Cell phone busted? Get a new phone without paying a fortune

Have you ever launched your phone down a flight of stairs? Watched it plunge down several stories of a parking garage? Left it in a cab twice in a month? Dropped it in a toilet?

All of these things have actually happened to members of my immediate family. Needless to say, we have become experts at making do until our next phone contract is up, when we get a free phone again. We have never, ever, paid full price for a phone from our wireless provider. Here are some strategies you can use.

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