Life hack: How to own an "iPhone 5" for under $250 without contract

Wanna own an iPhone but can't afford the steep price?

Yea, yea, I know the ads say that iPhones are sold for "free", but let's not kid ourselves: by the time your 24-month contract expires, you would have shelled out more than $1600 already.

So follow my trick.

Step one: when my old contract with a Samsung smartphone expired in January 2014, I bought myself $15 basic Alcatel cellphone. It truly is basic: it can only call, text, and set alarm/reminders.

Step two: I bought myself a $230 iPod Touch 5th generation. It is basically iPhone 5 without the phonecall or text capabilities. But WAIT. Guess what? If you install any of the numerous apps out there such as Google Hangout, Facebook Messenger, or BBM, you will find out that you actually CAN use your iPod for texting and making phone calls!

Step three: that's it. There is no step three.

Caveat:
- there is no way of getting a "data plan" for your iPod Touch,  therefore you need to be in a first-world country (or at least in a country with a lot of free wifi) in order to enjoy the internet-connected capabilities offered by an iPod Touch.
- you need to carry two phones at a time: one is that basic cheap cellphone to make phone calls to real numbers, while the other is your "iPhone"-esque iPod.

FAQ

Q: But what if I want to make phone call to an actual number, such as office or emergency services? iPod Touch can't do those things, not even with those apps!

A: Please reread Step One above.

Q: I live in a region where wifi is freely available everywhere. But when I'm driving, I can't get my iPod to work other than playing songs. This method of "owning two phones" doesn't work with me.

A: Seriously, why the heck would you need to use your iPod Touch (or any smartphones, for that matter) when you are driving? Unless you want to play songs only, where's your damn logic? You know it is against the law to stare at smartphones while driving, right?

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P.S.: when iPod Touch 6th gen comes out, I will buy it immediately. It will mirror nearly all the capabilities of an iPhone, but with a longer battery life (due to its lack of need to search for tower signals), has no contract, and costs at least one-third of the actual iPhone 6.