endofera
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Post by endofera on Feb 26, 2011 19:49:32 GMT -5
I want an I-phone. The $49 one. Right now I pay $140 per month for 4 phones, and unlimited texting. All are "dumb phones". We have the lowest minutes available for a family plan and always roll some over each month. Mainly we text - a lot.
But I really want to be able to check e-mail, look things up on the internet, do basic smart phone stuff. I want my daughter and husband to have them too. (I'm not sure yet about my son.)
I am having trouble justifying $45 extra per month for even the lowest data plan. ($60 if I include my son)
Do people really pay $185-200/month for this? I can afford it but wow, that's a lot. Month after month and no asset to show for it. Wow.
Talk me out of it or into it.
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Post by mommy2twoal on Feb 26, 2011 20:48:43 GMT -5
I don't (well yet, anyway) as hubby & I also want smartphones, but I do work with this lady that pays over $600/month for 6 smartphones on for her family. I was shocked & cannot understand why her 10, 14 & 16 yr olds need smartphones anyway. I cannot understand why the 10 yr old even has a phone other than maybe a cheap prepay. Unbelievable. Oh and she also complains that she is always broke & never has any money and has had to borrow a car for over 6 months to get to work.
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motherto2
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Post by motherto2 on Feb 26, 2011 21:09:42 GMT -5
Unfortunately, my cell phone bill is $200/month. I have four phones on my plan - me, DD, DS and my folks. My phone and my folks phone don't have any sort of data plan. Both kids have Droids and have a $30/month internet charge for each. We have unlimited pics and texts, and 700 minutes for each month. I'm really not sure how to get it down until the kids leave the plan. DD pays the $30 charge but I pay for her to have the phone which is about $20/month. I told DS I'd pay his $30 charge for this year, and if he wanted that paid after that as part of his Christmas present, I'd keep paying it. Otherwise he will have to start paying the $30 on his own. I'll still pay for the phone. DD will have to start paying the rest of her bill after she finishes college. She's in the Army but has one more year of college to get her degree.
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TD2K
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Post by TD2K on Feb 26, 2011 21:21:11 GMT -5
I looked at going to a smart phone but Sprint's minimum 'smartphone' plan would have been significantly more than I'm paying for for a dumb phone. I could put a data plan on it but the screen is too small to be useful for browsing or anything like that.
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schildi
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Post by schildi on Feb 26, 2011 21:36:38 GMT -5
The big question to me is how they convinced us that we need to pay $2,500 (or more) per year for phone service. That's pretty amazing! And on top, requiring a contract that we need to sign. Hmmm.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Feb 27, 2011 0:05:17 GMT -5
I have a "fun" phone (not a smart phone, but it does fun things, like watch videos and internet access); it's a Samsung Eternity. We (BF and I) have a family plan with AT&T. We have the family unlimited texting plan and I have unlimited data for $10/month. I think AT&T got rid of their unlimted data plans (?) so I am not making any account changes to that! But if all you want is basic internet access on your phone, then you don't need a smart phone, just any phone that enables internet access will do.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2011 8:22:19 GMT -5
So what does it cost for one person to have a smartphone with a reasonable data plan? I checked Verizon's site for the iPhone. It looked like $100/month and it appeared that there was no benefit to buying the iPhone outright other than not having to sign a contract- i.e., monthly fees didn't change. Right now I have a company Blackberry with some limitations (sites such as FaceBook are blocked, can't download ringtones, no music files) and I'm finding it hard to justify going from zero to $100/month even though, like the OP, I can afford it. I'm doing pretty well with an iPod Touch, which has Internet access only at hotspots but no monthly fees. As for the lady who pays $600/month for phones- And of course she can't afford to save anything for her kids' education.
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2kids10horses
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Post by 2kids10horses on Feb 27, 2011 9:28:53 GMT -5
I have an iphone. I started with the 3GS, and I upgraded to the 4. I also have the unlimited data plan, grandfathered in, at $30/month. I'm on a family plan, with 2 other, regular, cell phones. We don't text. If we did, unlimited texting would add $20 to the family plan. I believe we're on a 700 minute plan, but we never use that much. We have a huge amounts of rollover minutes.
I love my iphone. I'm a real estate agent, and having the GPS function is wonderful. I also trade stocks, so access to real time quotes and trading is also important to me.
