Before I begin this confession, let me give a shout out to Amanda at Frugal Confessions! Her blog is about all kind of frugal activities and smart money management in general! Since meeting her in person at FinCon11, I can honestly say she’s is a truly beautiful individual inside and out!
Smart devices make it possible
I Don’t Own a Cell Phone!
Actually I have never owned a cell phone! Now people that know me see me with a cell phone in a holster at my side at all times. To be completely honest, I would feel kind of naked without that silly phone bouncing on my side like I’m toting a gun… Yet, while I carry a cell phone, I don’t own it! It’s a company phone… All of my cell phones have been company phones.
At one time to encourage employee’s to always have their phone on them, my employer would buy phone and tell everybody that it was okay to use them for personal use too (if it’s not done too much). So for over the past decade, that is what I’ve done. I’m sure I’ve saved thousands of dollars in the process. But times have changed…
Why I Now Need a Cell Phone…
I was raised frugally, so the only time I buy something expensive is when I absolutely need it.
So, the question is… “Do I absolutely need it now?”
No, not yet, but I know eventually I will need one! The evolution of this blog mandates that I become a more actively social person. Much to my surprise, I enjoy the social aspect… It’s grown on me lately (probably because of meeting so many great people at fincon11). So now I get by with Google Voice and Skype, but eventually I’ll need a smart phone too.
What Cell Phone Would I Buy:
Any cell phone beats nothing, but probably a droid or a iPhone… What even type of phone I buy, I need internet access so I can tweet and check my email at a drop of a dime! I might even bypass a phone all together and buy an Apple iPad instead. Then again, perhaps I’ll just take my son’s old iPod touch when it’s time to get him the newest model (being frugal, this is probably what I will do).
What do you think? Is a smart phone (cell phone) necessary? Or are you fine without?
Cell Phoneless me,
MR
I resisting buying a smartphone, however I am slowly seeing the merit of having one. I may be a smartphone user in 2012!
Yep, I thinking of taking that leap next year too, or maybe sooner.
I am definitely going to update my smart phone to an Android or iPhone…my fiancee doesn’t have test. Cannot wait to convert her once we’re married.
My son has an iPod, and that convinced me I want something new and cool.
I don’t think a smart phone is necessary, but if you can write it off as business expense…. Why not? 🙂
Excellent point. It’s still pretty expensive for me, because I have a dividend stream covering business costs. Hopefully by next year I will have a dividend stream large enough to cover that expense 🙂
A smartphone is definitely a nice convenience. Some of the functions are unnecessary, but it definitely has also made it very convenient to operate while away. For example, I have been on the road for several hours and decided I wanted to see what you wrote today, so I am commenting from my Windows phone while my wife drives. Love it
It’s funny, the part of your comment “on the road for several hours and decided I wanted to see what you wrote today ”
makes me want to do a better job writing my posts!
It’s really is great to see you back online, I’m very happy you’re back! 🙂
Thank you so much for the kind words!
I recently just took the smartphone plunge. I was really nervous about it because I didn’t want the phone to consume me. But it turns out that it has a lot of great features that allow me to use technology less; my laptop stays off most of the weeknights now and I find I am only using it on weekends to write with!
Great points! I think smart phones and devices are now a time savings instead of a time drain. Someday soon, I want one too!
Have a great weekend!
I’m hoping my wife gets compensation from her work so “she” can get a smart phone. Of course, it would be hers, but I would get to play with it. And we wouldn’t have to pay for it. haha. I’m still against paying for it myself, but I am like you – I’m still not sure it’s necessary, but it’s slowly growing on me. 🙂
Once my son got an iPod, I was a convert. He just wants it for the games, but the way it syncs to other calendar programs, that alone is worth it. Plus you can download google voice and use it as a phone if you are near a wireless router. And it’s easy to get to a wireless router! I might go with an iPod instead of a real cell phone… I’m sure it’s a lot cheaper.
I wouldn’t call a cell phone of any type a “need” but I do love my iPhone 🙂
Agreed, but it sounds like it could make life much better from at time optimization standpoint.
I’m surprised you made it this long without and phone! I suggest an iPhone. Team iPhone!!!!
An iPhone would be great! Although, if I could get a deal on an android, I would do that too.
I’ve always had a company phone (or Blackberry now), but I’m warming up to the idea of a smart phone. Number One Son has an iTouch, and with the recent addition of an iPad to the tech menagerie, I can see it coming.
It’s funny how similar the iPod and iPad are really. Since they are so similar, it makes the transition easy to move from one to another…
someday, someday… I’ll get one (or my son’s used iPod)…
Once you go with a smartphone, you will never look back!
I can imagine… someday…someday
I vacillate on the smart phone. I have one now, and I find it is useful for checking email and such. However, I find myself looking at that instead of noticing other things in life sometimes, and I don’t like that!
Yeah, I’m afraid of becoming borg-like from the Star Trek series… With blogging, it has the capability of always being on… It’s much more than I initially thought it would be, and a smart phone/device (along with a blue tooth device) even makes it worse.
I have always had work pay for my phones, but I finally got an ipad this month and I pay for 3G service on it. I use it for work, blog, and fun and I am happy to have it so far.
Yeah, they sounds pretty darn sweet! And it make you much for efficient!
Just having instant access to anything site related was worth it for me. I use an android phone and don’t see myself ever switching.
Android sounds pretty sweet too!
I have a normal cell phone now. The only connection to the blog is the twitter feed that pings like a text message, so that helps me stay in touch. I think a smartphone is a logical next step…and I wish my company would pay for it!
Twitter is one of the biggest reasons that I want a smart phone, that and scheduling things…
Right now my company provides me a smart phone, but twitter and other forms of socialization is disabled.
The only reason one needs a smart phone would be for business purposes. If you work from home and have Internet access why get a smart phone? The day I retire at 45 is the day that I retire the smart phone and just a get a basic cell phone. Have to have a cell phone though.