Diary of a poor here.

Talk about sinking to a new low of thievery these days...yes, this has been going on for awhile now I know.

Buying a new cell phone...talk about some crooked shit.

They advertise anywhere from "$2-$30"/month for a new cell phone for 36 months.

Well...if you break the phone you're on the hook for the difference in what you paid each month. Makes sense right? But decent phones these days are $500-$1000.

I get a new phone for $2/month for 36months. The phone costs $600 outright. 36months x $2 is $72. The AT&T insurance is $17/month. So $19 x 36 months is $684.

So lets say you go buy 3rd party phone care insurance for $5/month...that's $7 x 36 = $252 total.

But even if the phone breaks, you're STILL ON THE HOOK for the original cost of the phone minus the difference if you wanna activitate that new replacement phone under your same number. Yes you'll get a new phone through insurance (minus the deductible or depreciation), but gotdamn what a fvcking racket.

Only way to circumvent this thievery is to buy cheap unlocked phones outright from Amazon & pray it stays working for 1-3 years & it can handle the software updates.