Just last week, I bit the bullet and gave up on my long standing relationship with my mobile carrier/Telco. It wasn’t really a difficult move if you put things in perspective… or rather, put things in monetary sense.

You see, getting a free cell phone is no big deal these days as anyone can sign on a hand phone plan. To consumer like you and me, that’s really a jail lock on your monkey mind to discourage you from hoping around subscription offers every week or so.

I’m no different… but I can’t for reasons not so obvious.

It turned out that my Telco did offered to cut my bills by $210 over 2 years on a contract. I didn’t like the idea and did a bit of research for an alternative offer by its competitor, StarHub.

In any case, holding on to my seriously outdated cell phone for the past 3 years is something not commonly seen in young working adults these days. As you’ve probably guess by now - yes, I’ve gotten a new state-of-the-art cell phone on a really shoe-string budget!

Here’s the deal:

StarHub offered me an exclusive deal for the new Nokia E51 at SGD$48. At a low subscription plan of $20.80 ($16.80 + $5 caller ID) for 2 years, that is a massively savings of about $7 per month, or $168 for 2 years!

Hey wait… didn’t I said it is a better deal? I could have gotten $210 savings rebate from my existing M1 Telco?

Here’s the absolute comparison and the gist of the deal:

At my current $27 monthly subscription, I could never have afforded a $400++ (estimated retail price for the Nokia E51) concurrently with a hand phone upgrade package. That’s what the M1 customer service told me. Furthermore, the rebate will cease after 2 years, so what am I to do after that?

It doesn’t proof financially smart after all to hang on to a loosing deal.

To my surprise, StarHub offered a non-advertised, free 6 months cell phone subscription for the plan I signed up! That’s a whopping SGD$124.8 ($20.8 x 6) savings, rendering the E51 virtually free!

So when you see a deal like this again in the future, don’t wait, procrastinate and regret!

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Come to think of it, it’s been over 10 years since I first own a mobile communications device! I’ve even made a little chart below with all the devices I’ve ever owned in my lifetime. Some of you might have seen a pager, while others may not even recognize my Semiens 2G cell phone!

I know what you’re thinking!

Most folks own at least 2 times the number of cell devices I’ve ever owned in the picture above. Regrettably, I must report that I’m not a gadget geek. I’ve long past the stage of growing up with the latest fanciful gadgets like Apple’s latest iPhone Nano, iPhone Touch etc.

Rather, I go for economic deals, practical and usability gadgets rather than for showing them offs.

Interestingly, the recent PC Show held in Suntec on weekends not too long ago was a clear evidence of strong consumer demand in spite of the record high inflation here in Singapore! Not only are consumers willing to pay for luxury electronic gadgets, they are more willing to loosen their consumer credits and loans in exchange for short term gratifications.

It’s important to point out here that borrowing money to make investments during inflation is far more financially intelligent than to allow your money to end up as consumer debt. In the latter case, it’s far wiser to extend your consumer debt to a minimum of 24 months 0% interest free credit loan than to opt-in for a 12-month interest-free payment loan. This way, you allow inflation to rot away the cost of your debts.

That’s just a little smarter shopping experience that you might want to rip in the future.

Stay hungry, stay foolish…

Have a great week ahead and live a life with passion!