I'm not really a heavy data user, so I could save $5 month by downgrading to the $25 2 gig plan, but it seems to be hardly worth it to lose my unlimited plan. Who knows? I might get addicted to downloading NetFlix on my phone someday!
We'll probably be converting one of the other phones to an iphone sometime. I'll try to hold off until it is LTE compatible. I have 17 year old daughter who has one more year in high school. When she goes off to college, I think the 'facetime' calls will be wonderful.
If I were in your shoes, I would not buy the current $45iphone. It's a 3GS. It was nice, but the 4 is SO much better. The screen is incredible. Wait until June, Apple will come out with a new phone, the 4 will drop to the 45 dollar price, and you'll be better off. Just get one iphone. Try it out, and see if it is really what you want. They have a $15/month plan for minimal data useage that might suit your needs. That's not quite enough for me, but may be for you.
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schildi
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Post by schildi on Feb 27, 2011 9:38:27 GMT -5
If I were in your shoes, I would not buy the current $45iphone. It's a 3GS. It was nice, but the 4 is SO much better. The screen is incredible. Wait until June, Apple will come out with a new phone, the 4 will drop to the 45 dollar price, and you'll be better off. But then, in June, everybody will say "the 5 is SO much better" ... LOL Doesn't that happen all the time?
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2kids10horses
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Post by 2kids10horses on Feb 27, 2011 10:07:30 GMT -5
Well, I'm sure the 5 will be better than the 4. But the OP was talking about buying the 3GS, and that's 2 year old technology, soon to be 3 years old. I'd wait the 3 months or so to get the 4.
I would still be using my 3GS, if my iphone hadn't broken. For some reason, when the new operating system for the 4 came out, MY 3GS didn't work well with it. I kept hoping the operating system upgrades would help, but didn't. Finally, last fall, when trying to upgrade a new operating system, it bricked. So, I took the easy route and bought a 4. (I was trying to hold on until the 5 came out, but it didn't happen. My 3GS kept dropping calls like crazy on the 4 operating system. That didn't happen on the 3 operating system. I've heard that happen to several of the original 3GSs. Oh well, the $200 to replace it was no big deal for the utility I get out of it.)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2011 10:20:21 GMT -5
My friend has a 3GS and the screen is very, very fuzzy compared to my iphone 4. It would drive me crazy to use it. So I'd wait.
DH has the Samsung galaxy (android phone) and I have the iphone. We have four lines on my plan, two of the larger data plans, 1200 rollover minutes a month and it totals about $185.
Before I got my smartphone I didn't think I'd use it all that much. I use it all the time. It's really useful if you're not on the run all the time.
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Gardening Grandma
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Post by Gardening Grandma on Feb 27, 2011 11:03:08 GMT -5
DH and I got iphones 2 weeks ago. We've been with Verizon for over 12 years and have a legacy plan ($40 for 300 shared mins). We were able to keep that plan when we upgraded to the iphones. We had to sign up for the data plan ($30 each). With the text packages, our monthly total is $110 ( before taxes & fees). Right now the data plan has no limit (unlike ATT's data plan) and that influenced our decision. I'm very happy with the iphone, but I don't think I could bring myself to pay $200/mo for a fun techie toy.
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Post by robbase on Feb 27, 2011 11:26:31 GMT -5
I guess I am a rarity with a $25 (w/out taxes & fees) pay as you go phone that lasts me about 60 days before I need to repurchase minutes
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endofera
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Post by endofera on Feb 27, 2011 11:26:38 GMT -5
Exactly!
For those who recommend waiting for the 4 price to drop, that sounds like good advice and I may do that. My husband would use his outdoors mostly and probably the clearer screen would work out better for him. The 3 didn't drop in price until recently, though, months after the 4 was released so it seems it might not be a given.
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simser
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Post by simser on Feb 27, 2011 11:35:24 GMT -5
I have an Iphone 3G (It's ancient- I'm waiting for the 5 to come out). And I went from prepaid to an IPhone mostly because the phone and 2 years of the plan were a birthday present one year. But I will never live without one again- and I think it's saved me a fair amount of money.
