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Would like to reduce my monthly bill.

We have two phones, one iPad. we have a 10 GB data plan and our bill is $185. Our phones are windows Nokia icon which are great photos but not being supported by major apps any more. Will need to upgrade phones with in the next four months. But do not want to make payments for the phone. rather do a contract for two years like the old days . With "free" or discounted phone. We travel a lot and Verizon is most consistent service. My friends always lose service when traveling with us using other providers. FYI .

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Ann154

Have the Lumia Icon's been updated to Windows 10 yet? There are more applications compatible with the Windows 10 OS then Windows 8.1. What is the exact name of your plan? Choosing between the contract pricing or the DPP needs to be determined by running the cost of the purchase price plus the two year cost of the service plan. In many cases, the DPP is actually less expensive over the two years then the contract pricing with the higher monthly line access fees. You can also considered purchasing the phones elsewhere from the manufacturer directly or from Google or slightly used devices from Swappa or another third party retailer.

rcschnoor

TIGRWOOD wrote:
We have two phones, one iPad. we have a 10 GB data plan and our bill is $185. Our phones are windows Nokia icon which are great photos but not being supported by major apps any more. Will need to upgrade phones with in the next four months. But do not want to make payments for the phone. rather do a contract for two years like the old days . With "free" or discounted phone. We travel a lot and Verizon is most consistent service. My friends always lose service when traveling with us using other providers. FYI .

What plan do you have?

Many people don't realize that there is no such thing as a " "free" or discounted phone". You are STILL paying for the device at full retail, just in another way.

For example, when you sign that 2 yr service contract your line access fee is set at $40/month for the entire 2 years. If you are on the Verizon Plan, the line access fee for out of contract lines is only $20/month, meaning that you are paying $20/month to purchase that " "free" or discounted phone" over the life of that contract. That is an ADDITIONAL $480 you are paying for that phone over the " "free" or discounted" price of the phone.

In MOST cases, the " "free" or discounted" phone will be MORE expensive than paying full retail over time with payments.

First, let's look at your bill. Are you paying the same $100 for 10 GB that Verizon has charged since it first introduced the Share Everything Plan? If so, you need to change your plan to a new one. You can switch to the Verizon Plan and you will get 16 GB for only $90 instead of the $100 you are currently paying. If you have an employer discount, which appears you do, that price will be even lower. If your lines are currently out of contract, your line access fee would drop immediately to $20/line/month instead of the $40/line/month you are currently paying. Your line access fee for the tablet would remain at $10/month.

Your current bill should look something like the following $100(for 10 GB data) - ~$20(employer discount) + $80(2 x $40 line access fee) + $10(tablet access fee) = $170 + taxes/fees

Your bill on the Verizon Plan would look something like the following $90(for 16 GB data) - ~$18(employer discount) + $40/$80(2 x $20 line access fee if out of contract or 2 x $40 line access fee if still in contract) + $10(tablet line access fee) = $122/$162(out of contract/in contract) + taxes/fees. So your bill would be $162 + taxes if you are still in contract and would drop AUTOMATICALLY to $122 + taxes once you complete your contract(s).

Now, once you are out of contract with that $122/month bill, you would have $40/month to make payments on a phone(s) and STILL have a monthly payment LESS than if you were in contract. With that amount, you could get a wide variety of phones for what essentially would be FREE since you would STILL be paying LESS for service each month than you would be paying for service if you were in contract.

Some examples would be listed in the following link: Cell Phones & Smartphones - Compare Cell Phones | Verizon Wireless

ADDITIONALLY, if you don't need that 16 GB data plan, you could drop down to the 8 GB plan for only $70/month($56/month with a 20% employer discount) and you would have an additional 2 GB added to that amount for each line you purchase on a payment plan bringing your TOTAL data allowance to 12 GB for only $70($56 with discount) if you purchase both of your phones on the payment plan.

So, let's see what your monthly bill would look like in THAT scenario:

$70(8 GB of data) - $14(employer discount) + $40(2 x $20 phone line access fee) + $10(tablet line access fee) + $60( let's be generous and get you really nice phones with a $30 monthly payment like the Motorola Z Force Droid which would give you an additional 4 GB of monthly data allowance) = $166 plus taxes/fees.

Bottom line is that you can purchase those " "free" or discounted" phones and keep your bill at what you currently have with 10 GB/month of data or switch to the new Verizon Plan and purchase 2 x $720 FULL RETAIL PRICE PHONES with 12 GB/month of data and make your TOTAL monthly bill lower than what you are currently paying EVEN WHEN YOU INCLUDE THE MONTHLY PHONE PAYMENTS. I know which choice I would make.:smileyhappy: Of course, you could make your bill even lower by purchasing less expensive phones. :smileyhappy:

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