View Full Version : Cell phone!
Just when I decided I wasn't using my cell phone enough to warrant keeping...
I was to meet my dw at her mother's house (empty getting ready to sell) to pick up a ladder. She left early. I get across town with a barrowed pickup from work. No dw. No cell phone. Crap.
Fortunately actually had a couple bucks - no change. Went to 7-11 and got a Big Gulp to get some change for the pay phone. They had NO pay phone. She directed me a couple blocks away.
Now this is a real seedy part of town. I am sure the payphone had been used by every hooker, addict in town. How can you talk (next to a busy street) without putting that icky phone next to your head...?
Thankfully my dw picked up and we met to get the ladder...
Has anyone gave up cell phone use -- only then need it? Gave up other items/services only to then need it? So frustrating! :(
I didn't have a cell phone when I needed to help my husband at work, an hour away. He had locked his keys in the car. It was after dark and I was hugely pregnant. He's on a military base. As I near the base, I check my wallet and can't find my military ID to get on the base. I drove around the area outside the base (not the nicest area in the world) and can not find a pay phone anywhere. I drive from gas station to gas station and strip mall to strip mall. I finally found one but some one was using it, and was on a long while. Finally I was able to get a hold of my husband so that he could meet me at the base entrance to get me in. I got a cell phone soon after that!
I still don't use it, but for things like picking people up at airports, calling for a tow truck, calling the spouse with a quick question, well, it is very helpful. I held out for a long time but it's hard to find a pay phone when you need one.
Now that I leave my older kids home alone, I feel better having a cell phone so that they can always have contact with me.
I'd always said I wouldn't ever get one... until I moved into a house with three other girls who were on the house phone CONSTANTLY! And they INSISTED we HAD to have call waiting, but then would never answer it. So people would try to call, it would ring, no answer. They assumed I wasn't home but couldn't leave a message.
I had gotten in a 6 car pileup where NO ONE in the accident had a cell phone, and even tho I was the only one hurt I had to walk around trying to find a house with someone home so we could call the police and a tow truck. Yeah...still didn't get one. I finally broke down and got a cell after I missed a friends party because she couldn't ever get through to even invite me to it. :(
If you only use a cell phone for emergencies, you might want to look into TracFone where you only pre-pay your minutes and there is no monthly charge.
The first cell phone I ever bought was through Tracfone. I got a deal online and they shipped the phone to me. Only I wasn’t home to receive the package so Fedex was holding it for me. On the way to pick it up, my car battery died. I had to walk about a mile to the nearest pay phone. The whole time I was walking, I kept thinking, "this is why I ordered a cell phone."
Sad Eyed Lady
6-8-11, 6:51pm
If you only use a cell phone for emergencies, you might want to look into TracFone where you only pre-pay your minutes and there is no monthly charge.
Yes, this is the way I go. I have a tracfone that I keep with me - not turned on, so no one calls me on it, but I have it when needed. A big help when needed, but no contract, good service, and for what I use it for - reasonable cost.
we gave up the land line. :)
we gave up the land line. :)
Yes, us too!
Blackdog Lin
6-9-11, 5:53am
We love our Tracfone service, but technically there IS a monthly charge, as in you have to purchase "days", even if you still have minutes left. But, we pay what works out to be about $7.33/month per phone including all taxes and fees, and it doesn't get much cheaper than that.
I stopped resisting cell phones pretty fast. We cancelled the landline - thus getting rid of the pesky telemarketers trying to sell us mortgage refi EVERY DAY - and got family plan cells. This was priceless during DH's final illness when he insisted on still going places and driving himself. I knew he could call me if he needed help. If he was late enough to worry me I could call him and be reassured.
When I'm in the store and not sure if the 'natural flavor' in the ingredients is MSG or not, I can call the number on the package and find out right then. When I got a flat tire, I called for service right there from the car, didn't have to search for an available phone. I drive long deserted stretches of highway with confidence because I am not going to have to walk miles for help is there is a problem.
When I'm expecting a call I can still go to the store or out to lunch, because the phone is right there with me.
When I don't want to deal with incoming, I turn it off. When it suits MY convenience, I turn it back on.
