iPhone 5 = i Can't Afford to Stop W&*rking?

[Bestwifeever]

$35/month for me on virgin mobile gives me unlimited data, talk, text here, great video cam, exceptional photos, free apps include voice gps, hookup to car ubs for audiobooks, etc., etc., etc.

DH will upgrade to the iPhone 5 later this fall for almost twice that.

Neither phone is a necessity but we don't care. Everyone decides what's important to them. We will continue to own only one little old house and drive our long paid-for cars. I imagine the cost of a smart phone and full service is still a lot less than maintaining an RV.

 

[NW-Bound]

$35/month for me ...

...still a lot less than maintaining an RV.

Oh, my lady! We are only talking about people who spend more than they can afford. And then, even if we can afford something, it's the matter of having enough time to play with all these toys. Time is limited too. It certainly is for me.

And yes, $35/month is not expensive at all. Even a cheap guy like me wouldn't mind that. And of course $35 is only 10 gal of gas for my RV, which moves it only 93 miles (barely out to the outskirt of town, and back).

What's going on? I couldn't find wireless data as cheap as everybody else is getting.

Just now, I checked T-Mobile, a carrier that I used in the past. Of course, they offer many plans, but here's a plan that says: Unlimited Talk, Text, and Unlimited* High Speed Internet, $70/month.

What's that * by the word "Unlimited"? Oh, it's unlimited until you get to 5GB/month. How can it be "unlimited" if there is a quota? Does this mean that when you reach the quota, they slow your speed down to a trickle?

Would that 5GB work for me? So, I go to the Web site of my cable company, and check my account. It says I used 66GB the last monthly cycle, out of 200GB limit. Until now, I never knew there is a limit, obviously because I never reached it.

What is also interesting is that they say my single-day usage was as high as 6GB in one day, and as low as 0.1GB/day. Interesting! How do I reconcile the seemingly discrepancy I just found? That is, the data traffic I use in one day may be as much as a smartphone uses in one month.

Perhaps I pulled down a lot more data with my big screen PCs than the smartphones do. Or, I surfed way too much compared to the smartphone users?

OMG, I am "in the Matrix"!

PS. By the way, I was not home much last month due to RV'ing (that doggone expensive activity, like you noted!). Else, my monthly traffic would be a lot higher than 66GB. However, my max usage of 6GB/day means that I could be close to, but not over the 200GB/month limit, as 6*30=180GB. Without all of this discussion, I would not know how much of a traffic hog my wife and I have been!

I am "in the Matrix"! Arghhh... Arghhh...

 

[imoldernu]

Ummm... we never had a telephone until I was 15 years old, and that was a 4 party line.

Our current minutes on Vonage average 120/mo.... $9.99 plan.

To all... Who do you talk to

 

[NW-Bound]

I talk to nobody. As stated earlier, my cell phone is turned off. My landline is picked up by the answering machine. This is so that I can surf the Web without interruption. I am a single-minded guy. I do not multi-task.

And because I suspect that I am really living in a Matrix, I surfed and found this article written by a professor of Philosophy at Oxford: What's the probability that we're living in the Matrix?

Conclusion: "You are almost certainly in a simulation".

 

[FUEGO]

FYI T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile have decent unlimited data plans for under $40/mo. Check out the "Walmart" T-mobile plan for example - T-Mobile $30 Wireless Airtime Card - Walmart.com Unlimited text and 4G data plus 100 minutes call time - 1 month of service. I am sure there is fine print, but that was a smoking deal when I researched it this summer, if it fits your needs (lots of data, not much talk time). The virgin mobile is a little more expensive but gives 300 minutes talk time plus unlimited data (not sure if 4G).

 

[M Paquette]

Conclusion: "You are almost certainly in a simulation".

renice +1 -u $USER

 

[NW-Bound]

Logged back in, and saw your message.

As I have enough RV'ing for a while, will go to my boonies home.

 

[obgyn65]

Same here. I have an iphone and an ipad. My phone bill is about $180 per month, with peaks at $400 when I travel abroad. Not sure why it's so high.

