Jun. 18th, 2009
Cell Phones
Jun. 18th, 2009 04:48 pmI've known for a long time that we pay -way- too much for our cell phones. It is not that our plan is expensive, we actually have a good deal (family plan from AT&T for $110 a month with unlimited text messages, tons of minutes, and so forth.)
The thing is, we don't talk on the phone. We have something like 10,000 minutes rolled over. Ron's cell phone gets some use for Puddletown business, but mostly we text when I am over on the peninsula, so we are paying all that money for 6 or so text messages and two or three phone calls a week.
We could in theory be paying $5 a month each for the pay as you go plan and never get extra charges.
Our phones get way more of a workout as gadgets. I read books and listen to books on tape, keep my milage, and have all my contacts on mine. I would probably listen to music too if I could. I lust after a Kindle. A Ipod touch that could get text messages would be ideal for me. Ron forwards all his work e-mail to his phone and plays the games and would love to be able to watch his soap operas...er, I mean, his hunting and fishing shows on the bus or at the gym.
I hate carrying my phone. It is a PDA and is big and bulky and I have not figured out a way to carry it comfortably. It falls out of my shirt pocket, the holster I had was constantly catching on things, it doesn't fit in my pants pocket without giving me chipmunk crotch. In fact I forgot it today. (I had a little "smart" phone like Ron's, but the crappy, unintuitive interface pissed me off one to many times so we traded it in on a treo.) Ron carry's his everywhere, but it does not have all the functionality he would like to be really useful.
So, I am researching cell phone plans on BillShrink and make the awkward discovery that yes, we could be paying $10 dollars a month and match our current usage saving tons of money each year, or....we could pay $15 dollars a month more than we do now and have iphones.
I hate when something I really, really want is place up against a chance to be frugal and responsible.
The thing is, we don't talk on the phone. We have something like 10,000 minutes rolled over. Ron's cell phone gets some use for Puddletown business, but mostly we text when I am over on the peninsula, so we are paying all that money for 6 or so text messages and two or three phone calls a week.
We could in theory be paying $5 a month each for the pay as you go plan and never get extra charges.
Our phones get way more of a workout as gadgets. I read books and listen to books on tape, keep my milage, and have all my contacts on mine. I would probably listen to music too if I could. I lust after a Kindle. A Ipod touch that could get text messages would be ideal for me. Ron forwards all his work e-mail to his phone and plays the games and would love to be able to watch his soap operas...er, I mean, his hunting and fishing shows on the bus or at the gym.
I hate carrying my phone. It is a PDA and is big and bulky and I have not figured out a way to carry it comfortably. It falls out of my shirt pocket, the holster I had was constantly catching on things, it doesn't fit in my pants pocket without giving me chipmunk crotch. In fact I forgot it today. (I had a little "smart" phone like Ron's, but the crappy, unintuitive interface pissed me off one to many times so we traded it in on a treo.) Ron carry's his everywhere, but it does not have all the functionality he would like to be really useful.
So, I am researching cell phone plans on BillShrink and make the awkward discovery that yes, we could be paying $10 dollars a month and match our current usage saving tons of money each year, or....we could pay $15 dollars a month more than we do now and have iphones.
I hate when something I really, really want is place up against a chance to be frugal and responsible.