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View Full Version : Looking for frugal iPhone advice please



rosarugosa
8-18-16, 4:49am
My sister upgraded and gave us her iPhone 5. Does anyone have suggestions for the most frugal way to activate this tool of Satan for infrequent use? It doesn't look like I can set this device up with Tracfone, or can I? If not, is there something in the same realm of cost effectiveness that we could do?

razz
8-18-16, 7:47am
The rates in the US are cheaper than Canada but even for me I find that having a nominal monthly flat fee or annual that includes no data or very minimal works very well. I have Wifi at home and use Wifi in libraries, coffee shops etc., to access all the online services I want.
I love my iPhone for the camera especially when traveling, the emergency phone, the online access, the coordination with my MacBookAir, ease of transport with me when I walk my dog twice daily including trails, texting friends and family and so much more. I pay $11.50/mth for this.
When I had to send legal documents, I took a picture of them with my iPhone and sent them via Wifi to the legal office so didn't need a scanner or fax.
Did I say that I love my iPhone? It does what I need and has filled in for my computer when paying bills, has captured online coupons...

DD2 and her DH have an iPhones, scrapped their landline and it is easy to text them for free anytime. I do FaceTime with DGS as well. To be honest, DD1 has a Samsung and is as delighted with her phone as well.

Alan
8-18-16, 7:49am
My sister upgraded and gave us her iPhone 5. Does anyone have suggestions for the most frugal way to activate this tool of Satan for infrequent use? It doesn't look like I can set this device up with Tracfone, or can I? If not, is there something in the same realm of cost effectiveness that we could do?It depends upon which carrier the phone was designed for. The two major technologies used in cellular phones are CDMA and GSM. Your choice of carriers is dependent upon your phone's setup. Which carrier did your sister use?

Alan
8-18-16, 8:20am
Upon reflection, if you really want to be frugal and would be willing to limit phone availability to those times you're connected to WiFi, you could be assigned a phone number through Google Voice and then send/receive calls using Google's Hangouts app. You can't get much more frugal than free.

bae
8-18-16, 10:53am
Upon reflection, if you really want to be frugal and would be willing to limit phone availability to those times you're connected to WiFi, you could be assigned a phone number through Google Voice and then send/receive calls using Google's Hangouts app. You can't get much more frugal than free.

For infrequent use, Google Voice or Skype, over wifi, work just fine.

Alan
8-18-16, 11:16am
For infrequent use, Google Voice or Skype, over wifi, work just fine.
Add Facebook Messenger to the mix as well. Works well for audio and video calls. And let's not forget FaceTime.

The cool thing about those options is that they can be used on tablets and later generation iPods as well.

ToomuchStuff
8-18-16, 11:18am
Upon reflection, if you really want to be frugal and would be willing to limit phone availability to those times you're connected to WiFi, you could be assigned a phone number through Google Voice and then send/receive calls using Google's Hangouts app. You can't get much more frugal than free.


For infrequent use, Google Voice or Skype, over wifi, work just fine.

These may fit your price, but the real question is do these fit your needs. This should work, most cases (barring internet service going down), if you live somewhere that your having phone issues. (boss and sibling in the country, experience those with landlines)
This will not be the answer if your looking for a phone for the glove box, on trips and such.
You may also want to keep your existing phone.

bae
8-18-16, 11:21am
This will not be the answer if your looking for a phone for the glove box, on trips and such.
You may also want to keep your existing phone.

I have noticed that nearly every Starbucks and McDonalds in the USA has free wifi, and those stores seem to be on every streetcorner in America :-)

Alan
8-18-16, 11:22am
These may fit your price, but the real question is do these fit your needs. This should work, most cases (barring internet service going down), if you live somewhere that your having phone issues. (boss and sibling in the country, experience those with landlines)
This will not be the answer if your looking for a phone for the glove box, on trips and such.
You may also want to keep your existing phone.
That's why the caveat "willing to limit phone availability" was included.

