bought my mom and i the iphone xr about 3 years ago. paid ~$120 for each phone through a prepaid carrier deal. today i got us the 11 for 100 each from another prepaid carrier because the old phones were around 80% battery health. now we good for about 2-3 years.

i pay around $15/month for the service on our phones.

old/cheap phone benefits – put it in a case, toss it around or in a bag with no worries about damage. if it gets lost or stolen no huge deal. no need to worry about phone insurance, no contracts, can bounce around carriers depending on where the deal is. still does everything a phone needs to do and less money in a big companies pocket.