Cell phones - purchase vs monthly payments

[robbobster]

With the price of phones being what they are, I can’t see spending a grand every few years to upgrade, when the phone I have does everything I need it to do.

So my phones get replaced by Assurion when they stop working, typically due to battery issues. And the replacements are always refurbs.

The only reason why I got an iPhone XR, is because the iPhone 6 was discontinued and that was what they had

And the only reason why I got my current iPhone 12, is because the XR was discontinued and that was the what they had.

 

[QwikKota]

A lot of phones have battery drain increase or function slowed by the manufacturer to force you to purchase a new phone.

 

[KrisZ]

We travel a lot to Europe so it's better to buy because if the phone is on a payment plan, it will be sim locked to the carrier financing it.
Other than that it's probably a wash price wise, but in the past I did get buy one get one free, so that was a pretty good deal to get my wife and myself into new iPhones.