ToomuchStuff
8-18-16, 11:24am
I understand that, just trying to make sure it comes across. Sometimes one has thoughts and opportunities, before they sit down with the real list of needs/goals.

iris lilies
8-18-16, 11:27am
Op, Ill bet that you find this free thing is more trouble than it is worth. The device itself has never been what kept me from getting a cellular plan, it s the cost of the plan that gives me pause. That, and I hate givng any more money to AT and T.

I have an Ipad that is equipped for cellular service, but I have never pulled that trigger and I do not now have cellular service.

I have a Tracphone for emergencies that I may use once a year, when traveling. While it is true that I have thought about setting up cellular servcie for this Ipad and I may do it this year, this is not compelling for me now.

hey, have you gone through the Tracphone upgrade thing yet? Tracphone is changing its services and will send out a free phone. I now have the new, free, phone and set up was relatively painless. I will admit that I amost didnt go through with it, thought about cellualr service for my IPad and possibly getting a smart phone instead.

Alan
8-18-16, 11:39am
I have an Ipad that is equipped for cellular service, but I have never pulled that trigger and I do not now have cellular service.


Cellular service on an iPad is data only because, well, an iPad is not an iPhone. Voice communications would still require a Voice Over IP solution such as the ones mentioned above, it just wouldn't be limited to wifi.

ToomuchStuff
8-18-16, 11:48am
I have a Tracphone for emergencies that I may use once a year, when traveling. While it is true that I have thought about setting up cellular servcie for this Ipad and I may do it this year, this is not compelling for me now.

hey, have you gone through the Tracphone upgrade thing yet? Tracphone is changing its services and will send out a free phone. I now have the new, free, phone and set up was relatively painless. I will admit that I amost didnt go through with it, thought about cellualr service for my IPad and possibly getting a smart phone instead.


Can you explain why they did a free upgrade? What service do you mean they are changing?
I ask because I am currently on T Mobile prepaid. This years renewal was $50, and I know a couple years back, they were doing a push to smart phones, with a monthly prepaid. (two months what my year costs)
However, I think that they may be changing frequencies, or are losing towers, because in area's I used to have coverage, I now have no coverage at all. At some point, I figure if there is an issue, they may say I need a new phone (think it is seven years old now).

iris lilies
8-18-16, 12:01pm
Cellular service on an iPad is data only because, well, an iPad is not an iPhone. Voice communications would still require one of the options mentioned above, it just wouldn't be limited to wifi.
I was a little vague in my u derstanding about that, so thanks. I had assumed
I could get some sort of app to enable voice communication.

But I really dont care much about voice. i mainly want GPS capability.

iris lilies
8-18-16, 12:07pm
Can you explain why they did a free upgrade? What service do you mean they are changing?
I ask because I am currently on T Mobile prepaid. This years renewal was $50, and I know a couple years back, they were doing a push to smart phones, with a monthly prepaid. (two months what my year costs)
However, I think that they may be changing frequencies, or are losing towers, because in area's I used to have coverage, I now have no coverage at all. At some point, I figure if there is an issue, they may say I need a new phone (think it is seven years old now).
They are givng out phones to work with 3g networks.they are changing from 2g to 3g.
the phones are cheap crap, dont get excited about that. These are not smartphones.

and
I just checked my Tracphone and see that
I have no service. So, that sucks. I have 0 interest in tracking down the source of that problem.

Alan
8-18-16, 12:10pm
I was a little vague in my u derstanding about that, so thanks. I had assumed
I could get some sort of app to enable voice communication.

But I really dont care much about voice. i mainly want GPS capability.
Google Voice would make it as close to a real phone as possible and I find Apple's Maps feature to be superior to my old GPS unit. We use it exclusively when out and about in the RV or on the motorcycle.

nswef
8-18-16, 12:19pm
We ran into the change of towers at tracfone....now have 2 -one to cover the house ( a so called smart LG phone) and one for the area west of us ( non smart) that won't use the smart phone....Husband's phone is due in Dec. and i'm trying to decide what to get for him....just hoping the western counties straighten out so we can just each have one phone. I wonder about the GPS- how much data does it use in the car? We have a Garmin and like it, but if the phone would do it that would be great. It's Tracfones so not sure if it would do it.

iris lilies
8-18-16, 1:25pm
I dont know what a Garmin is. I have assumed all along that if I got one of those gps car systems, I would have to have a cellular plan to make it work.

