What We Spend

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Dr. Norts said:

That's just the off contract outright cost to buy the phone. On a 2 year contract depending on contract type and and hardware credits you get that number comes down substantially.

For example I just got a galaxy s8 in June. Off contract proce the phone is $1080(cdn). I got it for 299$ on a 2 year contract and received a 170$ hardware credit and another 40$ credit for signing onto a new 2 year contract. So in the end the 1080$ phone only cost me 89$. This is in Canada with Rogers.

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None of the major cell service providers in the US still do contracts. You either pay it all when you buy or finance it over 24 months. Either way, you end up paying the full price of the phone.

We need to buy two iPhones. One for my wife who has a POS Samsung Galaxy S5 and one for my daughter who dropped and shattered the glass on her iPhone 6s. They will most likely get a couple of 6s with 128G for $549 each. For what we use them for we just can see that big of a difference in the 7, 8 or X to pay any more. :shrug:

lmao.... why isn't anyone comparing that 1k phone to the thousands we spend on our cars!?!?... hahaha... too each is own, let 'em be. they aren't hurting anyone.

I'll stick with Project Fi. Bought the Nexus 6P outright and my cell phone bills are anywhere from $25 to $28 a month. It's nice to have T-Mobile and Sprint networks to piggyback off of without the $70+ charges going through them directly for "unlimited" data when I don't even use 0.3 GB of data as it is. Plus, Google refunds whatever data I don't use of my first gig. I pay for exactly what I use. Project Fi is horrible for someone who streams all day though unless you're on Wi-Fi.

There's smart people, then there's Apple users. My favorite is the cult of people that use the laptops and desktops for reasons that make no sense. I typically ask them if they are a graphic designer, or do lots of video and photo editing. Nope, they bought it because their friend Susie said Apple was the best or it doesn't get viruses!

Sucker born every minute.

Dr. Norts said:

That's just the off contract outright cost to buy the phone. On a 2 year contract depending on contract type and and hardware credits you get that number comes down substantially.

For example I just got a galaxy s8 in June. Off contract proce the phone is $1080(cdn). I got it for 299$ on a 2 year contract and received a 170$ hardware credit and another 40$ credit for signing onto a new 2 year contract. So in the end the 1080$ phone only cost me 89$. This is in Canada with Rogers.

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You're paying for that phone still...just not all up front. We also have some of the worst cellphone plans in Canada :(

Dr. Norts said:

That's just the off contract outright cost to buy the phone. On a 2 year contract depending on contract type and and hardware credits you get that number comes down substantially.

For example I just got a galaxy s8 in June. Off contract proce the phone is $1080(cdn). I got it for 299$ on a 2 year contract and received a 170$ hardware credit and another 40$ credit for signing onto a new 2 year contract. So in the end the 1080$ phone only cost me 89$. This is in Canada with Rogers.

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You end up paying the $1150.00 one way or another. Trust me, there are no "discounts" or "credits". It's a shell game, and the phone is paid for one way or another.

As far as phones, I tend to lag one generation behind purposely.

I've never bought a phone.
I make the IT department buy them for me.
I didn't even know you have to pay for the phone. :lol:

The free smart phones are really good now. Stopped getting the latest generation phones a few years ago and don't regret it. Haven't run into any apps that I need to work on my phone that don't.

Rant (please ignore): I hate it when people are broke, but they have the newest phone and expensive phone plan. Some people are making the equivalent of a solid car lease payment for a stupid phone.

"To each their own" no difference than any hobby, sport etc

Some are willing to purchase collectible items to put into their house or garage. It is their money, they decide how to spend it.

It's new technology and new technology comes at a price.

I don't personally feel the need to spend big bucks on smartphones. I'd rather take that money and put it towards a desktop or laptop computer instead. At the $300-$400 midrange, you can get a lot of bang for your buck that can do 95% of the top tier phones can do. And you don't even need to spend that much.

But personally I don't do most of my computing on a phone. I just use it for messaging/calls/email and the occasional web browsing when I'm not at home.

Yeah, personal preferences...I couldn't care less about phones...have some ancient Motorola from 2012 as my private phone which still works great. On the other hand, I wear a Rolex that I enjoy and other people may think is silly/unnecessary

I'm on the opposite spectrum on phones. I just want to answer a call and text. I don't wish for it to give me access to the internet or any other apps. However, if I don't keep up....I get left behind. That's the sad reality.

tom_sprecher said:

We need to buy two iPhones. One for my wife who has a POS Samsung Galaxy S5 and one for my daughter who dropped and shattered the glass on her iPhone 6s. They will most likely get a couple of 6s with 128G for $549 each. For what we use them for we just can see that big of a difference in the 7, 8 or X to pay any more. :shrug:

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I had an S5 for three years and loved it far more than my previous Apple phones. I loved it so much I just bought an S5 Mini, new in box. I'm a legacy unlimited data plan with ATT so I have to buy a phone outright or switch to one of the limited contracts with the spread out purchase plans. But this way I got a "new" phone for 125 bucks.

Vato said:

I'm on the opposite spectrum on phones. I just want to answer a call and text. I don't wish for it to give me access to the internet or any other apps. However, if I don't keep up....I get left behind. That's the sad reality.

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Back in February I searched and searched and bought a couple different used "dumb" phones in an effort to simplify my life. The first would only talk and text and the second could send/receive low low quality photos and had a basic mobile browser from shortly after the real smart phones started showing up. I enjoyed 6 months of this and started to appreciate the quiet times or people watching while standing in line somewhere. I got a magazine subscription for the bathroom, and practiced my guitar in the evenings when the kids were doing other things.

Ultimately, my wife got tired of me not being able to sync up to her grocery list, receive important pictures (like kid's bball schedule, etc), navigate anywhere without printing directions, etc, so I finally ditched it and got the S5 mini. I still have the original S5 but I got used to carrying something small again and prefer it.

One other upside to the dumb phone experience...ATT shut down its 2G network back in the spring and offered a free phone to anyone still using a 2G capable model. Mine was 2/3g so I got to in and pick from one of three phones, the best of which is a Samsung about the equivalent of an S4 in image quality, camera, etc. Sells for about 150 bucks on ebay, and it's still sitting there new in the box at home. So really considering the $45 I spent for two dumb phones, I came out $105 richer.