Confession. I have both an ipad (Christmas gift from DH) and an iphone (4). The iphone (to me) has become nearly indispensable. I use a budgeting app, a shopping list app, a stock market app, google maps with gps, in addition to playing my music through the car's sound system. Oh, and I use it for texting and phone calls.

 

[Moscyn]

I really really don't understand the fuss over iphone. However, am glad many find great joy in it and don't mind spending $$$ for that.

 

[rbmrtn]

It's more about wants vs needs now for me. I'm not against buying toys to play with, I still got a HP 41CV calculator ( sorta the iphone back in its day ), timex sinclair computer, atari 2600 console, atari 800 computer etc. But I am around a PC pretty much all the time so I wouldn't really use an iphone as PC replacement, maybe if I was traveling all the time. I got a magicjack to replace the landline, a cheap tracfone ( which hasn't been used in a year). I want a lot of things but I don't actually need very much. I'm also more partial to linux/opensource/android stuff so I might pick up one of cheap android tablets to play with.

 

[explanade]

Same here. I have an iphone and an ipad. My phone bill is about $180 per month, with peaks at $400 when I travel abroad. Not sure why it's so high.

If you use data overseas you can rack up huge charges.

Also voice calls and texts cost much more too.

 

[Alan]

Same here. I have an iphone and an ipad. My phone bill is about $180 per month, with peaks at $400 when I travel abroad. Not sure why it's so high.

We only have a regular cell phone but when we travel abroad we use our laptop with Skype to make phone calls. 1-800 numbers are still free no matter where in the world you are, and even when I want to make calls to the same country I am currently in then it is a lot cheaper to use Skype than my US cellphone.

If your high monthly charges while abroad are due to phone calls then you might want to consider alternatives such as Skype from your iPad.

These days I can make international calls from the USA using my cell phone to access Skype and their low rates. (no internet required).

 

[dmdunca44]

Ummm... we never had a telephone until I was 15 years old, and that was a 4 party line.

Our current minutes on Vonage average 120/mo.... $9.99 plan.

To all... Who do you talk to

I talk to my sister (who lives in another state). No long distance charges. I also talk when I'm away from home. While I was out of state a few days ago, DH and I stayed in touch via texting (which saved roaming charges)

 

[ERhoosier]

Amazing to me how some willingly spend $2000+/yr on latest mobile device/services then complain about price of necessities. If you can afford it, fine. But do not confuse want (iPhone/smartphone) with need (food, medicine, healthcare, etc.).
My wants (talk/e-mail/few pics) are met by "entry-level" smartphone & $30/mo T-Mobile pre-paid (1500min talk/text + 30MB data,paid/switchable monthly). Found living in urban area I rarely use network for data as WiFi is usu much faster, & found almost everywhere for free if you look (fast food restaurants, hotels, etc.). I have used unlimited data plan in past & still switch for while if I know I'll be traveling in rural areas. But I've found in many rural areas of Midwest US it's easier to find WiFi hotspot than get a good 3g/4g signal.

 

[explanade]

Who's spending over $2000 on phones and services?

 

[Alan]

Who's spending over $2000 on phones and services?

I think that came from the original article posted at the start of the thread.

 

[W2R]

I think that came from the original article posted at the start of the thread.

The article is a little misleading, IMO. They are counting the cost of all 24 months of voice and data for the two year contract, which comes to $1440. So, over the two years it would come to about $75/month if I understand it correctly.

That is a minimum. I pay $76/month for my Verizon voice+data, but I paid $199 for my phone originally. Then there are the cases, apps, and such. I don't think an iPhone is a good idea for those trying to LBYM. However, I am having fun with mine and can easily afford it at this point in life.

 

[explanade]

That's a two year contract, which is required for all smart phones.

Yeah you can find cheaper plans on smaller carriers. But even with the T-Mobile example, it's over $700 over 2 years.

So you spend more with iPhone and other high-end phones on AT&T and Verizon.

Whether the additional spending is worth it is up to the individual.

