The High Cost of Modern Living

[Nords]

No cell phone? Spouse and I are surprised to find out that we're members of "America's Most Exclusive Club":

America's Most Exclusive Club - BusinessWeek

I occasionally watch TV (but prefer the computer or a good book), I use the dryer a couple times a month (but still hang up a significant minority of our laundry), I use the dishwasher every week or so (but still wash a lot of dishes/pots/pans), and we don't have air conditioning. If the grid is destroyed by a hurricane this month then we'd just party like it's 1799...

 

[jayc]

I am consciously trying to invest enough in my local natural gas company, electric utility, and so forth to have the dividends pay the bills. It might not be the most efficient investing but I see it as a hedge against price hikes. There are some problems with my logic I know but the investments are a tiny fraction of all my investments so I am not concerned.

Does anyone else take this approach?

Yes. I started DRIP plans with electric, phone, oil companies long ago. These are monthly bills I would have for life. Now they pay me more than I pay them.

 

[Walt34]

I often think about how so called necessities of life have changed radically since I was a kid. Once we have tasted the fruit it is hard to go back to the simpler life, even if it means we have to work to support this habit.

I think part of it is simply that there is just so much more stuff (i.e. temptations and options) than there were and so much of it "snowballs" from one thing to the next. We didn't have A/C until I was 15 or a clothes dryer until the year after that. A machine that washes dishes? Never heard of it.

But never again will I take a long road trip without a GPS (with a paper map for backup) since even a cheap one is $80. For looking into small or awkward spaces a digital inspection camera beats a mirror easily. Those things didn't exist, at least at a price affordable for the average person, 15 years ago.

And the list goes on....

 

[scrabbler1]

No cell phone? Spouse and I are surprised to find out that we're members of "America's Most Exclusive Club":

America's Most Exclusive Club - BusinessWeek

I occasionally watch TV (but prefer the computer or a good book), I use the dryer a couple times a month (but still hang up a significant minority of our laundry), I use the dishwasher every week or so (but still wash a lot of dishes/pots/pans), and we don't have air conditioning. If the grid is destroyed by a hurricane this month then we'd just party like it's 1799...

I have no cell phone, either. I hate those things on several different levels. When I see someone driving erratically near me, most of the time the driver is on a cell phone. This frightens me. [I once had trouble crossing a street as a pedestrian because the driver was not obeying the directions of a police officer directing traffic. I yelled to him and pointed to the driver who was on her cell phone. The cop went to her and chewed her out.] For the last 10 years or so I was working, the trip on the train was constantly worsened by other passengers yakking loudly on their cell phones, oblivious or apathetic to the selfish (or cell-fish) annoyance they were imposing on those around them. At movies, restaurants, and other public venues where some level of quiet is expected, these things cause nothing but annoyance and aggravation.

When I go out, I don't want to be able to be found. I have a phone answering machine at home, and if I need to check it from elsewhere, I can do so without annoying anyone. Email and Instant Messaging provide other unintrusive ways of my being found.

How did these people survive in the bad old 1990s without cell phones?

 

[dex]

I have no cell phone, either. I hate those things on several different levels. When I see someone driving erratically near me, most of the time the driver is on a cell phone. This frightens me. [I once had trouble crossing a street as a pedestrian because the driver was not obeying the directions of a police officer directing traffic. I yelled to him and pointed to the driver who was on her cell phone. The cop went to her and chewed her out.] For the last 10 years or so I was working, the trip on the train was constantly worsened by other passengers yakking loudly on their cell phones, oblivious or apathetic to the selfish (or cell-fish) annoyance they were imposing on those around them. At movies, restaurants, and other public venues where some level of quiet is expected, these things cause nothing but annoyance and aggravation.

When I go out, I don't want to be able to be found. I have a phone answering machine at home, and if I need to check it from elsewhere, I can do so without annoying anyone. Email and Instant Messaging provide other unintrusive ways of my being found.

How did these people survive in the bad old 1990s without cell phones?

I have the same issues about cell phones and the other functions you mentioned.

I got a cell phone in 2006 (and cut out the land line) for traveling and safety while traveling. I even pull over to the side of the road to use it or don't answer it when I'm driving. You can have one and use it like a land line - leave it at home.

 

[FUEGO]

No cell phone? Spouse and I are surprised to find out that we're members of "America's Most Exclusive Club":

I'm a proud member too! I'm too important and the demands on my time are too great to leave time to mess with answering a piddly cell phone. I rarely answer the home phone either. Voicemails left at my home phone number are emailed to me, and I can respond on my schedule.

I usually have a cell phone. It stays in my glove box for emergencies. I forgot to activate a new phone, so I have been phone-less for a month. Oh well! I did wish for a cell phone this last weekend while on vacation. I had walked 6 or 8 blocks away to pick up lunch for the family while they were lounging by the fountain. It looked like rain so we MADE PLANS (yes people can still make plans) that if it rained, we would meet under the awning of the National Archives building across the street. It rained and upon my return, the family wasn't at the National Archives, so I found them fountain-side packing up to rendezvous at the National Archives.

