How do families afford these smartphones?

[ChiDisneyFan]

We still have old flip-style "dumb phones" with T-Mobile, 2 lines and less than 60 bucks a month. Looking into getting my daughter her first cell phone, she is 12, and upgrading our phones to smart phones but I cannot believe the pricing out there. Cannot afford to have my mobile bill go up 100 dollars more a month to just add a third line and all have smartphones. I see everyone out there with these devices wherever you go and cannot understand how everyone can afford to pay that much a month. Am I missing a secret here? Should I switch carriers, have been with tmobile for over a decade, you would think a loyal customer could get a good deal.

 

[LuLuO]

We still have old flip-style "dumb phones" with T-Mobile, 2 lines and less than 60 bucks a month. Looking into getting my daughter her first cell phone, she is 12, and upgrading our phones to smart phones but I cannot believe the pricing out there. Cannot afford to have my mobile bill go up 100 dollars more a month to just add a third line and all have smartphones. I see everyone out there with these devices wherever you go and cannot understand how everyone can afford to pay that much a month. Am I missing a secret here? Should I switch carriers, have been with tmobile for over a decade, you would think a loyal customer could get a good deal.

I had to buy my smartphone for $140 but I do a prepaid plan for $50 a month through T-mobile.

 

[Mom2apirate&princess]

Our phone bill is $210 a month for 4 phones. Dh and I have smartphones (iPhones) that come with data packages. The kids have regular phones, not flip but they do slide for the keyboard, no data package and they were free.

Before we had 1 smartphone and 2 other phones and were paying $195 through Verizon now we have AT&T.

We don't have a home phone. DS is almost 15 and wants a smartphone. We told him when he gets a job and can afford the data package then we will let him upgrade. I think our bill is on the high side but we have all of the phones insured.

 

[CleoPahd]

My husband and I have smart phones...daughter does not. It was $9.99 to add her to our plan...she shares minutes and has unlimited texts. We felt it was just too expensive to add another data plan, not to mention she is so irresponsible with the phone! Mind you she is 17! We have Verizon. I had her on pay as you go texting only plan for the longest time when she was younger because that was all she ever did. It too was very inexpensive. We do pay a lot for all 3 phones, but I have unlimited texting and a larger # of minutes plus the two data lines and none regular line. I think it comes out close to $180 after taxes and fees.

 

[usnuzuloose]

My DH is the only one with a smart phone, we use it for business. I don't even have a phone.

 

[canopynut66]

they put them on charge card and some do not pay hence I (and 49 others) have a job collecting for them. for all we collect there are thousands that do pay for them. except once the card wrote off then that is considered a loss and figured into prices for the next year no matter if collected or not

 

[thejunker]

Search for Straight talk, I still can't post links, bit of a lurker here. Anyway, they have a $45 a month plan (just use auto-refill) for unlimited everything, and use AT&T or T-mobile network.

The phones are a little more than a standard plan would be with discount, but the plan is so much cheaper, payback is quick, and since it is prepaid, there is no contract, and you can take away phone privileges at any time, if the need arises and not be stuck with a long term bill.

 

[aprincessatlast]

Well everyones budget is different. I do not think that being loyal to one company always proves financially prudent. You have to see what they offer and go from there.

One option is Straight Talk from Wal Mart. I believe it is 45 for talk,text, and data. You can buy a used iphone and put a sim card in it or you can just purchase one of theirs. This is one of the cheapest I have found and there is no contract as it is month to month.

The secret is sometimes you have to be creative to be able to "afford" the things you want!

 

[superme80]

I think my sister does the straigh talk from Wal-Mart. In our house DH is the only one with a smart phone.

 

[wishing4PA]

OP, Thank you for starting this thread! I'm fairly tech savvy, but I still haven't been able to decipher those plans, and if I don't know exactly what it's going to cost, or if I can't afford it, I won't be getting a smart phone!
Right now I have a versatile flip phone that is not exactly smart, but will let me browse the internet. I disabled anything that looked like it could cost money. I can text carpool moms, and I surf a lot when bored somewhere (waiting for DD in totally stopped carpool line, waiting for DD to get out of dance, waiting for DD at a party, etc.), or when traveling, and DD likes to view the free kids' videos such as episodes of Disney Channel shows, and it's awfully nice to know there are no extra charges.
My Alias phone and DH's totally dumb phone (he doesn't even want to text ) cost $80 per month through Verizon, which keeps wanting us to upgrade - I think because it would give us more expensive plans. I hear of $200 phone bills and higher, and that is just out of the question! That would mean no more WDW trips, ever! Then DD8 keeps asking when can she get one? That is a long way off, but still...
So I'm looking forward to reading all the replies.

 

[Friendly Frog]

Page plus! They use the Verizon network and you can buy a used phone off of Ebay. They will even let you use a smart phone without a data plan. Super cheap and you can still use wi-fi hotspots.

If not for Page Plus we would still be on a basic dumb phone plan. The best part is if things get tight we can just change our plan for a while, no contract!

By the way you may be able to use your old Verizon phone with page plus and save a lot of money. Good forums for more info are the Howard forums and Kitty Forums.