Is that a valid assumption? Or, is there really a system I can buy with a one time purchase and no ongoing costs that would give me decent gps?

Alan
8-18-16, 1:37pm
I dont know what a Garmin is. I have assumed all along that if I got one of those gps car systems, I would have to have a cellular plan to make it work.

Is that a valid assumption?
Nope.

Or, is there really a system I can buy with a one time purchase and no ongoing costs that would give me decent gps?
Yes, any stand-alone GPS system is a one time expense. Of course you may want to update your maps every couple of years and that has an associated expense, but it is not a necessity.

creaker
8-18-16, 1:41pm
I dont know what a Garmin is. I have assumed all along that if I got one of those gps car systems, I would have to have a cellular plan to make it work.

Is that a valid assumption? Or, is there really a system I can buy with a one time purchase and no ongoing costs that would give me decent gps?

It works off of GPS (satellite), so it doesn't use cellular. Where they do get you usually, though, is having to pay to get updates (the maps are actually downloaded from your computer into the unit via USB, and you pay to get these updates from Garmin).

When I bought mine, I bought a refurbished Garmin GPS with unlimited updates (I think off of TigerDirect). I've had to buy an additional SD memory card since then since the unit would no longer hold all the maps I wanted, and I had to replace the dashmount after like 3 years, but it's still going strong.

bae
8-18-16, 1:47pm
Many of the new GPS units allow you to download public domain map data.

iris lilies
8-18-16, 1:58pm
OP, sorry to derail your thread. But I am happy seeing these answers about gps. Last
saturday I spent 20 minutes driving out od the way to find a place.

I will start a new thread.

rosarugosa
8-18-16, 7:20pm
IL: I'm perfectly happy to share my thread with you. Thread drift can often go in interesting directions.
I would envision the constraint of using free wifi for data acceptable in most instances, but would want the option to make an occasional call from the bus for example or the potential for an emergency call from the woods or somewhere without wifi. Doesn't Ting have something like that?
I carried our Tracfone the past two weeks because we had a variation to our routine (which seldom happens). I used it exactly once, but the phone is so crappy I absolutely cannot hear anyone on it, so I just dialed, waited a few beats, started talking and hoped for the best. That's almost worse than nothing, although it did work, actually.

Alan
8-18-16, 8:18pm
Tracfone now has a 'Bring Your Own Phone' option. http://get.tracfone.com/bring-your-own-phone/

There's a method at that link to see if your iPhone is compatible with their service and the plans don't look bad.

rosarugosa
8-18-16, 8:35pm
Thanks, Alan. Oh, and my sister had Verizon for a carrier, if that tells us anything useful.

Alan
8-18-16, 9:06pm
Thanks, Alan. Oh, and my sister had Verizon for a carrier, if that tells us anything useful.It's very useful. I believe Verizon's iPhone 5's are unlocked, meaning that you can register it with other carriers with the addition of the new carrier's SIM card. I'd check availability and plans from Tracfone, Boost, Virgin Mobile and MetroPCS.

rosarugosa
8-19-16, 5:00am
Thanks Alan, I will explore these options!

frugal-one
8-19-16, 3:57pm
Op, Ill bet that you find this free thing is more trouble than it is worth. The device itself has never been what kept me from getting a cellular plan, it s the cost of the plan that gives me pause. That, and I hate givng any more money to AT and T.

I have an Ipad that is equipped for cellular service, but I have never pulled that trigger and I do not now have cellular service.

I have a Tracphone for emergencies that I may use once a year, when traveling. While it is true that I have thought about setting up cellular servcie for this Ipad and I may do it this year, this is not compelling for me now.

hey, have you gone through the Tracphone upgrade thing yet? Tracphone is changing its services and will send out a free phone. I now have the new, free, phone and set up was relatively painless. I will admit that I amost didnt go through with it, thought about cellualr service for my IPad and possibly getting a smart phone instead.

