One of my missions in this Cheapskate life is to encourage folks to look beyond the Big Four phone carriers. Why? Simple: You can save big by switching to an MVNO — a smaller carrier that leases the same cell towers used by the big ones. I’m talking Cricket, Mint Mobile, Ting and Tello, to …

I’m not attending CES this week, but I guarantee you every person at that show needs a mobile charger. Because not many phones can survive a full day of video recording, social-media updating and Uber/Lyft requesting. My preferred option: a charger with built-in plugs, which helps minimize cord-clutter in my travel bag. Like this one: For a limited time, and …

With the exception of the iPhone 7 ($190 at eBay), every phone in Apple’s current lineup supports wireless charging. No more futzing with Lightning cables (unless you want to), just lay the phone on a charging pad and presto: magnetic-induction goodness. Bummer for those with older models, right? Wrong: For around $13, you can add wireless charging to nearly any …

Are you suffering from Qi envy? Do you wish you could charge your phone just by laying it down on a pad? Sorry, that’s only for owners of fancy, highfalutin phones. If you want wireless charging, you’ll have to buy new. Except, no, you won’t. I recently spent $13 for a gizmo that adds wireless charging to nearly any Android …

It’s crazy, is it not, to spend $1,000 for a phone when you can pay a fraction of the price for one that’s… well, maybe not exactly as good, but still very good? I posed that very question about a year ago (almost to the day, in fact), when the Motorola Moto X4 was on sale for $280. That was …

Did Santa bring you a new phone for Christmas? Many new models support wireless charging, meaning you can just set the phone down on a pad or stand and presto, er, chargo. When you travel, though, you’ll still have to deal with power cords, right? Maybe not: For a limited time, and while supplies last Aoputek (via Amazon) has the …

New year, new you, am I right? You’re going to eat better. Learn to meditate. Maybe even train for your first marathon. Lofty goals, to be sure, but commendable ones. If you need help getting started with any or all of them, you’ve come to the right ebook bundle. For just $15, you can get the entire Humble Book Bundle: …

Welcome to 2019, cheeps! Hope you had a wonderful holiday. As we jump into the new year, I wanted to remind you that there are lots of ways to keep tabs on Cheapskate deals: On the web, natch. Bookmark it! On Flipboard. If you don’t already use this app, I highly recommend it. In your favorite RSS reader. Yes, RSS …

Welcome to 2019! If you’re like most folks, you’re probably hard at work on your usual list of resolutions: Eat less, hit the gym more, stop buying stuff you don’t need. So what the heck are “tech resolutions”? Simple: They’re tech-oriented habits, some that need adopting, some that need breaking. Most of them are pretty easy, too, at least compared …

I’m a sucker for “best” lists, especially the year-end variety that look back on all the great movies, TV shows, books and so on. Of course, this being CNET, we tend to focus on the technology side of things, hence this roundup of the best tech of 2018. Me, I focus on the cheap-tech side of things. So before we …