Don’t Blow Your Budget To Buy The New iPhone 6. Do This Instead.

Enjoy this guest post (and giveaway!) by Brent from VOSA. Brent’s a world record holder, inventor, engineer, entrepreneur, world traveler & eternal optimist. You can read more of his writing about personal finance, entrepreneurship and travel at VOSA.com.

Apple unveiled the new iPhone yesterday.

If you’re an iPhone user, or just a fan of the latest technology, there’s a chance that a part of you wants it. Even if you are still breaking in the iPhone 5S that you bought a few short months ago.

In my opinion, there isn’t a better company in the world when it comes to getting people to buy the new versions of the same product way before they actually need a new one.

I’m even guilt of this. Here are the Apple products I have owned over the years:

iPod Nano, iPod Nano 5^th Generation, iPod Nano 6^th Generation, iPod Shuffle 2^nd Generation, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS (purchased used), iPhone 4 and iPhone 5S and a MacBook

Whoa… I don’t even want to add up how much money I’ve spent on these products over the years.

All four phones essentially do the same thing and the phones and iPods all do the same thing!

Talk about redundancy. Talk about redundancy.

There is a very real chance that you’re taking your inventory of Apple products in your head right now and you too might have a small store’s worth of Apple devices lying around your home collecting dust.

I’m not saying you can’t go out and buy the new iPhone when it comes out, especially if you’re been saving up for it over time like the popular budgeting software YNAB (You Need A Budget) recommends.

What I do suggest is that you sell your old iPhone before you buy the new one.

By selling your old phone first you’ll be able to raise some money to put towards the purchase of the new iPhone 6.

The price you’re ultimately able to sell your current phone phone depends it’ make, model and condition. You phone can be worth nothing but, if you have an unlocked 64GB iPhone 5S like me, it’s worth at least $310:

With the new iPhone 6 selling for $199 to $499, on a contract, I would be able to almost cover the entire cost of the most expensive model and I could even make a profit if I picked up the least expensive option.

How & Where To Sell Your Old iPhone

If you haven’t saved up for the new iPhone but you’re dead set on still ordering one when they hit the shelves, then you should probably sell your old one to help cover the cost of the new iPhone.

I have bought and sold a lot of phones over the years and there are three main marketplaces to trade cellular phones. Each have their advantages and disadvantages, some are better to use when you’re the buyer and others are better to use when you’re the seller.

The three main markets are:

eBay: One of the world’s largest online marketplaces that connects buyers and sellers for cell phones and virtually anything else under the sun. The main advantages of eBay are that you’ll usually get top dollar for your cell phone and your item is almost always guaranteed to sell in a little as 24 hours if you want.

Craigstlist: An online classified section where you can buy and sell cell phones locally. An advantage of Craigslist over eBay is that CL doesn’t not charge you to list or sell your item. A downside is the potentially larger safety risk in both getting paid as well as meeting someone in person to exchange cash for your old cell phone. I have never had a problem with any of the items I’ve bought or sold from CL, but please careful as you just never know.

Gazelle: A website that will make you an offfer, and will buy your old iPhone on the spot. All you need to do is answer the questions about what kind of cell phone you have as well as what type of condition it’s in and Gazelle will make you an offer that you can either accept or reject. There isn’t any negotiations though, so if you’re not happy you’ll have to resort to eBay or CL to sell your phone. The advantage of Gazelle is that it’s extremely simple. The disavantage is that you’ll typically get the lowest amount for your phone as Gazelle is in the resale market as well.

If you’re interested in turning that old brick of a cell phone you’re using into some cold hard cash, pick with of the three marketplace you’re going to sell and follow along with this detailed guide on how to sell your old cell phone for cash.

The Bottom Line

Weather you’re going to keep your old cell phone or you’re going to sell it to raise some money to put towards buying the new cell phone I’d recommend checking out the YNAB iPhone app. YNAB stands for “You Need A Budget” and it’s more of a way of life than a budgeting software.

There are four main rules to follow which are:

1. Give every dollar a job.

2. Save for a rainy day.

3. Roll with the punches.

4. This this month on last month’s money.

This very popular budgeting software can be access on your iPhone making it ideal for keeping track of your budget and tracking your expenses right away before you forget.

Did you know that the median YNABer (as they call themselves) net worth increase $200.00 in the first month and $3,300.00 in the first nine months!?

If you would like to win a copy of YNAB so you can gain total control over your money, pay off your debt, save more money and break the paycheck to paycheck cycle then click here and enter to win a free copy of YNBA budgeting software (a $60.00 value).

P.s. YNAB will also help you budget and start saving up for when the next iPhone that is sure to come out way before you really need a new phone. Enjoy!