Ugh.... just got a notice saying to go to a retailer to get updated phone. Went to Best Buy today and purchased a SmartPhone...trac phone. sigh

frugal-one
8-19-16, 4:07pm
I dont know what a Garmin is. I have assumed all along that if I got one of those gps car systems, I would have to have a cellular plan to make it work.

Is that a valid assumption? Or, is there really a system I can buy with a one time purchase and no ongoing costs that would give me decent gps?

We bought a Garmin brand gps system just before Black Friday last year at Sam's Club. I could not be happier. The model we have is VERY easy to use, has a voice that tells streets (and we have the map up also), updates through our computer so always current (no extra fee), if you want- it can show when there are traffic problems or slowdowns. Can check to see restaurants, gas stations, hotels, grocery stores, pharmacies, etc in area. I sometimes go out in the car and get ideas for places we plan to visit. I would rather have a stand alone gps since it operates via satellite. Cell phones lose connections, etc. I wish I would have bought it sooner!

iris lilies
8-19-16, 4:52pm
We bought a Garmin brand gps system just before Black Friday last year at Sam's Club. I could not be happier. The model we have is VERY easy to use, has a voice that tells streets (and we have the map up also), updates through our computer so always current (no extra fee), if you want- it can show when there are traffic problems or slowdowns. Can check to see restaurants, gas stations, hotels, grocery stores, pharmacies, etc in area. I sometimes go out in the car and get ideas for places we plan to visit. I would rather have a stand alone gps since it operates via satellite. Cell phones lose connections, etc. I wish I would have bought it sooner!
Im sold! You and sweetana convinced me. Garmin it is. When you have a chanve, tell me the model,you have. i am pumped to get exacrly rhe same thing.

frugal-one
8-20-16, 2:45pm
Im sold! You and sweetana convinced me. Garmin it is. When you have a chanve, tell me the model,you have. i am pumped to get exacrly rhe same thing.

IL... the system we bought is Garmin NUVI 65 LMT. It plugs into the car's lighter, has turn by turn directions with spoken street names, displays current street, speed, speed limit and arrival time.... plus the other stuff I told about earlier. We even take it on vacation (in carry-on) to use in rental car. It is the perfect size! I love it! The best thing I have purchased in a long time!

Here is one at Amazon (can find cheaper elsewhere) where you can read the reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Navigators-Directions-Preloaded-Displays/dp/B00HEGP28I

freshstart
8-20-16, 8:05pm
as to the OP, I had an iPhone with AT&T and hated the price. I switched to Cricket (owned by AT&T, uses same towers). I pay a flat $30 for unlimited talk and text, and 2.5gb of data. I have had no problems after having made the switch

rosarugosa
8-21-16, 3:56pm
Tracfone asks "Please select your with which of the carriers would you like to activate you Telcel Bring Your Own Phone" (yes, that is a direct quote) and gives me a choice of AT&T or T-Mobile. Any recommendations?

Alan
8-21-16, 4:09pm
Tracfone asks "Please select your with which of the carriers would you like to activate you Telcel Bring Your Own Phone" (yes, that is a direct quote) and gives me a choice of AT&T or T-Mobile. Any recommendations?AT&T should have a broader network, but that probably depends upon your area.

rosarugosa
8-21-16, 4:22pm
Thanks again Alan. I'm in the Greater Boston area. Any reason why Ting wasn't mentioned? It looks like a good option for minimal use. e.g. we would only pay $6.00 in a month that we didn't use the phone at all, or $9.00 if we used under 100 mins. If we were using pretty regularly but still on the low end of usage, it looks like Tracfone is the better bet. For a $15. per month spend, you get a lot more from Tracfone, but if you're not using it, then it's not such a good deal.
I do realize that this is a slippery slope and usage probably tends to increase, but plan choice could help keep us from becoming cellphone zombies.

Alan
8-21-16, 4:41pm
Thanks again Alan. I'm in the Greater Boston area. Any reason why Ting wasn't mentioned?Much like Tracfone, Ting doesn't provide it's own network but leases space on other major carriers towers. They use the Sprint network for CDMA phones and the T-Mobile network for GSM phones such as your iPhone.

