How do families afford these smartphones?

[ILuvTigger]

Yes, having smartphones/service is pricey. We had U.S Cellular for 6 years, paying $324 a month, family of 4 with unlimited everything. About 6 months ago, US Cellular strung us around for 1 month, saying they were ordering a new phone for us (my daughters phone quit working, nothing she did, it was just the phone), gave her a temp phone, she couldn't make calls, just received calls, when the 2 week time came (when her phone should have been there), they said no one ordered it, and to give them more time, well 1 month went by and we were done with them, decided to check out Cricket, all of us have smartphones/unlimited and paying $220 a month. The past 5 months have been good, no issues. That $100 savings goes towards my vacations now.

 

[goodeats]

We were paying $113 for 2 iphones with a discount from my old employer. We upped our minutes and our plan is now $130, but DH's work reimburses us $70/mo.

As for how we afford it - we don't have a cable package. Although when you add up high speed internet, phone, hulu, and netflix it's still $85. Better than the $150 we would pay I guess. The only reason we have a home phone is because we have small children, and it just feels safer.

 

[MrsPete]

We have never paid more than 1cent for a phone, that includes our smartphones. We are with AT&T.

It's not the one-time hardware charge that gets you . . . it's the monthly service fee.

 

[StacyMarie]

Everybody's budget is different. We have 2 smart phones and 2 regular phones on Verizon for 200.00 a month. We don't have a land line.

 

[luvsJack]

DD and I have smart phones, dh does not. We are with CSpire but were with the company when it was Cellular South, so we have the old plans that they don't have anymore.

My phone was free and is due for an upgrade soon, so I will probably get whichever is free or cheapest.

DD just upgraded and got her Galaxy for $20 because the new one will be out soon. Plus we got a $40 rebate for turning in her Blackberry.

We have a Smartphone share plan so we each have about 500 minutes of talk time, unlimited text and data and free mobile to mobile--our plans are about $100 together. DH doesn't have a smartphone but his plan is the highest due to having unlimited talk nationwide. His is about $80.

Never even considered buying a cell phone with a credit card. Too many low cost or free phones offered.

 

[hsmamato2]

Data is expensive. So I use it sparingly once in a while,the rest of the time I keep that option shut off on my phone....30.00 per month- pageplus=1200 mins to talk,and 3000 texts- data is only 100mb,so I keep it off mostly. phone is a palm pixi 25.00 on amazon,it's a 'dumb' smartphone and is fine for me-
ds has virgin mobile,pays 35.00 per month for 300 talk minutes and LOTS of text/data time- he bought an iphone for like 500.00 recently but since it's his money,I spent nothing
(FYI, smartphones are searching for data constantly,using mb's,unless you're on unlimited,it can be shut off if you want to save money on a lesser plan)

 

[erin1715]

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.

That option sounds amazing. We are currently with Verizon with "dumb" phones but I have been wanting to get an iphone. I am definitely looking into this option.

 

[JB2K]

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.

For the smartest deals, those old-style contract offers from the kiosk at the mall are rapidly losing ground to the prepaid market in the U.S. (prepaid has been the option of choice in other countries for several years).

To learn more about the plethora of options available, the best resource on the web is www.prepaidphonenews.com

You mentioned T-Mobile -- did you know Walmart sells "Walmart Family Mobile", which makes use of T-Mobile devices on the T-Mobile network?

 

[Pigeon]

Dd15 has a Virgin Mobile phone for $25/month (the same plan is now $35/month). It includes 300 minutes/month plus unlimited texting and data.

I just ordered dd11 her first phone from kajeet. It's also going to be $35/month for the package I ordered her, which includes 150 minutes/month, unlimited texting, and 200 MB of data. I got her kajeet because it has parental controls, so I can cut off her ability to text during certain times. I only got the data and a smartphone so I can use it while I'm sitting around doing nothing during her ballet lessons.

Dh and I both have old style tracfones, which cost us about $200/year total to use. We don't talk on the phone or text much at all. Someday I might spring for the VM plan for me, but I can't see dh ever wanting one. It's bad enough to try to get him to check his email once a week.

 

[kirstenb1]

For us, it's priorities. We drive our unfancy cars for many years, etc.

This smartphone thing is dh's one indulgence. He and dd have them, and have had them for a couple of years. They love them.

I have a clamshell phone I use maybe twice a month. DH occasionally raises the topic of getting rid of our landline. I tell him over my dead body, because that is the phone I use. If it were up to me, we wouldn't even have the smartphones, but like I said, dh doesn't ask for a lot.

 

[disfan07]

We get a discount at Verizon through my dads employer (I think it's like a 23% discount).

I have a blackberry, my mom has a droid and my dad dow not have a smartphone (he cant use his cell at work b/c of security reasons so there's no point of him having a smartphone).

