When you sign a two year contract with your wireless carrier, you probably know there's a termination fee if you want to get out early. You may think that fee could be waived if you could demonstrate a real need to end your contract, but this sad story suggests otherwise. In fact, it's easier to break an apartment lease than it is to get out of a cell phone contract. So if you need to get out of your contract but your pleas fall on deaf ears, how do you get out without emptying your wallet? Here's how.

Navigate the Customer Service Maze

Before you do anything drastic, you should always see if you can get your wireless provider to come around to your cause. They won't want to lose you as a customer, but most companies will make some kind of exemption if you talk to the right person and have a good reason. If you're moving because of work or a compelling personal reason (death in the family, etc.) to a location they don't cover, are a soldier who's being deployed, or you've lost your job and are unable to continue paying your contract, they'll usually let you out or work with you on a compromise. Photo by Brad P.

However, don't expect to just call up and have the first person you speak to solve your problem. You may need to call back several times or escalate your issue. Here are some more tips to cut through corporate bureaucracy and get your carrier to listen to you. Don't be afraid to use the company's social media channels to your advantage, or go straight to the top and contact corporate executives.

Trade Your Contract with Someone Else In Your Boat

No one actually likes wireless contracts, and you're not the only person who wants to get out of theirs. Odds are there's someone out there who's trying to get out of their contract with the carrier you want to join, and vice versa. Check out services like Cellswapper, Celltrade, or TradeMyCellular that all play matchmaker between people who want out of their contract with one carrier, and people who want into shorter-term contracts with another. If you have six months left on your T-Mobile contract but you're moving to an area served by Verizon, for example, you can pair up with someone who's willing to trade their 18 months remaining on Verizon for your 6 months on T-Mobile. Even better, the service can find someone who wants only a short-term T-Mobile contract—the service handles the paperwork, and you send out your phone, cover the transfer fee, and walk away contract-free.

Find a Wireless Carrier Willing to Buy Out Your Contract

It's not terribly common, but some wireless providers are so eager for new customers that they're willing to buy you out of your old contract, and pay down whatever early termination fee you may have. The big carriers shy away from offers like this, but smaller ones and MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators, or companies that buy the rights to resell a big carrier's bandwidth under their own name. Boost Mobile, Credo Mobile, and Virgin Mobile are all examples of MVNOs) often bend the rules to bring in new customers.

For example, new Tucows startup Ting is running a month-long contest to get you out of your contract (although that month is almost over, so act quickly!) They're willing to buy one lucky winner out of a contract or your termination fee, whichever is cheaper, every day this month. Considering their approach to the wireless business, you may want to consider it. Keep in mind though, even when Ting's promotion is over, other MVNOs may be willing to work with you when big carriers won't. Here's a full list of MVNOs in the United States and the carriers they resell from—you may even be able to keep your phone.

Hack the System

Finally, if none of the other tricks work, it's time to play a little dirty. We've talked about how contract changes are often a way to escape a long contract, so if your carrier has added new fees or changed the terms of your agreement recently, that may be your ticket out of there. Moneycrashers has some more tips, and while they were written for T-Mobile specifically, most will work with any carrier. Still, your mileage may vary—some of them are technicalities you may have to fight for. When the iPhone launched on Verizon Wireless, we offered up some more tips to get out of your contract without paying an early termination fee. Check them out—many of them work on any carrier, and for any phone. Photo by Jessica Spengler.

If playing dirty doesn't appeal to you, consider changing your contract to the absolute fewest number of minutes and smallest data allowance they offer. Cancel SMS messaging entirely, and trim your account to the bare minimum. Not only does this make you an undesirable customer, but the lower cost per month for the duration of your contract may be less than the termination fee, just spread out. Then sell the phone, remove it from your account, sign up with your preferred carrier, and walk away.

