[AndyKoh]

Nurkasih,

Yes, you are wise indeed. We should only spend what we need, and not succumb to heavier expenditure on perceived value that the merchants make us think we need.

Similar tactics are often employed in a supermarket's so-called irresistable bargains where you have to buy more than you need (sometimes the value is real for that item, but you would likely also end up buying other things along the way, ultimately spending more and boosting the supermarket's bottomline).

Yup, in many cases, it is more economical to fork out a little more to buy the iPhone 4 outright, rather than commit to a long-term plan. In fact, one could see that it is cheaper to purchase it without any contract from Singapore's online Apple store, if you have a friend that resides in Singapore.