A New Cellphone For Me

Posted by Lisa E.  |  at   12:00 AM No comments


Day #2 of the Ultimate Blog Party 2013!


If you are visiting from the party, please go here
so I can properly welcome you to my blog ~Thanks!

Now, for today's post.....

A few days ago my brother-in-law posted this article on his Facebook page and his remark was “Lets hope this catches on...”

The article basically points out how outrageous the cellphone industry is,
the rip-off plans that get you to pay more and more money and how they make it
next to impossible to get out of a contract with your carrier. T-Mobile is
breaking free of the industry standard and we can only hope the other big
cellphone companies follow.

I must tell you that I'm probably the last person on the planet who knows
about the way these plans work. You see, I received my first cellphone
as a Mother's Day gift from my husband back in 2009. I didn't really want it and felt
I didn't really need it. The reason he bought it for me was so that I could leave the house
when Em started Kindergarten that Fall. Basically, to have it in case of an emergency
while she was at school. I've seldomly used that phone over the past 5 years on a
pay-as-you-go basis. No plan. If I add money to the phone every 3 months, I keep
the money that I have added to it since the beginning. I currently have a balance of $95
and that is over a 5 year period with adding $10 (the minimum you can add) every 3 months.
Pretty cheap. I think the phone cost my husband $40.

A few months ago Boostmobile, the company my cellphone service is through, sent
me a notification that the type of phone I was using will no longer be
supported on their network. It is an IDEN phone, which you can read a little bit about here.
The phone will stop operating on June 30, 2013. So my decision had to be made.
Would I lose that $95 I have with them and switch to a different carrier, or just get
another cheap pay-as-you-go phone and continue with them.

Two days ago the answer was clear. I could get their cheapest model phone for $20
by ordering from Kmart online (pick-up-store option) and keep my balance.
So last night I set the phone up and am really happy with it. It has a built-in camera,
which my other phone did not have, but that really wasn't something I needed; kind of
a perk for me. It's smaller than my other phone and is just a nicer phone all around.
Basic is all I want and need. Not to mention keeping it inexpensive as well.

I've been a SAHM since 2002 and really only use my cellphone when I am shopping
and need to ask someone a question or in an emergency situation. I don't need a
phone to check Facebook, play games, text message, etc. I'm home for a good part
of my day, so I can just get on my laptop for that.

So all of you out there with state-of-the-art phones, please don't laugh at me for sharing
pictures of my old and new phones.  

So all of you out there with state-of-the-art phones, please don't laugh at me for sharing
pictures of my old and new phones.  
This is my old phone that I will be mailing to BoostMobile so they can properly recycle it.



Here is my new phone, the Samsung Factor.


Almost everyone I know has a super-dee-duper phone. My husband has one only because it is paid completely by his employer. My husband was talking with my boss about cell costs and he told him that he spends $3,000 a year for his family's cell services. What!?!?!?! For my boss, yes, he needs a cellphone because he is running a business and goes from job-site to job-site, appointment to appointment.  His wife works at a desk in a bank and he has a teenager and a pre-teen.  My daughters are in for a rude awakening if they think they are going to have the latest cell-phone when they get to middle school!  Most likely if they do get one, it will be quite similar, if not the same service I have and they will

be instructed to use it wisely or else it will be taken away.  For Em, I'm thinking

maybe another year or two she may need one if she stays after school for activities
and what not.  I just want her to have a way to get in touch with me when I need
to pick her up from school and things of that nature.  Not for social use.  In my
opinion she can use her laptop that she got as a birthday gift two years ago for that.
(Truth be told, she doesn't use it all that much!)


So there's my take on cellphones.
  Not the most popular opinion I'm sure in this very social online world.
I guess I'm old school when it comes to leaving the house and having someone
leave a message on my home phone while I'm out.  
And yes,  I do know a lot of people don't have
land lines anymore because their cellphone is their main phone line.
  Personally I don't want to always be tracked everywhere I go.
If it is really important, okay.  Call my cell.
  If it can wait, leave a message at the beep....

About the Author

Elle is a 51 year old HouseWife/WAHM/Kids-Taxi-Service from the Northeastern part of the United States. She enjoys reading, watching TV/Movies, blogging, social networking, crafting, recipe collecting, beaches and summer. She is not fond of laundry, cleaning bathrooms, washing floors or grocery shopping. Feel free to follow her on the social networks listed on the right hand side of the blog. Real life names have not been used in this blog.

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