How do families afford these smartphones?

[Pigeon]

Actually I juuuuust did that yesterday.
I had a txt that couldn't go thru because it was int'l text. Except for the dreaded 10 steps of talking to a machine before getting to a rep it was pretty painless. And amazingly enough I talked to someone who CAN speak english
They resolved things pretty quickly. I was pretty impressed.

I think on the 10 calls to TF every single one of them read from a script and couldn't understand a word I said.

I actually think the dozen or so TF reps in distant lands understood me just fine. The problem is that they are not allowed to deviate from the script at all, no matter what your problem might be. I also suspect that part of their training is to keep you on the phone for at least hour, at which point they tell you the problem is fixed, but that the update won't go through for at least a day, so call back then. Rinse and repeat endlessly.

Maybe they are in cahoots with the folks who make blood pressure meds, because I have those same symptoms thinking about it.

 

[brymolmom]

I can't imagine paying a lot when ds and dd get there...They are 10 and 8 right now, so I've got a couple years yet - and likely they won't have smart phones til they can pay themselves.

DH has a droid and I have a dumb phone with texting. We are very lucky that work pays for them both.

Great for now....but we won't be able to just add-on for $9.99 when we add the kids on.

I don't have internet access on my phone and my guess is that it is truly needed by only a few members of any society. I love/hate it when my sister says her adult step-kids can't afford to pay their own car insurance (that dsis's husband still pays), but yet - amazingly they both have smart phones...hmmmmm....interesting.

 

[Nayan]

I don't know if anyone has read this yet, but AT&T in a few years will be shutting down it's 2G, meaning that by the time some of the kids are phone-ready they will have to have a smartphone:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443687504577567313211264588.html

 

[stindall]

We've had Virgin Mobile for a few years I have a smart phone and husband does not (but he did previously, forgot to take it out of his pants and I washed it!). Our plans are still $25/monthly for unlimited everything except talking which is 300 minutes. We hardly every get anywhere near having 300 minutes of talk time so it works well for us. The downsides are that the service isn't the best (VM uses Sprint towers), no free mobile to mobile and no free or discounted phone upgrades. Now it costs more to have a plan and of course the phones are getting more and more expensive. While I'm not a big fan of the phone I have (really really really small internal storage and doesn't like to work sometimes) I'm pretty content with having the same phone until it breaks!

 

[Lemurone]

I've been wondering something similar, but my question is how do families afford Disney every 5 seconds? To beat a dead horse, it's priority. DH and I have iphones and our bill is about $120 after I just got a discount through work. We both have refurbished phones that cost $99 and $59. Our data plan is only $30 total a month so I don't see why that's so shocking. I'd much rather not have to pay for 500 minutes that I never use since I don't call people, but that's the lowest I can get! We don't have a home phone at all.

I find that people that don't have smartphones don't understand what a difference they can make. I use my phone for everything. Not to be dramatic but it's a life-changer to have access to everything at any time. It's worth the $30 by far.

 

[BeachLove]

I've been wondering something similar, but my question is how do families afford Disney every 5 seconds? To beat a dead horse, it's priority.

They sell plasma weekly, their first born, other misc bodily fluids, feed 4-6 people on $20 weekly, buy cheap expired food, go without dental work, cut out kids sports, and forget spending money on new shoes so your feet and back don't hurt. Pile Disney trips on credit cards and then declare bankruptcy. Then do it in your husbands name. Forget about getting that leg injury/ head pain/ bloody stool checked out by a real doctor when the disdoctors are in. Car A/C out? Forget getting that fixed, the kids don't mind 100+ degree temps during a 18 hour car ride to Disney in July - Its Disney money. Normal things like that


Oh yeah, don't forget to beg for high priced items on the Dis with sob stories. Once you've done that you can post on here for how much to ask for when selling on craigslist.

 

[DawnM]

Now you are just

They sell plasma weekly, their first born, other misc bodily fluids, feed 4-6 people on $20 weekly, buy cheap expired food, go without dental work, cut out kids sports, and forget spending money on new shoes so your feet and back don't hurt. Pile Disney trips on credit cards and then declare bankruptcy. Then do it in your husbands name. Forget about getting that leg injury/ head pain/ bloody stool checked out by a real doctor when the disdoctors are in. Car A/C out? Forget getting that fixed, the kids don't mind 100+ degree temps during a 18 hour car ride to Disney in July - Its Disney money. Normal things like that


Oh yeah, don't forget to beg for high priced items on the Dis with sob stories. Once you've done that you can post on here for how much to ask for when selling on craigslist.

