How do contracts work?

[Fishfam4]

I tried Googling this subject, and everything was either from before 2011 or not helpful, so I figured I'd ask here: how do US two year contracts work? I know you pay $200-$300 up front, but do you pay for the actual device during those 24 months (like AT&T NEXT, Verizon EDGE, T-Mobile Jump etc), or do you only pay for data/$15 access fees?

Thanks.

 

[SpookDroid]

All devices acquired through 2-year contracts are eventually payed by you. The upfront amount is just what the carrier wants to get before they finance the rest. You don't pay 'extra', you pay your normal bill for those two years (for instance, a $50 a month service with unlimited talk and text and 1GB of data). The funny thing is once your contract is up, you still pay the same amount for the same service, even if you don't get a new device. But, you're bound to that contract for two years. Should you choose to cancel, you would pay a certain amount to pay for whatever you still 'owe' from the phone, and depending on how early you cancel, that's how your termination fee is calculated.

But there are plans now that you finance your phone in a separate bill, so you really have to check with the specific provider you want to sign up for.

 

[Fishfam4]

This is my situation, I want to make sure I'm calculating this correctly. And BTW, I'm not stupid for not knowing how contracts work (I didn't get that vibe from that response, just saying in case you were wondering), we've just only ever used month to month and AT&T NEXT (which is getting too expensive) Note: I'm doing these calculations for my father, (I'm 14) he said either to find a way he could afford new phones, or I'd have to buy mine myself. Or worse yet, stick to my iPhone 4 (*gasp* THE HORROR!).

So, we'll be upgrading two iPhone 5s, one to an iPhone 6 for Mom and one to either a Moto X or a Galaxy S5 (Dad hasn't decided yet), and my iPhone 4 to a Galaxy Note 4 sometime after it launches (BIG upgrade there ) We also have an old iPhone 4S being used as my little brother's emergency phone our "home phone", but that's not getting an upgrade for another 12-14 months. If I'm right, this will be our costs:

iPhone 6: $199
Moto X (leather+32GB)/S5: $174.99/$199.99, respectively
Galaxy Note 4: $299
iPhone 4S, still on AT$&T NEXT 18 ( ): $15/month
Data (10GB Family plan): $100/month
Access fees: $15/line/month x4= $60/month

So we'd just be paying $674.97 (with Moto X)/$699.97 (with S5) for the devices up front, then $175/month?

 

[Fishfam4]

Just figured out access fees are $40(!) a month on a 2 year contract.