Up until the launch of the iPhone, I never planned ahead for a new phone. I never looked directly towards what was coming next and planned on buying it. Sure, I knew what was coming, but the refreshes didn't come as often as they do now. I had more time. We all did. Now, phones come more frequently, and we know pretty much beyond any shadow of a doubt that the major flagship handsets are going to get a yearly refresh.

The yearly refresh isn't a problem, in my eyes. Not anymore. I think they were within the first three years of the iPhone's life, maybe, but not anymore. Considering every manufacturer is doing it now, well, we've should have grown accustomed to it by now.

Unfortunately, the carriers haven't really picked up on the refresh schedule yet. Either that, or they don't care. Whatever the reason, it's not all that important, because it's not going to change all that much, soon enough. So, we get yearly refreshes for the latest and greatest devices, but we have to wait two years to upgrade our phones.

There are workarounds. Three of the four major wireless carriers have new plans that don't involved contracts, and let you buy a new phone faster. Those particular plans let you "upgrade" six months and a year, so they fit better with those yearly refresh rates.

Or, if you want to keep your contract, or stay away from signing anything new at all in general, ever again, then the other workaround is just buying a phone outright. No contracts necessary. Just buy the phone, which usually means a pretty pricey tag connected to it.

You could always sell your old phone to get a new phone, a trick that a lot of people make use of. And there are all sorts of different ways you can do that. Different sites, for instance. There are companies out there who would love to buy your old phone, so someone out there can buy a used phone for cheap.

Or, cheaper, I should say.

And then there's the trade-in/recycling programs, which Apple has confirmed to be in place. It gives you the chance to trade in your old iPhone to get a new one. I did a quick check, and if I wanted to trade in my 32GB iPhone 5, Apple would give me about $366. That seems like a pretty good deal!

But I know that I could sell it on other locations. A quick scan on some of the more popular sites show that prices range from $320 to $400. You could also just try to sell it yourself through sites like Craig's List.

So my question to you, is how you get rid of your old devices in favor of something new. Do you plan on using something like Apple's trade in program? Or would you prefer to use another site, just in case you don't want to upgrade to another iPhone? Let me know!