 

[cm8]

They sell plasma weekly, their first born, other misc bodily fluids, feed 4-6 people on $20 weekly, buy cheap expired food, go without dental work, cut out kids sports, and forget spending money on new shoes so your feet and back don't hurt. Pile Disney trips on credit cards and then declare bankruptcy. Then do it in your husbands name. Forget about getting that leg injury/ head pain/ bloody stool checked out by a real doctor when the disdoctors are in. Car A/C out? Forget getting that fixed, the kids don't mind 100+ degree temps during a 18 hour car ride to Disney in July - Its Disney money. Normal things like that

Oh yeah, don't forget to beg for high priced items on the Dis with sob stories. Once you've done that you can post on here for how much to ask for when selling on craigslist.

 

[stacielee]

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 didn't read through all pages but here's what I did. We have 5 lines with T-Mobile, have had them for years. Four of our lines were eligible for an upgrade (DS had already upgraded his). I called and was able to upgrade 3 of the 4 to smartphones and add data plans to the 3, DH only has a regular flip phone, doesn't want anything more than that. They gave me the 4 new phones for free and didn't charge the $18/line upgrade fee (he figured out the cost would have been $495 so he put a $500 credit on our next bill). We also have unlimited texting which was $20/month, he dropped that to $9.99/month. Our original plan was $49.99 for the first 2 lines and $9.99 for each additional line. He dropped the $49.99/month to $39.99/month. The data plans are $20/month for the 4 smart phones. DH has a 12% (I think, might be 16%) corporate discount. So, for 5 lines, 4 with smart phones and 2gb data plans, we pay about $160/month. All of the discounts were called "loyalty" discounts. It really helps to call directly. When I called, I told the 1st person what I wanted (not to have to pay for the phones or the upgrades) and she automatically transferred me to someone else in the sales department. All of the discounts he offered, other than not paying for the phones or upgrades, were his suggestion, not mine. We only have 500 on-peak minutes shared between the 5 lines, but the kids don't talk much, they text. Oh, I also have the Family Allowances, which I think has gone up to $4-5/month, but was able to keep it at $2/month that it was originally priced at when I first got it. That way, I can move around talking minutes if necessary. DH doesn't hardly use 25 minutes a month, kids usually get 125/month and I get 100/month. We've never gone over the 500, ever.

Hope that helps someone.

 

[Couchy]

Many years ago (10) my mom, dad sister and I got a family plan. When I got married 9 years ago we added a 5th line. DH and I have smartphones through verizon. We have a discount because I teach. We pay $120 for unlimited data on our phones. We do not have a home phone so we save there and we are considering getting rid of our internet service since our phones do everything we need to do on the internet and with unlimited data this might be an option

 

[CathrynRose]

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

Ooooookay.

it's all a case of priorities. I have 4 I-Phones and 1 other smart phone (me, wife, 2 teenagers, mom). I am not crazy about the $260 monthly bill but we do use the phones. On the other hand I can't justify the increased cost between moderate and deluxe resorts that others gladly pay. Like I said....priorities.

Agreed. I have a home with 4 Smart Phones, with unlimited data, with TMo - but I stay at POP.....twice a year.

 

[cseca]

I actually think the dozen or so TF reps in distant lands understood me just fine. The problem is that they are not allowed to deviate from the script at all, no matter what your problem might be. I also suspect that part of their training is to keep you on the phone for at least hour, at which point they tell you the problem is fixed, but that the update won't go through for at least a day, so call back then. Rinse and repeat endlessly.

Maybe they are in cahoots with the folks who make blood pressure meds, because I have those same symptoms thinking about it.

HAHA!
You might be right about them cahooting, that'd make a lot of sense...
Before we switched over both our phones to VM we did a trial run first for about a month. Tried the phone to see if it does what we want it to do and then switched the other phone over.
So far we've been pretty happy with VM. The only thing I'm not too happy about is the ph itself. Because like I said Opt V is pretty entry level, browsing speed is not the greatest.

 

[angierae]

It all comes down to what you choose to spend your money on. We pay $250 a month to Verizon, for three smart phones and one "dumb" phone. Is that a lot of money? Yes, yes it is.

But we don't take yearly Disney vacations - it's nice to go on vacation but it's also nice to have things every day. Like my phone, which brings me a ton of enjoyment on a daily basis, not for 7-10 days a year. To me, what I pay for my phone is worth it. Others may think that spending 20 days a year at Disney is worth cutting back on other things.

Everyone has to decide where to spend their money - some people spend what we spend on our phones eating out in a month - DH and I eat out on Wednesday when DD is with her dad, and we spend about $25 total. So $100 a month. For some people, one meal out is $100. That's where they choose to spend their money.

I think saying "how do people afford these things?!" is a pointless discussion. People spend their money on what is worth it to them. I don't understand how people can afford to smoke 1-2 packs of cigs a day, but obviously people do it. That's money I probably spend on something else, that they choose to spend on cigarettes. None of my business.

