Today there is a constant desire to live a bit more frugal. I don’t know a single family that is not looking for a way to save money. Our family is no different.
We looked for many ways to be more frugal and to help increase what we were bringing in each month, even if by a little. We decided to take a look at our bills and see where we could pull back. For months we couldn’t think of a way to do it, until we took a closer look at our cell phone bill. That’s when we did it.
We got rid of our fancy smart phone plans about eight months ago, and have yet to look back.
Yup, that’s right. *Gasp!*
We were willing to give up the constant texting in exchange for actual phone calls (which are for nicer if you ask me). I was no longer pulled into Facebook 24/7 and I’m thankful for that.
I found myself less distracted throughout my day. My time spent on the internet was purposeful now, and not just a constant virtual hang out. My husband and I began to communicate better. We totally laughed at this one because we were so used to relying on our phones to text back and forth all day that we had few things to say when we were around each other at night. Now, we chat all night and our time together is so much more purposeful.
So, what do we use now?
We picked up an AT&T to-go phone from Best Buy. We are on the $50 a month plan (it comes out to$53 after taxes.) which includes unlimited calls and unlimited texts.
It is not nearly as pretty as my previous phone, but it serves it’s purpose well.
I’m not going to lie, it was a difficult decision to make. I was someone who was constantly using my smart phone. It was an extension of me. But in reality, there wasn’t anything that I did on it that could not be made up for in another area. I have a laptop that I could take anywhere and most places I take my laptop to will have WiFi. When I’m home, we have multiple computers in our home that I can use. I have a Nook that is basically an over sized smart phone and a smaller version of a laptop. None of these require reoccurring bills each month. WiFi is free in any place I would go to sit down and sip on coffee. And, if I need directions to get somewhere I can just print out the map from my desktop prior to leaving. We are even considering getting a GPS device for our car just in case, but if we do it would be a one-time expense which is far more economical than a reoccurring phone bill of $175 a month.
What about you? Have you ditched the smart phone? How do you save money on those cell phone bills?
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We ditched our smartphones a year and a half ago, and it was such a relief! Like you said, I wasn’t constantly dragged into facebook with all the updates, not constantly going on the mobile web browser wasting time. I absolutely love my little pitiful phone! My mom offered to add us onto her plan for $10 a month each and the phones we got were the basic “always free” ones. We saved $140 a month from switching, and I’m so happy we did!
Woo-Hoo! It’s definitely an adjustment – but totally worth it!
Hi! I wanted to let you know about the company my family switched to, it is a lot less expensive than Verizon (what we were on). It is Page Plus Cellular, pagepluscellular.com. I didn’t see this offer on the website but it was playing while I was on hold with the company: if you just make calls (I don’t know the max number of calls) but they were offering a plan for $80/year. I wanted to pass this info on-you never know when it may bless someone!
Wow! That’s an amazing deal!! I love that there are still companies out there offering great cel phone plans! :o)
I got rid of my smart phone about a year or so ago. It was a slight adjustment at first, but really not that big of deal. The plan I have now is $25/month and I have 200 minutes and unlimited text. I can text most people so the 200 minutes is more than enough. I also have a Kindle which basically works the same way a smartphone would, without the monthly charge. I’ve adjusted just fine and am glad I made the switch. Next stop??? Thinking of ditching cable, but haven’t worked up enough courage yet. LOL Feel free to visit me on my blog at http://www.theneveraloneprincess.com.
Gina
Cable is a tough one! LOL My husband had been wanting to ditch it for months, and he finally convinced me. We signed up for a Netflix account and canceled cable. It was actually pretty cool to be honest. I think Hulu has some great shows too that maybe Netflix might not have. Right now we dropped our monthly expenses so much that we added cable back in, but if for some reason we want to save up for something fast or need to cut back, cable would be the first thing to go. Our kids prefer Netflix anyhow LOL