Do you have a cell phone?

[Mr._johngalt]

Hey SG. I see your point also. However, for a real
type A (that would be me) even in retirement they come in handy. See, if I get an idea or need to talk to someone, I want to do it RIGHT NOW! I've been this way forever. The only reason I don't have a cell phone now is the cost. Even though it would be fully tax
deductible, I still am holding off. I know it is very cheap
now. Still not enough bang for my buck.

JG

 

[RAE]

Tracfones are the way to go, at least for us. No contract, and you can get a year's worth of minutes for $80 or so, as someone said previously. Coverage seems decent. I'm not a fan of cell phones in general, and we don't use the thing for general chit-chat.......only when we really need it.

RAE

 

[Eagle43]

In general, I hate cell phones, and pagers, too. I call them an electronic leash. When I get in my vehicle I don't want anybody calling me, especially my boss (when I was working). As to the security of having them for emergencies, how did I make it 61 years without one? OTOH, mebbe they're like a gun. Rather have it and not need it than vice versa!

BTW, here's my version of a typical cell phone call. "Hello! Yeah, I'm at the corner of Main and 1st Street. Where you at? Yeah, Ya wanna do lunch? Nah, I was a Chili's yesterday, let's do Red Lobster. OK, See you at 12:15. Ciao!" Or some such version, but you get the idea. Hardly worth the price and certainly not worth invading everybody else's space.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Just like any other tool, they have good and bad uses.

When my wife was 8.75 months pregnant and I was over at our other house painting, it was a pretty good tool.

On my way back from somewhere, when I want to check in to see if we need any last minute groceries before I go shopping, pretty good tool.

But I dont give anyone the number and if I call someone and they say "Is this your cell #??" and I sense a hovering pen...I say "no, I just borrowed a friends for a minute.

That sort of simplifies the bad aspects of the 'tool'.

 

[gstander1]

I have one from Virgin Mobile(http://www.virginmobileusa.com). The phone cost about $100 but I only have to use $20 every three months - I make so few calls that $6.33 / month is a good deal for me. As long as you keep adding money every three months, it carries over but I guess eventually, you would want to use the time or lose it. It does cost me 25 cents a minute to use it but it has no roaming charges or taxes added (so not a good deal if you use your phone a lot). The only downside is that it seems that its coverage is not that good. It's fine in the cities and on major highways but if you are somewhere off the beaten path, it's tough to get service.

Greg

 

[uncledrz]

The only downside is that it seems that its coverage is not that good.  It's fine in the cities and on major highways but if you are somewhere off the beaten path, it's tough to get service.

Greg

I had Sprint too and had the same problem. Had to switch to Alltel. More expensive, but has the coverage.
Uncledrz