Foundations of Finance

At the end of March my contract with T-Mobile will expire.  I have to make a choice-renew my contract with them, which I have liked just fine, or switch to AT&T, which is what most of my family members have.

I have to be smart about this because there are a lot of factors to consider.  One of the first principles of my personal budgeting plan is to look at the variables or an investment and make an educated decision.  No snap purchases or switching carriers just because.

So, what are the variable?

First, we’ll start with STAYING with T-Mobile:

• My expenses will be the same as they have been in the past, so I won’t have to change my monthly budget.
• I will have to buy a new phone because my old one is completely toast…as in it turns off mid conversation-not just cuts off.  The whole phone powers off.  So, I’ll have to work the expenses of a new phone into my budget.

Now, what about switching to AT&T:

• I’ll have free mobile-to-mobile with the people I use the majority of my talk time for.
• I won’t have to buy a NEW phone, but will have to buy the software to convert my itouch to an iphone, which I’ll have to work into my budget.
• In switching to an iphone, my monthly expense for my phone will increase, so I’ll have to work that into my monthly budget as well.
• I would LOVE to have a working iphone.

There are obviously some positives and negatives on both sides.  I currently have no idea which one to pick…