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How are those virgin mobile phones? I see unlimited everything for $25. How is their internet?
I guess my one issue would be even their best phone is like an LG touch screen but still not a great phone, you cant beat the price though.
Do you have dropped calls, get voicemails and texts late or is it pretty good? I've been curious but price makes me think too good to be true.
I see how some of you use your smart phone to eitehr save yuou or make you money with price look ups and things like that.
I go to storage auctions so could look up values while an auction is running and better know what to bid. could make me extra money or save me from spending stupid money.
I use VM (Sprint). We just recently traded up to the LG Optimus V and like it. How fast the internet is depends on network usage at the time. Sometimes it is really fast (particularly when you are in a 3G supported area) and other times it can drag. To be honest, free WiFi is everywhere, so this isn't really a make or break point for me personally. You also got to think that you are paying only $25 a month for the service, so you can't expect the world. Unlimited texting is awesome and you get 300 minutes a month which is generally more than me and my husband need. I like it. I'm certainly preferable to paying $80-$100 a month plus two year contract for a smartphone otherwise.
im now looking into going with boost. i have to do the math on running out our contract vs buying out our contract. we live in downtown indianapolis, if boost does what it claims to do we'll switch.
The flip phone died. Actually, 4 of them did... we still have our kids on our plan. Got the cheapest family plan for 4 with unlimited M2M, nights and weekends free, unlimited texts & mobile e-mail (remember, our 2 daughters never left the plan). I pay about $38/mo for each of us, or about $152. You can get GPS for $5/mo (On a trip, I might want to). Did I think we needed all that? Not really. Then I was in the hospital for a while and the mobile web and e-mail was a godsend. I also learned to text the kids. I think it is worth every cent
boost mobile has inlimited everything for 50 a month. at this point, it would save us $200 at the end of 14 months, when our sprint contract would be up. that is taking onto consideration, contract buyout, buying phones, current bill, and the cost of the new bill. if we sell our old phones it would help out even more.
Any regular posters to this frugal forum have a smart phone?
"Frugal living is practiced by those who aim to cut expenses, have more money, and get the most they possibly can from their money" (from wiki )
That's what I was thinking when I was looking for new device.
Few weeks ago I switched , from cell phone to smart phone, and to be honest I like it
Did my research on net and bought LG Optimus V(an Android 2.2 phone) from Virgin Mobile for $149 , and went with one of their beyond talk plans for $25 a month for 300min + unlimited text and internet , with no contract.
Used to have one of their pre paid phones($30) and was spending about $20 a month for minutes and texts .
Used to have Internet at home for $40 a month .
So I used to pay about $60 a month for these two things , and now I consolidated them into one for $25 a month
Now , I would not give up my previous setup if I was not able to use that phone like wi-fi hot spot , so I can have internet on my laptop .(no I don't pay extra for it , you just download the app from the market and activate hot spot when you wanna use it)
What I really like about all this is that this one thing is now a phone , camera , MP3 player , navigation device , maps etc ....and having access to your @mail and internet (3G not crippled and slow cell phone internet)on the go is extra plus.
So is smart phone for frugal people ?
Dunno , it depends .
In my case saves me money and gives me more back.
I take public transportation everywhere, saving money that way, but for me, I feel like a smart phone is the way to go if you take public transportation, that way you can see exactly when the train or bus will be at the station, and plan your time accordingly. It is easier than having schedules, and sometimes the buses don't always run according to the schedules. Online you can see the exact update of time "Where is the bus?" You just put in your line, and your stop, and it tells you when it will be there in real time. The GPS is a lifesaver...and I have an app for all the Happy Hours in my town...anyone for a .99 cent beer?
I had used only "dumb" phones for the past several years (on TMobile, Sprint, Boost, and Page Plus). Then I found out about Virgin Mobile's $25/month plan (UNLIMITED TEXT AND DATA, NO CONTRACT!). Only 300 minutes/month, but I rarely exceed that number. I bought the LG Optimus V (Android phone) and couldn't be happier with it.
The flip phone died. Actually, 4 of them did... we still have our kids on our plan. Got the cheapest family plan for 4 with unlimited M2M, nights and weekends free, unlimited texts & mobile e-mail (remember, our 2 daughters never left the plan). I pay about $38/mo for each of us, or about $152. You can get GPS for $5/mo (On a trip, I might want to). Did I think we needed all that? Not really. Then I was in the hospital for a while and the mobile web and e-mail was a godsend. I also learned to text the kids. I think it is worth every cent
I don't have a Smartphone, but I have something like the above poster. I have the family share plan with Verizon and my three kids are on it - they're all grown and living in different places. We have 700 shared minutes, unlimited M2M, nights and weekends free, unlimited texts, but no email. It's $79.99 for mine and $10 each additional line (+ taxes/fees). Two of them just bought Smartphones and added $30 data plans, which they forward me the money for. The rest I pay for, and it's well worth it. We text, send pics, and stay in touch as a family this way.
I put us on the family plan two days after 9/11 and we've been on it ever since.
I'm a regular reader of the forum, but I'm not in a competetion to keep up with the frugal Joneses on who can make and spend the least.
I have a Droid X. It's frugal as it replaces a lot of costly items. Besides being a phone, it replaces a separate portable calendar, allowig me to make and remember appointments. It synchs with outlook at work and at home automatically, so I can be reminded of work appointments others set without any effort on my part. And of course, I can manage my email accounts for work and home. I have a locked password keeper for necessary websites (like the online banking and Employee Express).
It has both maps that work worldwide and GPS navigation, so I don't need a Garmin or the like if I go to unfamiliar cities (like when we went to my son's Navy boot camp graduation in Great Lakes, Michigan last fall) ad as a smart phone, if we wanted to go to dinner or a movie with him there, we could look it up with Poynt (for a restaurant) and automatically navigate there, or buy movie tickets on the phone and then navigate to the theater. I could find chaeper gas, and compare reviews of places right on the phone before going there.
And, with another app on it, I could use the cheaper phone to keep from buying a more expensive iPod big enough to hold all my music, as the Android phone syncs with iTunes (where I had ripped a lot of old vinyl and CDs) both the songs and playlists so I could listen in the car WHILE using the GPS. The camera is better than my old point and shot digital, and it does video, too, so we could get both pictures and video of his graduation ceremony. Did all the same stuff a few weks ago when he graduated from his A school down in South Carolina.
I'd been given a kindle a while ago, and using the free kindle app, I can read on the kindle at home, and if I'm out somewhere and bored, I can click on the kindle app on the phone, pickup reading where I left off on the kindle, and when I 'm done, the kindle at home will pick up from where the phone left off. How cool is that? Using high tech to read books in more places, more conveniently (the kindle holds hundreds or more books, and I can accessa ny of them from the phone whenever I want)
Using the barcode scanner app I've saved more than the cost of the phone on items for the house, simply by scanning them, finding online pricing, and having the store I'm in match the prices.
And all of this fits in one pocket. Frugal is also efficiency, and this is seriously efficient.
Do I need all that stuff? No one "needs" anything more than basic nourishment and possibly shelter from weather. Does it make life a bit easier and more convenient? Yes, and it's why we have brains and why I studied in school and worked to earn more than the minimum wage.
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