 

[Texas Proud]

No cell phone? Spouse and I are surprised to find out that we're members of "America's Most Exclusive Club":

America's Most Exclusive Club - BusinessWeek

I occasionally watch TV (but prefer the computer or a good book), I use the dryer a couple times a month (but still hang up a significant minority of our laundry), I use the dishwasher every week or so (but still wash a lot of dishes/pots/pans), and we don't have air conditioning. If the grid is destroyed by a hurricane this month then we'd just party like it's 1799...

I was one of the few... but finally got one for emergencies... I do not give out my number to just anybody... and when I do I tell them it is for emergencies... When I first got it... by BIL called to talk... I told him this does not sound like an emergency... he never called my cell again...


The thing I got out of the article is that so many people are ruled by their phone, so they do not have one.... I have one, but am not ruled by it...

 

[Onward]

No cell phone here either. For me the costs outweigh the benefits, and the costs are not all financial. I also have this strange urge to dismantle farm equipment whenever I see it.

yes people can still make plans

But I think it's a dying art!

 

[DoingHomework]

No, I don't think you can assume that price hikes correlate to higher profits for the company. Back when gas was going up to $4/gallon, some said to invest in the oil companies. So let's say you invested in BP. Then their well blows. BP's stock tanks. Let's say the spill is bad enough to create a bit of a gas shortage, and prices go up. Now you're paying more for gas, but your oil stock has dropped too.

I think that making your best investments and shopping prudently are totally separate issues. You can buy AAPL stock and make money and not be compelled to buy an iPhone. Now what does make sense is seeing a product that you and a lot of other people like, making sure that product's sales really impact that company's bottom line, and deciding to buy the stock.

Ok, I grant that what you say is true. But I was talking about the utilities that serve us. Their prices, and indeed profits, are regulated by the states they operate in. So, at least in principle, once the dividends are enough to cover the bills we pay to them, we should be somewhat protected against price hikes. It's not perfect of course but it's something.

Deregulation could screw that all up. But after the disastrous experience with deregulation about 10 years ago I don't think we will see it in at least a generation.

 

[ziggy29]

Learned about it on this forum. T-Mobile pre-pay and 'Gold Status'.

The first year will cost me $32 for the phone, charger and a $25 card. Add $100 (1000 minutes plus 1 year) to achieve 'Gold Status'. So $132/12 = $11/month the first month ( a little less if you can stretch that first $25 worth). After that, just $10 extends you for another year and rolls over your unused minutes, and adds 35 minutes. I rarely use even 10 minutes a month, so unless my habits change, I won't be spending more than $10/year for many years.

I'm on T-Mobile prepaid, too. Spent $100 the first year for 1200 minutes (there was a 20% bonus when I bought in) and then $10 per year to keep the service alive. I still have 1100 minutes left.

 

[ERD50]

I do not give out my number to just anybody... and when I do I tell them it is for emergencies... When I first got it... by BIL called to talk... I told him this does not sound like an emergency... he never called my cell again...

Your BIL probably pays big $ for a package with lots of minutes, so he thinks nothing of making a bunch of calls over nothing.

And here's another way that impacts us - it really bugs me that so many parents get the 'unlimited texting' for their kids. So their kids text my kids and we pay for each text. "Oh, it's only $15 a month" - making me sound like a cheapskate (well, I am), but that is $180 a year, and look at the taxes/fees on top of that too.

It adds insult to injury as I know that texts cost the carriers almost zero $ to support.

-ERD50

 

[Ronnieboy]

And here's another way that impacts us - it really bugs me that so many parents get the 'unlimited texting' for their kids. So their kids text my kids and we pay for each text. "Oh, it's only $15 a month" - making me sound like a cheapskate (well, I am), but that is $180 a year, and look at the taxes/fees on top of that too.

It adds insult to injury as I know that texts cost the carriers almost zero $ to support.

-ERD50

I have to get unlimited texting, b/c my daughter can somehow text >1600 times in a month which is far below the amount of minutes she can use. I wonder if she sleeps

 

[Texas Proud]

I have to get unlimited texting, b/c my daughter can somehow text >1600 times in a month which is far below the amount of minutes she can use. I wonder if she sleeps

She is a slacker... I think someone posted here the average is 3,000...

I have seen some interviews on TV where they text each other even when they are sitting on the same couch!!!

 

[Ronnieboy]

I have seen some interviews on TV where they text each other even when they are sitting on the same couch!!!

That might have been her!

 

[ziggy29]

I have seen some interviews on TV where they text each other even when they are sitting on the same couch!!!

I like technology as much as the next guy, but when it comes to stuff like this and texting while driving, enough is enough.