YouTube user Spiritplumber demonstrates how he built a cell phone charger using four parts from Radio Shack on the store counter immediately after his purchase. The parts cost around ten bucks, and while that's three times cheaper than buying the actual cable at Radio Shack, but how did he know he wouldn't blow out his phone?

The author was not concerned as he knew:

Cheapie wall-wart phone chargers output 5V nominal, but the actual voltage varies wildly, going as far high as six volts and usually stabilizing between 5 and 5.5 volts while under load. Cell phone manufacturers know this and design some tolerance into the phones. A silicon diode drops around 0.7 volts (it's actually a curve: look up any datasheet) from the roughly 6V from the batteries, which brings us nicely where we want to be — the little bit of extra voltage is handy in that it allows partially depleted batteries to still work with this circuit.

You'll need a 1-amp diode rectifier, a 4-battery holder, an adapter plug for your phone, and electrical tape. You can get these in any electronics hobby store (and way cheaper online of course), but since Radio Shacks can be found anywhere it's a good place to go in a pinch. See the source link below if you're curious to see the circuit schematic or want more technical information.

Ersatz Battery Booster | Robots Everywhere via Hack-a-Day

Dear Lifehacker,
My cell phone contract with is about to expire and I'd like to get a new smartphone, though I'm not sure which yet. Is it better to pay for the phone upfront and not be tied to a contract or sign another 2-year contract and get the phone for cheaper now?

Signed,
Wireless Shopper

P.S. I'm happy with my Verizon service now but am open to considering other carriers if they're much cheaper or better.

Dear W.S.,
Most cell phone owners face this same dilemma about every two years, right when their contracts expire. The answer, as you probably expected, depends on your situation and can be tricky to sort out because wireless plans are a smorgasbord of features and mysterious fees. But here's some information to help you decide.

Reasons to Stick with Your Carrier and Get a Cell Phone on Contract

You plan on sticking with your carrier anyway and want the latest/greatest smartphone. If you've been happy with your wireless carrier and are planning on staying with them for the foreseeable future, extending your contract makes sense. You'll likely save a couple of hundred dollars upfront on a smartphone that could cost upwards of $600. Keep in mind that the cost of the smartphone is subsidized by your wireless carrier in their service fees (so, in the end, you actually may be paying the cost of the phone if not more over the life of the contract), but if you don't want to switch wireless providers, it's unlikely you'll be able to get this top-of-the-line smartphone at a much better price off contract.

One example is the iPhone. Recently we discussed whether or not you should buy an unlocked iPhone and came to the conclusion that it's really only most cost-effective to buy an unlocked (no contract) iPhone if you regularly travel internationally or want to use your iPhone on T-Mobile at crawling 2G speeds.

You want to upgrade your phone often, for example, once a year. Similar to the above, if you were still under contract but had a year or so left and wanted to upgrade to the latest, high-end smartphone, it also would still probably be cheaper to just pay the cancellation fee ($50-$350, depending on how many months you've completed on contract and whether you have a smartphone or regular phone) and sign a new contract with your carrier to get the subsidized phone for $199, considering many smartphones go for $600 or more.

You have a great cell phone service plan. If you have a good wireless plan—for example, if you've been with your carrier for several years and are grandfathered into a great rate or package that's no longer available—that's an even better reason to extend your contract and get your phone that way. Otherwise, you'll probably have to switch to a newer and more expensive plan, which will affect you for your lifetime as a wireless customer.

Your current wireless provider might throw in some nice incentives to keep you as a customer. Call up your cell phone provider and ask about upgrading your phone, mentioning that you're out of contract soon. To keep you, the valuable customer, the wireless provider might throw in the phone for free and even reduce your bill. (This happened to me recently. T-Mobile knocked $20 a month off my bill for the next two years and gave me a free smartphone of my choice; I was going to stay with them anyway, so it was a good deal.)

