Smartphones are becoming a necessity for many people today. Unfortunately these phones don’t come cheap. In addition to the initial cost of buying the phone, you have to pay for your monthly plan. People also frequently pay for additional accessories (such as improved battery chargers) and downloads from app stores for personalizing the phone. All of this can lead you into a situation where you’re spending more money than you should on a phone. If you find yourself in the position of reviewing debt consolidation plans and trying to settle credit card debt but you don’t know where your money is going then you may want to look at how much you spend on your phone each year. It’s good to know which smartphones offer the best deal in terms of their cost. Take a look at the differences between the iPhone 3GS and the Android G1 and you can see that some phones are better than others when it comes to cost.

The iPhone 3GS is generally considered a better phone than the Android G1. There’s a lot of hype about the iPhone and much of it is well-deserved. However the Android G1 is a highly capable smartphone and it may be a lot more affordable than the iPhone 3GS is. First of all, the Android phone is cheaper to purchase; it runs $50 cheaper than the iPhone 3GS when purchased with a contract and is a full $200 cheaper when bought without a contract. Moreover, the monthly bill on this phone is cheaper; the total monthly cost of an unlimited voice, messaging and data plan is approximately $35 cheaper with the Android than with the iPhone 3GS. If you don’t need an unlimited plan then you’re looking at a savings of about $35 per month when getting an average usage plan on your Android G1 compared to your iPhone 3GS.

But do you get more for your money when you spend the extra to get an iPhone? It doesn’t appear that that’s the case. The average usage plan for the Android phone gives you a full 100 extra minutes of talk time for a price that is $35 per month lower (and both phones come with unlimited data and messaging). Both phones have WiFi, GPS, voicer commands, cameras that are comparable to one another and similar battery life in terms of talk time. The iPhone 3GS does offer longer standby time before recharging is needed and it offers more on-device memory storage. However it doesn’t offer multitasking features which the Android G1 does offer. Both phones allow you to download applications from their individual stores. The iPhone store may offer more apps but it also offers more apps that cost money. The Android store is growing and can be added to by a variety of developers so costs for downloading apps vary and may be cheaper than iPhone apps depending on what you want to download.

So what does all of this boil down to? Even if you need a smartphone, you may not need the phone that you think you need. If you’re having trouble with debt then you should look into finding a smartphone that meets your needs without costing so much. There are a lot of modern phones out there that don’t have to cost as much as the one that you think you love. Plus you can further reduce what you spend on your phone by limiting the apps that you pay for and reducing your plan if you don’t need as much talk time as you have. Instead of trying to settle credit card debt later, try to reduce your spending today. Instead of looking into debt consolidation plans in the future, try to reduce how much you are adding to your debt right now. Being smart about your phone means you’re being smart about your money.