Are Smartphones Worth the Splurge? | brokeGIRLrich
I’ll readily admit, sometimes I’m a little behind the times. I rarely have any interest in having the latest and greatest piece of technology, the newest type of TV or video game system. I rarely even watch TV shows as they’re being aired and an Adele meme recently circulated among my friend’s who are teachers on Facebook that I totally didn’t get at all.
Honest to goodness thought this had something to do with Lionel Richie’s “Hello” – sorry, Adele.
Generally, I don’t care. I’m actually really grateful that the keeping up with the Jones’s gene largely skipped me.
However, there was one time when I wanted to go 110% Jones’s and that was when smartphones were new. The very first time I saw one, I wanted it. My best friend got one when they first came out and I used to be amazed how she could use it to get us un-lost. How she could use the web browser to find us places to eat or things to do…
Smartphones were actually like a magic little box of answers and awesome.
Even though I wanted one so badly, I didn’t wind up getting one until 2011. And I can no longer imagine life without it. Sometimes the frugal side of me says, you could just go get a flip phone, but whatever’s making the real decisions in my brain squashes that thought right quick.
For me, I’m honestly not even sure if it’s optional to own a smartphone anymore:
- My last 3 jobs have expected me to own one and to regularly check my emails, even when I’m not actually at work.
- I would never find anywhere again. When I went to Niagara Falls with my friends with summer, we had to use Mapquest printouts since none of our data plans worked in Canada. Suffice to say, it did not go smoothly.
- I look up manuals for broken equipment pretty often.
- I have a half dozen apps I use all the time for work, and I’m not about to switch to lugging around several reference books or memorizing complex math equations.
Even just at a creature comfort level, I pretty much live in a van for work. Little things like games (I’m a little addicted to Trivia Crack), being able to watch TV shows and listening to my music – all in one tiny piece of hardware – are pretty awesome.
While I’d be the first to admit my smartphone is a want and not a need, I do think it’s interesting to look at how much time it saves me. If I had to go back to a computer to look things up or actually try to find and use reference books when things go wrong, I’d lose a lot of time. And time really does equal money. That time could be spent working on my blog or side hustling somehow. They’ve also become so prevalent now that it’s possible to find deals on them, including some awesome Verizon Rebates.
When purchasing your phone, you’ll want to consider several things like how much data do you really need, what company will give you the best network coverage and who has the best customer service. A little research goes a long way when picking out your new phone.
It would be really hard to go from a smart phone (which I use all of the time) back to a basic phone. Even my husband, who didn’t get a smart phone til 2012 and only because I bought one for him, can hardly do without it. It would be hard to adjust to not having instant email, web access, and a camera at all times.
Emily @ JohnJaneDoe recently posted…4 Ways I Stopped Christmas Overspending This Year
I agree – it’s one thing if you haven’t made the hop yet, but going back seems incredibly difficult, especially since most of the time work expects me to be accessible and checking my emails.
I am still on my handy flip phone. I just don’t hang on the wireless world too much and can get by with a $100 a YEAR going the pre-paid route @ $0.25 a minute / $0.20 per text. I have an old Apple 4 phone at home that my son-in-law gave me that I use to stream video to a TV. When I use it to check email rather than get off of my rear-end and go to the laptop it drives me crazy trying to accomplish anything on the small touch screen.
That said, the piece of tech I do love is the Garmin I bought used off of eBay for $24 in 2011 before a long road trip to San Antonio TX. Now that I have it we depend on it whenever traveling or simply going into the city.
There are times I can see the benefit of having a newer phone and data plan when we travel. It would be nice on a road trip to check for hotel rooms up ahead while on the road but it hasn’t been enough of a reason YET for me to jump from the cheap wireless service that serves me well now.
GPS is really an incredible feat of technology.
They are super helpful nowadays, but definitely still a “want.” We are behind a few models on our phones, just recently upgrades to the 5s when we switched to TING. No reason to buy the newest, we wait about 2 models behind before upgrading. Super cheap that way!
Brett @mortgagehustle recently posted…How we paid off $42,000 with a baby on the way in just 14 months
I am also totally ok with being several model behind the newest edition.
I use my phone so often for so many things, like the ones you mentioned above. But I also use it to save money with apps, rewards programs, and mobile coupons.
Heather @ Simply Save recently posted…Simply Save Week In Review: 12/5-12/11
Me too! I love Instant Rewards and iBotta.
I literally couldn’t live without my smartphone. I have all of my business and personal connections on it that I would not only personally fall apart without it but I would professionally fall apart as well. I was late the the smartphone game as well, but now I can’t imagine life without it. I recently met someone who still has a flip phone and I was watching how he texted and I can’t even remember what it was like to have to type the same number 2 or 3 times to get the letter you wanted to send a message. We’re so spoiled now with a full keyboard not to mention emojis! 🙂
Shannon @ Financially Blonde recently posted…Finding Motivation for Success
I have a “blackberry” style phone and I can check emails and text and I get by on $100/year in cellphone bills (tracphone). Surprisingly, my college daughter has the same phone, and did not choose to ask for a smartphone for Christmas.
RAnn recently posted…The Great American Dividend Machine: Book Review
I was late to the smartphone world but now my life is owned by my phone haha. I really do not know what I would do with out. Everything is on my phone!
Michelle recently posted…Getting Back to the Basics: We were happier when we spent less money