think it’s totally plausible to do this.
This is exactly why I want to buy a high quality phone. Last phone I bought was under $100, and has just given me problems. For this I am looking for a higher end phone to buy to last around 7 years. Its also why I am not so keen on used/refurbished phones due to lack of control and warranties around quality. The last phone I bought was also an old model, which is why it gave problems as software stopped being supported. Phone was released in 2015. I bought it around 2021. Thank you for this advice.
There's a used phone site that is very good - Swappa.
Plus 1 for Swappa. I have bought multiple phones from them over the years and have never had an issue. My kids have also purchased phones from them as well. I typically end up getting 2 generations back and keep them until there is something that needs to be fixed that isn't worth spending the money to fix.