What is the cheapest way to own a smartphone?

As a senior in high school going off to college in the fall, I have decided I want to buy my own smartphone. Up to this point, my parents have not allowed me to own my own phone, since they do not want to be sucked into a plan. So, I have owned a tracphone and an iPod to use. Unfortunately, this causes a bit of a cluster constantly going back and forth between two devices email on one texting on another and so forth. That being said, now that I have a job and can afford to make payments, I want to buy my own. However, as someone who has relied on Wi-Fi for my entire time using electronics basically, I don't foresee the need for a lot of data, yet phone companies want to charge outrageous rates for data that I know I won't use. I just want a device that I can text on without needing Wi-Fi, yet can still have the rest of my data in one place. I'm looking to get an iPhone 6 or later. Any suggestions on plans and how to do this for a lower cost? Open to any advice thanks!

Hmm! Go in the hood!

Check out Consumer Cellular. We changed from ATT. Now we pay only for what we choose, based on what we think we need - based on previous usage. If we go over, no overage. You just get moved to the next category. On your billing date, you just reset it to the lower level again. 2 of us share, and together we pay $50 a month. We're using our iPhone 6 phones, which are already paid off.

If by "text" you mean "SMS" (everything else will be using data), then the cheapest usually would be to buy the phone (unlocked, without any provider connections) outright and get a prepaid SIM card for it.