I just looked at their website and it appears they have a Bring Your Own Device plan as well. Check it out, it may be a better fit for you. https://ting.com/byod

19Sandy
8-29-16, 3:31am
I need to upgrade my 2g tracfone and have heard nightmare stories about the free replacement phone snafus from tracfone.

I have a gazillion minutes on mine (use it for the clock and calculator).

I am annoyed by people always on their phones everywhere (including while driving).

I have thought about switching my tracfone minutes to a smartphone but that costs more.

I will also lose all my free double minute benefits from my current phone (that won't transfer which is part of the tracfone scam).

Someone told me I am better off just buying my own 3g because they send a refurbished phone with problems and then lose all your minutes.

I don't have a lot of choices in my remote neck of the woods and simply cannot afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a smartphone each month!

Anyway, all of the websites I am reading about smartphones are just confusing the heck out of me.

I need a toddler to explain smartphones to me and how to have a cheap one that actually does something useful.

I have talked to people who are spending a ton of money on their phone service and it is just not in my budget.

I consider myself an intelligent person but simply can't wrap my mind around these ever changing cellphones!

freshstart
8-29-16, 10:41am
I highly recommend Cricket with unlimited talk and text and 2.5GB of data for a flat $30 monthly, you get a rebate also for bringing in an old phone. Now my parents had flip phones and were paying through the nose to Verizon. Cricket offers a smartphone for $1 when you sign up. I got them for my parents. They are not iPhones by any stretch of the imagination but they do talk and text fine, they can check their email and google stuff. They are still getting used to a smartphone and probably would've preferred staying with flip phones. But the flip phones cost more than the smartphones! Maybe look up Cricket online, unless $30 is way more than you pay for a tracphone, I know nothing about them.

nswef
8-29-16, 10:55am
After my frustration getting service with Tracfone at my house as well as in another county I still am pleased with what I have. I got an LG smart phone from them for getting service at the house-if needed, then did get another plain phone that does text and talk and might get internet but isn't SMART...It works everywhere except out house. Total cost is about $100 a year, so $200 for both phones. Ideally they will upgrade their towers in the western counties of our state so that the Smart phone works everywhere. I only use them when we travel. My husband's old phone is up for renewal in Dec. and we will have to decide what to do. I'm thinking to get the phone that works in the other areas as we only need one phone that works at the house- we have a land line, too. They did transfer all my old minutes. It took some hours of conversation, but that was due to the lack of service with the Smart phone in the areas where it didn't work. They won't admit it is their towers that are the problem.... Good luck.

frugal-one
8-29-16, 6:08pm
I need to upgrade my 2g tracfone and have heard nightmare stories about the free replacement phone snafus from tracfone.

I have a gazillion minutes on mine (use it for the clock and calculator).

I am annoyed by people always on their phones everywhere (including while driving).

I have thought about switching my tracfone minutes to a smartphone but that costs more.

I will also lose all my free double minute benefits from my current phone (that won't transfer which is part of the tracfone scam).

Someone told me I am better off just buying my own 3g because they send a refurbished phone with problems and then lose all your minutes.

I don't have a lot of choices in my remote neck of the woods and simply cannot afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a smartphone each month!

Anyway, all of the websites I am reading about smartphones are just confusing the heck out of me.

I need a toddler to explain smartphones to me and how to have a cheap one that actually does something useful.

I have talked to people who are spending a ton of money on their phone service and it is just not in my budget.

I consider myself an intelligent person but simply can't wrap my mind around these ever changing cellphones!

Had the same dilemma recently and went to Best Buy and bought a Samsung SmartPhone showing as a TracFone. It retails for $50 (includes 200 minutes too). DH called TracFone and all of our 3,000+ minutes transferred over. Shows that the phone is valid until March of 2017. The only thing I put on the phone was time and weather. I don't plan on using all the bells and whistles... except perhaps the camera on occasion. YLMV

herbgeek
8-29-16, 6:29pm
Anyway, all of the websites I am reading about smartphones are just confusing the heck out of me.

