It’s buried on the websites but you could be saving on your cellphone service every month if you signed up for one of their no contract plans. Not only are you not locked into contract, the actual per-monthly bill is cheaper, for exactly the same plan.

GetRichSlowly shares the story of how one of his readers, Laura, was able to save this way. The plan she wanted with contract cost $140 a month. Without contract it was $110 a month. The savings there is $360 a year. She had to pay $500 to get a new phone without the usual discount you get from signing up for a contract, but that’s still $60 cheaper for the year when you add it all up.

“I soon learned from the sales associate that apparently no one had ever bought a phone outright and taken them up on the no-contract plan,” Laura writes. “It’s not advertised and therefore usually not asked about. They just assume that no one will want to pay more now in order to save later.

“The sales associate couldn’t believe that I was “baller” enough (his exact words) to pay $500 for a phone — even though I was actually saving money within a year. He even asked me what I did for a living to be able to afford such an extravagance!”

If you don’t require a new phone, you can save even more money by buying a used phone through eBay or Craigslist and then signing up for a no contract plan.

How to Save on Your Cell Phone Plan with Secret No-Contract Deals [Get Rich Slowly]
Ways to Save Money on Your Cell-Phone Bill [Entrepreneur]

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