 

[crazelion]

Look into straight talk sim card for 15 bucks and buy a used iphone off ebay and pay 45 dollars a month. You can either get a ATT or t-mobile sim card for 15 bucks and put the sim cad into smartphone.

Option 2 Go Virgin Mobile 300 minutes and unlimited text and data for 35 bucks.

Option 3 Cheapstake way is Buy a smartphone which can be had for 29.99 samsung vitally and put groovelite on get a google voice number for free. I can text and receive calls from the phone using groovelite as along I am wi-fi range for free. Target has ZTE Score for 49.99 that can be use with groovelite. I don't have cricket service either.

Option 4 Buy a dumbphone that is unlock can use opera mobile and have full access to internet. I have that this works great. But I have aging LG Prime and I have not found a phone to replace yet because of the features I want. My next phone is unlocked Nokia Asha 311. I am just waiting for it be release.

 

[danceintherain]

Everyone has a different budget. I think my Dad just barely got a smart phone with his last upgrade, and his company pays for part of his bill. It's just not a priority for my parents. They've never had data on the plan for any of their kids. Most of us were out of the house long before smart phones became at all popular, so it wasn't really relevant.

We're paying way too much for ours (about $150/month for two - no kids) but I LOVE the convenience of having a smart phone, when I don't have access to the internet otherwise.
It should be cheaper once we get back into the US again though, but it's not breaking the bank as it is, and it will be well over 10 years before I have a child that actually really needs a phone.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

We are with TMobile right now, but that's about to change. My two girls have smart phones with the data package, and the other three of us have regular dumb phones. All three of my kids are wanting iPhones now, and I kind of want one too but OMG that would be expensive. I want the kids to have them so we will have to see how much it will be.

My DH can get a small monthly discount with Verizon so when our contracts are up in March I will be shopping for something then.

Verizon has some kind of new offer for them but I have not really checked in to it.

 

[angwill]

We still have old flip-style "dumb phones" with T-Mobile, 2 lines and less than 60 bucks a month. Looking into getting my daughter her first cell phone, she is 12, and upgrading our phones to smart phones but I cannot believe the pricing out there. Cannot afford to have my mobile bill go up 100 dollars more a month to just add a third line and all have smartphones. I see everyone out there with these devices wherever you go and cannot understand how everyone can afford to pay that much a month. Am I missing a secret here? Should I switch carriers, have been with tmobile for over a decade, you would think a loyal customer could get a good deal.

We have smart phones though virgin mobile on their old plan $25 a month. Now the same plan is $35. DS has a reglar old phone with a keyboard with text and 150 minutes a month for $14.99 through Kajeet. We don't feel he needs a smart phone till he can pay for the bill himself. $65.00 a month for all of us.

 

[aubriee]

Search for Straight talk, I still can't post links, bit of a lurker here. Anyway, they have a $45 a month plan (just use auto-refill) for unlimited everything, and use AT&T or T-mobile network.

Well everyones budget is different. I do not think that being loyal to one company always proves financially prudent. You have to see what they offer and go from there.

One option is Straight Talk from Wal Mart. I believe it is 45 for talk,text, and data. You can buy a used iphone and put a sim card in it or you can just purchase one of theirs. This is one of the cheapest I have found and there is no contract as it is month to month.

I used TMobile for years, but finally switched to Straight Talk about a year ago. I paid $249.00 for my LG phone at Wal Mart and then $45.00/month for unlimited calls, texting, and internet. My service is through Sprint. I love it. My sons and D-I-Ls all use Verizon, have less service than I do, and pay alot more.

 

[torinsmom]

DS has a smart phone through Virgin Mobile and I pay $35/month for him to have 300 minutes and unlimited data and texting. I bought him the phone ($179) for his graduation present. I pay $45 for my plan, but haven't upgraded to a smart phone yet. I have 1200 minutes and unlimited text and data. So, right around $83 with tax for two phones. It would go up to $93 if I got a smart phone. I don't think that's bad for two people.

 

[Swimalie]

I'm with you. I don't understand how people afford several people on data plans. But, every budget is different. To me, I would never get rid of my home phone. One, it's more comfortable to talk on and 2, I can reach 911 so much faster. So with that in mind, I would rather spend the money on safety of the home phone than a smart phone data plan. I have the lowest texting plan there is an pay $45 a month through Verizon. My husband has a cell through work but it's restricted. My son has an iPod Touch and we can enable the internet through wifi when needed (it's disabled normally, though).

 

[lovemygoofy]

OP if makes you feel better, we are with T-Mobile and do not have smart phones or data plans. I feel awesome because I have a phone with a keyboard

Both of your phones have the option for more internet activity but can't or won't use it. Sometimes I think it would be handy but I don't want to tethered to the phone even more than I am now.

We have an unlimited talk and text plan for less than $100. Can you just add your daughter to your plan with a keyboard phone? We can add people onto our plan for extra $10 a month.

 

[crisi]

Two large incomes, a paid for house, no car loans, college savings funded - there is ample "spare" money in our home for four smartphones at this moment.

It hasn't always been like that, but it is now.