Here's why- I got rid of my home phone, home internet and a watch just because the iPhone was always in my pocket. Since we're currently running 2 households that's at least $100/ month right there. [When I'm no longer running two households the internet will come back]. But I have unlimited data- which I use for Netflix, saving cable money too- and usually just call my husband or my mother who are in network. We pay $145 with discount for 700 minutes, 2 unlimited data packages and unlimited family texting. And then my husband's app store purchases;) So it seems like a lot, but it depends on what it can replace for you.
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schildi
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Post by schildi on Feb 27, 2011 11:51:43 GMT -5
I guess I am a rarity with a $25 (w/out taxes & fees) pay as you go phone that lasts me about 60 days before I need to repurchase minutes No, I am with you. We pay under $10 a month for three cell phones.
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cubefarmer
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Post by cubefarmer on Feb 27, 2011 15:44:33 GMT -5
I have one iPhone grandfathered unlimited data plan, plus my teen son and mother are both on my plan but with dumb phones. Unlimited text. My phone gets a 20% discount through my employer. Our bill is about $145.00/month. I'm sure both my son and mom would love a smart phone, but I just don't want to pay for it. I can justify it for me bec my employer does not allow ANY personal use of the computer at work, so for me to get school emails and whatnot I need a smart phone.
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The J
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Post by The J on Feb 27, 2011 16:17:25 GMT -5
I pay about $100/month for one phone, with an unlimited data plan and a limited texting plan (I think it's 500/month).
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2011 17:39:42 GMT -5
I don't even have a cell phone (my husband has mine, which we pay $10 a month for to be included on my daughter's family plan), but . . . I saw the neatest thing. You can buy what looks like landline portable handsets/phone that connect through bluetooth to your cell phone. So you can make it your house phone, too.
If I ever get rid of our landline (think about it sometimes because I am not a phone person), that would definitely be for me. I'm older, by the way, but my biggest problem with a cell phone is the size. It is just too small. That's habit, I know, but it's me.
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Frugal Nurse
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Post by Frugal Nurse on Feb 27, 2011 17:45:34 GMT -5
Our plan is about $140/month, that includes 2 smart phones and one regular phone. DH and I, as well as his teenage sister, are on a family plan that has 700 minutes, unlimited text, unlimited data. We are on T-mobile, on their no-contract plan. It is about $40/month cheaper than a contract would be. The downside is that we have to buy our phones at full price, but it still cheaper than being on a contract. We are on T-mobile and have been for 8 years now. I love them and have never had any issues.
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share88
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Post by share88 on Feb 28, 2011 3:53:32 GMT -5
I guess I am a rarity with a $25 (w/out taxes & fees) pay as you go phone that lasts me about 60 days before I need to repurchase minutes No, I am with you. We pay under $10 a month for three cell phones. Count me in on the cheapie prepaid option.
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daisylu
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Post by daisylu on Feb 28, 2011 7:20:40 GMT -5
I have unlimited text & data for just 1 phone. After a 20% discount for the company that I work for, I pay $80/month. The only signals that reach our area are Verizon & AT&T. There are a lot of much cheaper options, but those phones will not pull a signal for us.
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pepper112765
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Post by pepper112765 on Feb 28, 2011 17:00:58 GMT -5
I have Sprint, and have 3 Smart phones and one dumb phone (my mother's) on my plan. -- I have the HTC Evo, which I LOVE. All data, messaging, etc is free for all the phones, but share 1500 minutes. All mobile to mobile (any carrier) is free. Never have gone over the minutes, my two children are texters, which is what made me switch to Sprint after being with AT&T for over 10 years. The cost is $129.00 for the first two phones on the plan and $19.99 a month for each additional line. Total cost is about $199.00 with taxes, fees, etc.
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stats45
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Post by stats45 on Feb 28, 2011 18:13:27 GMT -5
I would think about how much you will really use it. My partner wanted a new phone because everyone at his new workplace had one. Such a horrible reason, but for $20 a month data plan and $200 for the phone, it made him happy. I have a 'dumb' phone, and we pay about $110 for 1000 anytime minutes, unlimiting texting, and his data package with Verizon.
That to say, I think people come up with elaborate reasons why it is cool or they will use it, and besides movie times and sports scores (for many people), it just won't be used all that much.
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dcmetrocrab
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Post by dcmetrocrab on Feb 28, 2011 22:09:00 GMT -5
I would love an iPhone, but cannot stomach the associated cost. Every month, locked in, yeep! I have a dumb phone, can browse, 500 texts, check email, IM, $30/month. It's the perfect plan, outside of the fact that I can't download apps. The only way I'm getting a smart phone is if work pays for it.