 

[ERD50]

I have to get unlimited texting, b/c my daughter can somehow text >1600 times in a month which is far below the amount of minutes she can use. I wonder if she sleeps

You don't "have to", I don't. I didn't vaporize. I get some grief, and I did pay the extra for (I think) 1,000 texts/month when she went off to college. The incremental cost for unlimited is only ~ $5/month ($60 year plus all those taxes fees), but so far she has 'survived' on less than 1,000.

She is a slacker... I think someone posted here the average is 3,000...

I have seen some interviews on TV where they text each other even when they are sitting on the same couch!!!

Well, once they are 'free' (un-metered), why not? We used to just roll our eyes at things out folks said, now kids text comments w/o saying a word.

-ERD50

 

[avengerki]

I have a cell phone my parents got for me since they were tired of not being able to get ahold of me. It just sits on my nightstand most of the time. I actually setup my parents cell phone coverage to have my work discount so basically they don't even pay for my phone from that since the discount covers its cost.

I have a cell phone through work also but it doesn't have voice service just PTT and text messaging. On my work days I will recieve about 100 to 200 texts and maybe 5 PTT's(we just got PTT we used to just have two-way pagers but they were getting to be too expensive to repair). My wife and I work for the same company so on the weekends if we go somewhere and the other is not going with we will sometimes grab our work cell phones(used to be pagers) and just PTT or text if we need something.

The teenager though is constantly text messaging and seems they just can't put the phone down. The preteen just had to have a cellphone and most of the time his cellphone just sits on the charger, but his dad helps pay for it and that is how they talk alot.

 

[aida2003]

I'm on T-Mobile prepaid, too. Spent $100 the first year for 1200 minutes (there was a 20% bonus when I bought in) and then $10 per year to keep the service alive. I still have 1100 minutes left.

[/URL]
Learned about it on this forum. T-Mobile pre-pay and 'Gold Status'.

The first year will cost me $32 for the phone, charger and a $25 card. Add $100 (1000 minutes plus 1 year) to achieve 'Gold Status'. So $132/12 = $11/month the first month ( a little less if you can stretch that first $25 worth). After that, just $10 extends you for another year and rolls over your unused minutes, and adds 35 minutes. I rarely use even 10 minutes a month, so unless my habits change, I won't be spending more than $10/year for many years..

"]Darn, and I sometimes brag to a couple of my frugal friends that my Virgin Mobile costs us $16/quarter that we bought for emergencies. I'll have to remember T-Mobile when I need a *cheaper* service in the future.

 

[TromboneAl]

I'd rather not have a cell phone, especially after this last week when I've spend a lot of time buying and setting up a new tracfone, only to have it go though the wash and possibly be ruined. Add to that the frustration that each phone has a different plug for charging, and a different interface, etc.

In addition, today I've spent an hour trying to figure out how to get voicemail messages from Lena's phone using our landline phone (it works differently than with my tracfone).

But there have been enough times when having a cell phone has been essential, and going without is not an option. For example, if my bike breaks down far from anywhere, I might have to walk for hours in my bike shoes. When traveling, the ability to make camping reservations or check site availability makes spontaneous decisions possible.

 

[ERD50]

[/I]

Darn, and I sometimes brag to a couple of my frugal friends that my Virgin Mobile costs us $16/quarter that we bought for emergencies. I'll have to remember T-Mobile when I need a *cheaper* service in the future.

Actually, if it is cheaper for you (and fits your needs), there is no advantage to waiting. Any money you have in the old one is 'sunk' dollars anyhow.

-ERD50

 

[skyvue]

I have never paid a cent for a cell phone. I have one because work makes me carry one and pays the bill. When I eventually quit, I will not miss it.

 

[aida2003]

Actually, if it is cheaper for you (and fits your needs), there is no advantage to waiting. Any money you have in the old one is 'sunk' dollars anyhow. -ERD50

Good point. I'll need to ask around about T-mobile reception in our area before proceeding (or not).

 

[Texas Proud]

[/I]

Darn, and I sometimes brag to a couple of my frugal friends that my Virgin Mobile costs us $16/quarter that we bought for emergencies. I'll have to remember T-Mobile when I need a *cheaper* service in the future.

I am in the same boat.... one problem with the Virgin phone is coverage... seems that few times we 'needed' it... there was no coverage (one was when a truck hit us and the other when my wife was camping and the car would not start).... so I am going to try T-Mobile and see if their coverage is better... my wife's phone only has $15 on it so her's is the one that is going to be changed... mine has over $50...

 

[Texas Proud]

Actually, if it is cheaper for you (and fits your needs), there is no advantage to waiting. Any money you have in the old one is 'sunk' dollars anyhow.

-ERD50

There is.... except for the coverage... the $15 was just spent, so we still have 80 or so days before we need to recharge... might as well wait for those days to expire... or I lose 80 days on the new plan...

 

[ERD50]

There is.... except for the coverage... the $15 was just spent, so we still have 80 or so days before we need to recharge... might as well wait for those days to expire... or I lose 80 days on the new plan...

Right, I guess I should have said 'no sense in waiting past your next refill date'. And of course, assuming the coverage area of each suits your needs.

-ERD50