I need a toddler to explain smartphones to me and how to have a cheap one that actually does something useful.

So why buy a smartphone then? Basic phones are still available.

19Sandy
8-29-16, 8:13pm
I figure the basic phone will be obsolete soon - isn't that how it works now? Just checking my options!

jp1
8-29-16, 10:06pm
As long as you can continue to buy one it should probably keep working. The real issue is that eventually you won't be able to buy one anywhere because no one will be making them.

Heck, even a rotary landline phone will still function. Or at least they did several years ago when a friend of mine inherited his grandmother's...

19Sandy
8-29-16, 11:09pm
I still have a landline and a basic tracfone is only 19.99 every 3 months for 60 minutes. My old one double so that was a 120 minutes, plus I always found codes to get between 20 and 60 minutes for free. If tracfone wants to change, then they should keep the double minutes that was promised for free on the old phone.

I think basic cellphones will be around for a while yet, and the price on the smart or iphones is decreasing steadily too.

But, I am all about being frugal.

JaneV2.0
8-30-16, 12:08pm
I have so many phones I can hardly keep track of their numbers...:~)

That's hyperbole, but I do have a bright red (swoon) landline that I mostly talk on, an AT&T flip phone that I use as a pager, and a smart phone that is useful when I'm out and about or the power fails and I want to know what my power company is doing to fix it (there's an app for that :help:)

I wouldn't miss the smart phone much, but I'd keep the others because I like the sound quality of the landline and the flip phone is small, convenient, and holds a charge for at least a week. I understand there's a trend of people using flip phones instead of smart phones, which amuses (and encourages) me.

razz
8-30-16, 12:58pm
The battery died on my flip phone on a prepay plan and cost way too much to replace for an old phone so I went with a refurb unlocked iPhone that works well with my Macbook still on the prepay plan. We all have different reasons.

I am told that my new hearing aids which I get tomorrow can be managed with an Apple app. We will see how that works.

JaneV2.0
8-30-16, 2:21pm
My first flip phone cost $15. The second one--I forget what happened to the first one--cost $25. Dang inflation...

Tybee
8-30-16, 5:53pm
The landline sound is SO much better. I try to talk to my parents on the landline because hearing each other is hard enough without adding layers of bad sound. And that's with an iphone. But where we live we have to pay per minute for long distance landline.

19Sandy
8-30-16, 6:27pm
Ironic, I got another letter from Tracfone about an upgrade. It says if you don't add minutes to your current phone by blah blah date, then you will lose these minutes. Unfortunately, the scammers have the date on that paper wrong! I am sure that is deliberate in hopes that my minutes will expire. Tracfone had to pay a huge fine through the FTC for illegal practices last year (so have some other telephone providers. ) Anyway, I also want to change my phone number because despite being on the no call hidden phone number list, I am getting umpteen salesperson calls each day. So, Tracfone said I couldn't do that. However, on their details page it says you can change your number 4 times a year.

The last time I looked at flip phones there were some less than $10. I actually prefer the style of my current tracfone because it doesn't flip open and that makes it faster to use.

I have a different provider for my landline but they also try all kinds of scams on a daily and weekly basis. They send me tons of paper wanting me to sign up for a bunch of other services that I don't need and don't want and that are NOT even available in my city. Such a waste of their time!

19Sandy
8-30-16, 8:46pm
Wow, after I got a magnifying glass, at the bottom of this notice in the tiniest print possible, it says that if you accept a free cellphone upgrade from 2g to 3g that you are not eligible for any future upgrades. Really, you are better off getting your own phone, keeping the receipt to proof it and transferring your own minutes to the new phone. However, I had to transfer minutes once (a phone broke) and it was a freaking nightmare that took all day with several tracfone employees who could not speak or understand English. I am not looking forward to the entire process for this reason.

JaneV2.0
8-30-16, 8:52pm
I have a flat rate long distance plan with AT&T--you might see if they still have it. If I had to pay by the minute, I'd probably have to move. >:(