 

[Alan]

The article is a little misleading, IMO. They are counting the cost of all 24 months of voice and data for the two year contract, which comes to $1440. So, over the two years it would come to about $75/month if I understand it correctly.

That is a minimum. I pay $76/month for my Verizon voice+data, but I paid $199 for my phone originally. Then there are the cases, apps, and such. I don't think an iPhone is a good idea for those trying to LBYM. However, I am having fun with mine and can easily afford it at this point in life.

I don't doubt that the article is misleading, and I wasn't suggesting anyone here would be paying that much. I was just pointing explanade to the source of the $2k/year statement that ERhoosier made.

I'll go back to watching the debate

 

[Bestwifeever]

That's a two year contract, which is required for all smart phones....

No, you can go month to month on lots of plans including my $35/mo smart phone. Absolutely no contract--billed to a credit card and you can bail whenever at no penalty. I do enjoy having it but understand that many would not.

 

[explanade]

No, you can go month to month on lots of plans including my $35/mo smart phone. Absolutely no contract--billed to a credit card and you can bail whenever at no penalty.

What kind of devices are available?

Coverage and data speeds?

 

[Bestwifeever]

What kind of devices are available?

Coverage and data speeds?

not hard to find--You can go to bestbuy.com for one place to check this out. As i said above, mine is virgin mobile, unlimited everything, 3g speed for my phone, works on sprint network. My 78 y.o. uncle just got one at Walmart (not sure what provider but it is a.smart phone).

But no need to pursue this for yourself as you don't really seem interested in owning one.

 

[W2R]

I don't doubt that the article is misleading, and I wasn't suggesting anyone here would be paying that much. I was just pointing explanade to the source of the $2k/year statement that ERhoosier made.

I'll go back to watching the debate

Oh, I know that! I didn't mean to sound contradictory, because you didn't say anything different from what I said, really. I just wanted to do a minor expose on the misleading nature of the article.

 

[explanade]

Have to admit work pays for service and let's us buy devices on our own, the so-called bring your own device or BYOD which is becoming more common at big cos.

If I were paying for the service, I would certainly consider no-contract carriers. But in the US, that means second-tier carriers with inferior service. For the savings it might be worth the trade offs, which might include going outside to get enough signal strength.

For others you might be saving say 50% but if you can't use the service as much because the coverage is weak where you live then you are not getting much for your money either.

There is some speculation that T-mobiles LTE network could work with iPhone. In that case some might pay non contract price for the unlocked and get cheaper service.

 

[NW-Bound]

Cost aside, when I surf the Web, I like to do it with a big screen in order to see more, and as described in an earlier post, my wife and I manage to pull down as much data traffic in a day as they allow for smartphones for a month. Obviously, we use up way too much traffic compared to most people.

Regarding these "Unlimited" deals, several posters mentioned the Walmart deal, so I looked into that. The online user reviews revealed that there IS a 5GB/month limit. After you exceed that, they throttle the link speed, and one reviewer said that it made the surfing so slow that the phone was only good for checking emails.

Seems to me that all these unlimited deals have quotas, and appear unlimited to most people because they do not exceed that limit. Same as me, who did not know that my cable modem got a limit too which I managed to stay under despite our prolific surfing.

In the past, I read about people getting charged thousand of dollars/month for overuse. It appears that the carriers do not do that anymore, but throttle the speed when the quota is exceeded. As I do not surf on a phone, I wonder if when people do not exceed the limit, it is because they use the smartphones to supplement their home wired connection, and not use the smartphones as the only connection, or tether their laptops or PCs to the phone as a modem. Big difference!

In the past, I have looked at national coverage maps of a few carriers, because I wanted data service when I go RV'ing. It turned out that the coverage was pretty poor in the remote areas that I wanted to go. So, I never bought any data service, and during my trips, my internet connections were limited to Wi-Fi spots that I encountered along the way. The limited wireless coverage in rural areas is the same experience reported by another poster.

PS. When I hear different stories, my enquiring mind likes to know. And I often find out that one can reconcile the differences, simply because it is like comparing apples and oranges.