I pay $26.63 a month for 300 anytime minutes. That is cheaper than the stripped-down landline I had. I have unlimited texting and just learned to text yesterday. Texting is great for those quick things like 'sorry I'm going to be 10 minutes late', when you don't want to get into a whole conversation, just give the person one piece of information.
"I have unlimited texting and just learned to text yesterday."
I learned to text about 6 weeks ago and thought I was the last person on earth to learn how to do it. LOL.
My DH & I jumped into the smartphone category yesterday, and came home with 2 iPhones. Getting to know them... will keep you posted. They are expensive.
Has the proposed link between cell phones and cancer changed anyone's cell usage?
Reader66---do you mind divulging which provider/plan you use? That's pretty cheap!
Has the proposed link between cell phones and cancer changed anyone's cell usage?
I use a wired headset.
Reader66---do you mind divulging which provider/plan you use? That's pretty cheap!
Similar price for us. We use Virgin's no-contract plan. Unlimited texting and internet, 350 minutes a month, $25 before tax, no contract. This works for us as we text a lot and the internet while we're out and about is very helpful.
we have up our landline about 6 years ago and have never regretted it. we are starting to use our smart phones like computers, and are thinking that when our tiny laptops die (yes we each have our own phone and computer, droid phones and $300 Eee pc laptops) ... we may just go with the best phone and skip the computer altogether.
We love our Tracfone service, but technically there IS a monthly charge, as in you have to purchase "days", even if you still have minutes left. But, we pay what works out to be about $7.33/month per phone including all taxes and fees, and it doesn't get much cheaper than that.
This is what I have for emergencies or to check in with my sister if I'm travelling. I don't use it to talk on so always have tons of minutes and I don't give out the phone number to anyone except sis so keep callers (and costs) to a minimum. I use a landline to actually "talk" on the phone since I'm near deaf and I can use my hearing aids with the landline but not the cell phone.
I gave up my landline when I realized I only used it to screen calls. Evidently, the person who had my number before me had been in jail, was in a lot of debt, and had made a lot of people angry. The only thing I miss it for is when I need to call my cell to find where I left it.
...another regret over giving up my cell phone. Last night had to pick up my dd after she played in the band for HS graduation. Large campus with several different pickup points. I trolled for a while, parked and got out and walked around, etc. etc. drove to the other side of campus, etc. Still could not find her. DROVE HOME...and NOT in a very good mood. I figured she was "yakking with her friends" some place. Got home and found my wife had gone to get her - she was waiting in the band department...! DW said she told me that is where she was...RE-THINKING this none cell phone thing. While I rarely used it -- it comes in handy in situations like this.>:(
I rarely use my cell phone. I prefer the quality of the landline so use that for general conversations. I have an older phone (probably six years or so) and do not have text or internet.
rosarugosa
6-11-11, 9:04pm
Gregg,
Don't give up so soon! We've never had cellphones, but then again, we don't have kids either, which is another dimension entirely. I will say that we are quite precise in our planning/coordination/logistics and that it is second nature for us to be like this, because that's how we need to be. When I am out and about with other people, I am occasionally taken aback by the cellphone solution - it's just not part of my repertoire! I know where the payphones are along my commuting path, and fortunately, all the subway stations have payphones, since that is pretty much where I would need one. Once every two or three years we are significantly inconvenienced by not having cellphones. But then I add up the cost of two Tracphones for 2 - 3 years and compare it to the couple of hours of inconvenience, convert this into a per hour inconvenience cost, and decide that it's preferable to invest those dollars in an occasional weekend in Portland instead! Besides, I actually believe that it keeps us on our toes and more creative in our logistical planning/problem solving. Or maybe we're just a little bit crazy :)
We've also both spent much of our professional lives in front of telephones, and words cannot express the horror I would feel if my pocketbook were to start ringing while I was having a serene walk down the street, lost in my own thoughts. I do think that people are losing the ability to enjoy the pleasures of leisurely ruminating, and that cellphones are largely to blame. I've even read some studies saying that they are changing the way our brains work, and not for the better. Interesting stuff.
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