Paying the Piper
Tue, 17 Jun 2008.
Lately, I’ve been thinking hard about how I could magically afford an iPhone. Personally, I hate hate hate ongoing fees and I would rather put up with the upfront costs so I’m going to show the total cost over the mandatory 24-month contract.
| Item | Cost |
| 16 GB iPhone 3G | 299 |
| AT&T Plan (over 2 years) | 936 |
| Data | 720 |
| SMS | 120 |
| T-Mobile Early Cancellation | 200 |
| Total | $2275 |
You see that $720 for 24 months of data? That’s scary. It’s a compulsory part of the bundle but the benefit is that it is hellishly fast compared to the excuse of a mobile internet connection I have now. I could probably add another $300 for the iPhone they will no doubt release in 2009 to make the existing model obsolete. Heck, I could add $100 in there just for accessories alone (car charger, dock, new earphones, matching earrings, etc.).
Here’s how I’m going to crunch the numbers: I’m going to compare it vs. my existing T-Mobile plan with awful non-EDGE internet and less minutes. I’m going to assume I’d spend $300 on a new phone anyway because I hate the free ones they give out. I’m going to be extra generous and assume I would have eventually caved in and purchased a $300 GPS navigation for my car and the iPhone would replace that.
| Item | Cost |
| iPhone cost | $2275 |
| T-Mobile Plan (over 2 years) | -820 |
| New Phone | -300 |
| GPS Nav | -300 |
| Difference | $655 |
| Difference per month | $36 |
So it would cost an extra $655 over the next 24 months, give or take. That’s quite a bit of change there. It could fund a nice vacation, a few romantic evenings, two tanks of gas, a nice TV or a big ol’ box of sex toys. But let’s not kid myself. I don’t have much willpower. For now, let’s assume it is inevitable I buy one.
To that end, I will set myself some goals:
- Don’t buy any expensive electronics between now and iPhone
- Be debt-free before buying
- Find a way to weasel out of T-Mobile’s early cancellation fee
I think by the time I do pay off my car, I’ll probably somewhere in early 2009 which means my current contract will be about to expire anyhoo. Sigh. Between now and then, I have my trip to Korea later this month as well as whatever other travel will occur in that time.
Ok, so if I frame the iPhone in terms of my other financial commitments, it looks like I can’t afford it. If I just look at the monthly costs and my credit card limit, I can afford it. I could buy it on launch day and I wouldn’t have cornered myself into living paycheck-to-paycheck but at this point for me, I could swing either way. I think the thing for me to do now is sit on this for a month. Let’s re-examine this on July 17th.
Just get the iTouch.
Free wi-fi!
haha, this makes me laugh. Mainly because I know I can’t afford one, so it’s not like I have to crunch numbers to see if it’s actually possible.
And I can’t believe that it’s already time for your Korea trip. I’m sorry I’ve been MIA lately. . . we should catch up.
the iPhone is just another gadget to make your life more complicated!! Save the money and spend it on something more meaningful, like a coffee mug that says “lifes a beach” or something (just think what a $2275 coffee mug would look like - AWESOME!) The one way I justify my position on not getting an iPhone - when your iPhone breaks and gets sent away for repair - you lose your phone, mp3 player, gps etc etc. Putting to many eggs in the one basket.
Thats my twenty-two cents :-)
I too have been crunching the numbers, but only in terms of how much my phone bill would increase. Right now with my lame-o phone that I can only call and text on, I pay $56 inclusive for 450 minutes, unlimited text and data.
With the iphone, I’ll be paying $40 for 450 minutes, $30 for data and $20 for unlimited text. That’s an increase of $34 a month… just for a cool phone???
I know my bill will go up if I get a blackberry too (although with TMobile you can get a plan with 1000 minutes and unlimited text on a blackberry for $55/mo) so I’m stuck wondering what I should do.
I really want the new iPhone though. In white.
Don’t make Steve Jobs richer! He’s the Anti-Christ! Which in all actually means nothing to me since I’m agnostic… soooo… yeeeah! Give him your money! Go for it!
Plus it’s shiny!
How many times do you genuinely need to use internet where you don’t have access to a laptop / PC? In fact, forget about need, how many times would you simply not have internet access?
Debt? I don’t believe Jack’d be in debt, surely not. You’re talking about the kinda “debt” where you pay of the $120 you own on your credit card 3 days early every month… oh and you have 10k sitting in a low-interest account, right?
deutlich: Tempting but I want GPS!
poodlegoose: Yes! Let’s catch up! I leave this Wednesday.
mike: You’re right. But I hate carrying around unnecessary things in my pockets. The less, the better.
all the wine: Take a look at Sprint too, if it’s in your area. Their iPhone wannabe ain’t so bad.
Aaron: Yes. Steve Jobs is my Christ. There, I said it. He’s my savior. After him, I was born again.
Lachlan: See the next post.
Studds: “Debt” as in I still owe five figures on my car, my savings are more or less gone and I put like $600/month on my credit card. Yay America. Yay living alone.