[Porsche-O-Phile]

I've discussed this elsewhere but what I've done is buy the phone new and unlocked direct from Apple, then swap in my Straight Talk SIM which costs $45 a month, no contracts, no headaches, no BS.

13 30-day cycles per year x $45 = $585 a year. The comparable plan (unlimited text & voice plus 2 GB LTE data & unlimited 2G or 3G after that) from ATT, Verizon, Sprint, etc. is around $100 a month. Therefore you're saving $55 (call it $50 give-or-take to make the math easy) versus using one of those carriers. If the new iPhone costs $700 you break even in 14 months. Not too bad.

Personally I can't stand the major telco companies. They've been unabashedly ripping people off for years and it's nice to have a way to get service just as good without having to be beholden to any of them and their lousy business practices.

I'm never going back for as long as there options like this available.