• If you want to get the hottest new cell phone at a reasonable price, chances are good that you'll need to agree to at least a two-year service agreement. Terminating your service early can carry steep fees and other consequences, so it is best to go into any agreement knowing exactly what to expect from both the service and the phone. Getting out of your contract is possible, but not usually easy.
  
  

Buy Yourself Out

• The easiest and most straightforward method for getting out of your contract is to call up the service provider and ask them to cancel your service. You'll end up paying an early termination fee, which usually lands somewhere between $150 and $300. While the fee may seem sharp at first, if you're switching to a cheaper phone plan it may be cheaper to buy out the old contract than to continue paying its rates until it expires.
  
  

Rate Changes

• If you have a per-minute or per-text rate on your phone instead of an unlimited plan, you may be able to successfully cancel your contract if the rate is changed. For instance, if text messages are currently five cents each but the provider changes the rate to seven cents each, this change may provide you with an easy out to your contract. Any time the terms of your agreement are changed you can try to opt out of the contract by speaking with a customer-service rep. Be aware that this will not be a simple conversation, as these representatives will try to keep you in your contract.
  
  

Sell Your Contract

• If you don't have any term changes to use as grounds for cancellation and you can't afford the early-termination fee, you can try to sell your contract. There are several services on the Internet that allow users to buy, sell, and trade cell-phone contracts for a moderate fee. If you choose to use this method, be sure to look into important information regarding payment liability and other legal ramifications; you don't want your contract coming around to bite you a few years later.