I will be getting a new phone in October when my phone comes due for an upgrade but it will not be an iphone.

For me, having email, internet, calendar, notetaking, etc is a convenience that my mom and I deem necessary for the 2 of is to keep track of my medical stuuf (procedure dates, appts, locations, etc) It also enables me to email my doftors at all times during the day instead of having to wait until I am home at a computer. It makes life so much easier.

Could we manage without smartphones....of course. But as long as we can afford it, we will keep it.

Oh...and it does not go on our credit card. The bill is paid online, each month out of checking. If we couldn''t pay for it from checking/savings, we wouldnt have it.

 

[njmom47]

This is one subject that makes me. All 3 dkids have Iphones (2 are grandfathered in @ $30/month data plans, ds got a .99 phone, new data plan is $46). I only text and (sometimes) call, dh has a 2nd gen flip phone and does not text...plus I just added the house phone on (we have AT&T). My new monthly cellphone bill is about $280 a month. That is with an 18% discount through my employer. And we don't pay a separate land line either (and could keep our old phone #).

 

[JB2K]

For those considering ditching the landline (but won't, for whatever reason) --there is a way you can go "budget" with that seldom-used house phone.

Most major telcos (AT&T, Verizon, Century Link) have an "emergency only" home phone setup (with no long distance calling or any of the fancy features) that runs about $15-20 a month (with taxes).

This type of phone works great with home security systems and any other device requiring a dial tone...

 

[NeverlandClub23]

My fiance is a Realtor (see: Person who's on their phone 24/7) and gave up his $100 a month plan with Sprint back in May. He bought a $115 smartphone from Walmart and uses their unlimited everything plan for less than $45 a month (it's less if you pay for larger chunks of time [i.e. 3, 6, or 12 months]). He loves it and never has any dropped calls. He's just mad that he didn't switch sooner.

I still have a non-smartphone and am still on my parent's family plan at the age of 30 . I send in my check for $15 a month to my parents . We share 500 minutes, but none of us are cell phone chatters so we never get close to that.

 

[Lisa0620]

I know how you feel, my DH has an monthly allowance thru work for a phone and he pays $60/mo thru Sprint after discounts! It makes me sort of ill, I wouldn't even enjoy a phone if I had to pay that much for it. I wanted a smartphone just for the features that I could use to occasionally check emails, but mostly use with wifi, so I found the best prepaid plan that worked for me as far as minutes/texts with super limited data (Pageplus "the 12", $12/month!) There were a couple of others that I considered around the $30 range too. I can't even stomach the idea of $45/month for straight talk! I'm sure when my kids are old enough for phones we'll have to get on some kind of family plan, but for me now data is more of a "want" than a "need" I guess.

 

[baldy6060]

I had this conversation w my brother just last month. Bottom line is, a lot of people CAN'T afford them. That's part of the reason so many people have financial problems. They complain about not having enough $ for a house or food and so many other things but they somehow are able to make phone payments. Prioritize people!

 

[TheRatPack]

My kids don't get smartphones.....until they can pay for them. I have a blackberry and my husband has an iPhone but his is through his employer. We already pay 150.00 a month for just 3 regular phones and one smart phone with a data plan.....there is no way we could afford smart phones for everyone and data.

 

[momof1princess]

well....we went into the AT&T store two months ago, with our 2 quick messaging phones and one flip phone, for the SOLE purpose of adding DH's employee discount to our contract, and we came out with 2 smartphones with data plans and a new flip phone. so now, our discount is eaten up by the data plans. i feel SO stupid. NEVER listen to a salesman. i'm a tech junkie, so as soon as that #^!@ salesman showed me how to text with SWYPE, it was over. i was hooked.

if i had it to do over again, i'd do what i've always done before-call AT&T and tell them what i want. one person at AT&T told me i couldn't add the discount online, it had to be done in a store; i called back AFTER getting the new phones and was told that wasn't true, that i could've added the discount over the phone.

 

[HeatherC]

VIRGIN MOBILE is how we afford it. Used to have Sprint and paid $113 a month with no data. For three phones with UNLIMITED text and Data and 300 talk minutes we pay $90 total.

Same deal with Sprint or Verizon would be about $200 after taxes.

Works great for us.

 

[mymeme]

We pay what a lot of people would say is a LOT!! $280. month
But, this is for AT&T Family plan with 4 iPhones. We have unlimited data grandfathered in and unlimited text. We only have 700 min but they are never used much at all. All cell to cell calls are free. We do not have a landline. We do have a MicroCell for our house. It was free. Before getting it we had problems using phone to make or receive calls. Now 5 bars all time. Our phones are used a lot. It would be extremely hard to give them up now. Using some of the available apps we have all our medical info with us at all times. This is very important to us. Also I can check financial info, pay bills or take care of most anything right on my phone.
To think, a few years ago all I did with a phone was talk

meme