I am 40 and never had a phone bill to date! When I started working in a real job I was 22 and at that time cell phones were still not 100% a necessity. My job gave us a blackberry so I never had to worry. Crazy enough, I've been with this job for 18 years now and the job doesn't seem very secure these days so I opted to purchase a phone directly. I traded in my old work phone for a new Samsung and got a top of the line for like $400. I signed up for Google voice and got a free number and use my work phones hot spot if I go out to use it just as any other phone for the last 3 years now. Only issue I have is hot spot is battery intensive, and some accounts don't allow mfa with free voip numbers but whatever, free is awesome.

Yup. I can get away with prepaid 1GB/month for 3€ because I'm almost always near Wi-Fi and don't really need to use anything bandwidth when I'm not.

I also find it wild how some people will get an expensive contract that comes with a "free" phone, but then don't switch to an equal but cheaper contract (without a "free" phone) when the contract term expires, or at the very least renew the term so they get a new phone.

I've just been buying phones a model or two behind the latest generation. Bonus points for a refurbished phone. Saves a ton of money and they're usually not much less capable than what's new.

I've had that freedom for the entire duration of the existence of smartphones, in the USA. I buy my phones with no contract, at discounted prices, then I flash them with custom ROMs to improve everything, and I use no contract cell phone service. Since about 2007, that is.

You can, just buy the phone unlocked online and then get download an eSIM from a carrier. Bear in mind when buying the phone unlocked you’ll need to pay the full phone price up front and won’t be able to finance it through your phone plan like most Americans