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2kids10horses
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Post by 2kids10horses on Mar 1, 2011 7:31:17 GMT -5
I got my iphone because I wanted to have the ability to see real time stock quotes, and be able to trade stocks whenever, wherever.
What I have found is the visual voice mail function is wonderful. I set up a separate email account for the phone, so that I don't get bombarded with spam and crap that my regular email gets, but it's nice to have. I know when I get an email on my phone, it's something important.
I don't text, but it will. Some real estate agents text me, so I get their messages. I don't text enough to warrant a plan. I pay maybe 50 cents a month for the text messages.
I love the mapping functions. Apps like YellowPages can give you a route to whatever you've looked up.
Having a camera whenever you need it is cool. I can photograph documents, and print them out later (kinda like a scanner). I was with the termite guy when a house I was selling was getting the termite inspection. I photographed his diagram, the termite tunnels and instantly emailed them to the seller. Even before we left the property.
I like having an ipod. I subscribe to various podcasts, like Praire Home Companion. They're there whenever I want to listen.
Having Google whenever I need it is cool. My kids ask me how to spell something. I whip out the iphone and look it up.
Having the Weather Chanel is handy.
Redbox. Ebay. I have access to my Gmail account. Mapquest.
I use the "Clock" app to time the pizza in the oven.
I have an app that figures out mortgage payments including taxes and insurance.
I read the news on my iphone.
And, lastly, I have a few games so when my kids (son mostly) gets bored in the car he can play a game or two.
Oh, I only have free apps. I have not bought any apps that cost anything. Even the 99 cent ones.
Do I "need" any of this? Absolutely not. Is my life more convenient with the iphone? Absolutely!
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runewell
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Post by runewell on Mar 1, 2011 10:27:45 GMT -5
I think you guys waste a lot of money on phones. I have a prepaid phone and pay $100/yr for $1,000 minutes of talk time. So I pay $8.33/mo for my cell phone. If I'm in an area with wireless internet I can surf on my iPod, otherwise I'll wait until I get home, thanks, since I'm already paying for internet at home.
Cell phones are the worst form of keeping up with Joneses I've ever seen. When my kids are driving age I'll probably step up to a better plan and kill the landline, but by them the cost of giving four people cell phones will accomodate a different plan.
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runewell
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Post by runewell on Mar 1, 2011 10:31:22 GMT -5
Oh, I only have free apps. I have not bought any apps that cost anything. Even the 99 cent ones. You spend whatever on a phone but are too cheap to buy some apps. Go spend 99 cents on the Angry Birds game already!
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ugga81
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Post by ugga81 on Mar 1, 2011 10:35:14 GMT -5
I'll second 2Kids10Horses comments. I purchased an iPhone in 2007 and haven't looked back since. In fact I've also had DH and 4-5 other's start drinking the Apple kool-aid. It's kind of a gateway drug which in our family has led to a total of 4 iPhone (2 for me, 2 for DH as we've both upgraded over the years, 2 MacBooks, an iPad, and assorted other iPods. We're on AT&T and pay about $140/month for the cheapest minute plan (550 minutes/month with rollover), unlimited texting, and unlimited data (although I could save $10/month if I downgraded our data).
I can't imagine life without it! From listening to the iPod function in the car, to listening to Pandora at work, texting, checking my mail, Facebook!, checking the weather, reading news, playing games, taking pictures (and easily showing pictures to people), finding business addresses and getting directions to them (especially addresses that cannot be found by our GPS), and it's my alarm clock every morning. In fact, I can say the function I probably use the least is the phone. I've found though it's made it so I'm never idle... I always whip it out when I'm waiting in line or waiting for food at a restaurant. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
I've turned into a complete Apple geek since getting my first iPhone. Everything just makes so much sense. I can't wait for the iPhone 5 (since it's my turn to upgrade from my 3GS this year). I think it's the one thing that would absolutely ruin my day if I ever broke it or left it at home! It's costly, but it figures into our "essential" list of expenses.
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runewell
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Post by runewell on Mar 1, 2011 10:44:48 GMT -5
Yeah I'll probably get there one of these days.
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