Cell phone bills, or any kind of subscription with options, is very much like being placed in water and slowly having the heat cranked up.
Just 10 short years ago (it seems like forever), my cell phone bills were around $40. Somewhere along the line, “smart” phones, “web” phones, phone games, phone ringers, phone insurance, and many other fun things came by, and suddenly we couldn’t live without them.
We were also forced to get the plan they came with. For us, to the tune of $180+ by the time all was said and done.
The resulting lifestyle, while it seemed more “connected” and “better,” actually wasn’t. We spent our days constantly checking emails and messages simply because the red light was blinking. And we reacted to almost everything instantly…
We felt brainwashed.
So we’ve turned back the clock. We got rid of “smart,” settling for simple. We left the major providers and went with something simpler. (MetroPCS, if you’re curious).
The end result is a bill less than half its previous size, a small vacation fund every year, and a lot more free time not checking emails.
If you’re in boiling water, maybe it’s time to jump out?
Photo by jronaldlee
Fiscal Fizzle 
Hmmm. I don’t know if I could break my addiction to my smart phone. It does sound very freeing though. Maybe, someday…
I thought it was the greatest thing in the world when I got one.
I also thought it was the greatest thing in the world when I got rid of it…
Kind of like many things in life, I think. š
You make a very good point about all these things we “need”. Sometimes we don’t really take the full cost of a purchase into account like the times spent obsessing over e-mails on your smart phone.
I haven’t had a cell phone in a few years. I miss it when traveling but other than that, no. When I go in public I watch everyone on the phones talking about this and that and to me it often seems like they are missing the full enjoyment of the moment they are in whether it be shopping, dinner out, or even having it ring in church. Cell phones have become a major issue at work and why do people really need to call others five times a day just because they are on speed dial?
I don’t know whether I’d give up my cell completely (I don’t have a house phone these day), but you make a good point–maybe we’ve been brainwashed into that, too!
Now see, I’d be more likely to give up the phone calls portion of my phone than the “smart” part. But, I totally agree with how easy it is to get used to the price increases for additional services/snazziness without fully realizing the impact.