 

[pipervali]

It's funny, I was just thinking about this the other night. My older slider phone is about to go, the touchscreen is getting temperamental, so I'm going to end up getting either the iPhone on the Samsung Galaxy. I've been so hesitant to do it though because it's basically going kill my phone bill. I have ATT and I have my mother on as a family plan. All we have is the unlimited texting plan, and I'm paying around $90 a month, and that's with a 24 perfect discount through my work. Unfortunately the discount is just applied to the primary line, which means a total of about 12 bucks a month. If we both end up with smartphones, of which my mother doesn't want actually, my bill is at least going to almost double. Not sure I can either justify and actually afford that. So I'm stuck wondering what to do. Since almost all the phones the companies sell now either need a data or texting plan with them. Kind of a got a bit of a stranglehold on the consumer.

 

[ChiDisneyFan]

thanks for all the replies, some good suggestions. I will probably end up calling TMobile to see what kind of deal I can get, however, if it is too expensive, forget it Cannot justify that high of a bill for a luxury, may just add another line for my daughter and keep our "dumb phones". My wife and I have had a cell phone for over 20 years and the only time I used it extensively was when I was selling my home. I just don't understand how everyone has become so attached to these devices these days. Sure, I love technology, have a great hd theater setup, bluray, love the internet but do not understand everyone's obsession with having to always communicate every minute of your life to someone everyday like I see people doing on a daily basis. Especially while driving! That drives me nuts and should be illegal, we never answer the phone while driving, will pull over somewhere if I have to. Then you have to hear people's conversations when you are out and they are busy texting while at a ballgame or concert and totally are missing out on what is more important in life. Anyway, that is all my ranting for now, I'm sure it'll keep this thread going for awhile!

 

[JB2K]

Forget about getting that leg injury/ head pain/ bloody stool checked out by a real doctor when the disdoctors are in. .

Sad, but true...

 

[1Jackpot]

My husband and I and our oldest (10 years old) all have phones and our monthly bill is $170. It's just DH and I that have the smart phones. We are through Verizon and are still on their unlimited data plan, along with unlimited texting, 1400 minutes.

Everyone has different budgets. I know some people that don't have a land line and use their cell phones as their main line/internet connection.

 

[CluelessDisFan]

I felt the same way, but to even have a descent phone these days verizon makes you have a $10 data package. I wasn't even using it. I figured my bill only went up $20 to get me a smart phone and have the same luxuries my DH had, so I upgraded in May. Honestly though 2 years ago when my DH got his, I only let him because he can literally work from his phone, so his smart phone actually makes us more money then we spend on it. We don't have a house phone. We pay $140 a month. I swear though my kids will not have a cell phone until they have a legitimate need for one. I think it's absurd all these kids running around with smart phones paid for by their parents. I will probably also make my kids pay for there's as I did mine as a teenager.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

It all comes down to what you choose to spend your money on. We pay $250 a month to Verizon, for three smart phones and one "dumb" phone. Is that a lot of money? Yes, yes it is.

But we don't take yearly Disney vacations - it's nice to go on vacation but it's also nice to have things every day. Like my phone, which brings me a ton of enjoyment on a daily basis, not for 7-10 days a year. To me, what I pay for my phone is worth it. Others may think that spending 20 days a year at Disney is worth cutting back on other things.

Everyone has to decide where to spend their money - some people spend what we spend on our phones eating out in a month - DH and I eat out on Wednesday when DD is with her dad, and we spend about $25 total. So $100 a month. For some people, one meal out is $100. That's where they choose to spend their money.

I think saying "how do people afford these things?!" is a pointless discussion. People spend their money on what is worth it to them. I don't understand how people can afford to smoke 1-2 packs of cigs a day, but obviously people do it. That's money I probably spend on something else, that they choose to spend on cigarettes. None of my business.

I don't manage the phone bill in my household, my husband does. He has a blackberry for work with internet, my DD had a droid something or other with internet, my DS and I have those silde phones with no internet (dumb phones). All of us have unlimited texting. It is all bundled into Verizon Triple Play with our Fios TV service, our DSL computer service and our land line phone. The whole bill is about $400 a month which I think is outrageous. I would like to look at other options but I have no idea where to begin. Straight Talk sounds promising...do we have to buy new phones for that or can we use the existing phones we already have? Any suggestions for a non teckie?

 

[JB2K]

Straight Talk sounds promising...do we have to buy new phones for that or can we use the existing phones we already have? Any suggestions for a non teckie?

Here's how it goes with old phones and Straight Talk service:

If you have an old AT&T or T-Mobile phone, you can order the Straight Talk SIM card from their website (all you do is replace the old AT&T or T-Mobile SIM card with the one ST will send you, and you're ready to go).

Verizon and Sprint handsets cannot transfer to Straight Talk, as both of those carriers use phones that don't make use of SIM card (but you can purchase a ST phone that operates off the Verizon or Sprint network from their website and most Walmart stores).