Reasons to Buy Your Phone Out of Contract

You may be able to get a cheaper no contract plan with your current carrier. Financial blog GetRichSlowly recently reported a secret no contract plan with T-Mobile that's actually cheaper than their own comparable plans under contract: "The exact same plan without a contract was $110 a month instead of $140 a month, for a savings of $360 a year." Apparently, it's unadvertised and you have to ask for it, so before you consider switching carriers for a better deal, try calling your current one to see if there's an unpublished option that could help you save.

You want the cheapest unlimited smartphone plan and are willing to switch carriers. If your contract is up and your wireless provider doesn't seem interested in keeping you as a customer, now's the perfect time to consider a different service provider. There are several no contract cell phone providers who offer relatively inexpensive plans with unlimited voice, text, and web: Straight Talk ($45 a month), Boost Mobile ($35 to $50 a month), and Virgin Mobile ($55 a month). The catch is that you'll need to check about coverage in your area, of course, and your phone options may be limited (although Boost Mobile has the Samsung Galaxy for $179.99 and other smartphones, and Virgin Mobile has several Android phones as well). You'll pay up to $300 for a phone on one of these no-contract carriers, but that might be how much you'd pay for a top-of-the-line new smartphone under contract with your current carrier.

In the end, you'll need to do the math: compare the cost of the full retail (or secondhand) price of the phone plus the cost of the monthly fees over two years against the contract service fees over two years. If you just want to find the cheapest cell phone plan with suggested phones—for both contract and no contract plans, check out previously mentioned BillShrink to compare your options.

Love,
Lifehacker

Photo by Robin Kirk.

Sending a text message from your cell phone is one of the quickest and less intrusive ways of getting in touch with someone, but it's not a skill that everyone is born with. Here are steps for helping those new to text messaging.

Emailable Tech Support is a tri-weekly series of easy-to-share guides for the less tech savvy people in your life. Got a beginner tech support question you constantly answer? Let us know at tips@lifehacker.com. Remember, when you're just starting out computing, there's very little that's too basic to learn.

Text Messaging Basics

Before we start, there are a few things to know about text messaging, also known as SMS (short message service), when just text is sent, or MMS (multimedia messaging service), which can include photos, audio, and other multimedia content:

• You can send a text message to any modern cell phone even if you use a different wireless provider.
• Each text message is limited to 160 characters, including spaces. If you try to send a message over 160 characters, your message will be split into several messages and delivered separately, right after each other.
• Check your cell phone plan to see how much text messaging or texting costs. If you don't have a plan that includes texting, each message you send or receive will cost a small amount (around $0.20 per message, but more if you send a text message while roaming internationally or if you send an international text message).

How to Send a Text from Your Phone

Cell phones and smartphones will differ in the menu options and buttons, but in general, the process of sending a text message to someone else's phone is pretty straightforward.

From your phone's main menu find the "Messages" or "Messaging" option or application. Then select "Text Message" or "Text Messaging."

Choose "New Message" or "Write Message" or click on an icon that looks like it will create a new message (on my version of Android, it's a + sign; on the iPhone it's a square with a line, like a pen on paper).

In the To: field enter in the phone number of the cell phone you want to send the message to. Many phones now let you select a contact from your phone's address book, so you could try typing in their name in the field to see if it will fill in the number for you. You can send a text message to more than one contact at a time on the iPhone and Android phones by clicking on the plus sign icon or continuing to enter contacts in the To: field.

If you want to send a message with an attachment like a photo, find the "Insert" option in the messaging menu (on the iPhone, click on the camera icon). This will bring up your options for sending a photo, video, etc.

Finally, type in your message in the message field and hit "Send".

Replying To and Forwarding Messages

If you get a text message from someone else, you can easily send them a reply by opening the message and typing in your response in the text box at the bottom.

To forward a text message, on Android phones and iPhone, tap and hold the message to forward then select the option to forward the message. On other cell phones, the option to forward will probably be under "options" or a similar menu. Enter the phone number to send the message to and click "Send".

That's pretty much all there is to it. If in doubt, your cell phone manual should have more precise directions for you. Photo: Shutterstock.