So, it finally happened. I committed the most unfrugal act of getting a smartphone. However, I still managed to squeeze a bit of frugality into it, even though it’s a big budget change.
Not only did I buy a smartphone, but I had to break my current contract and pay a $70 termination fee to do it! However, buying my husband a replacement phone for four months would have cost $40, so it’s really only a net loss of $30. It’s worth it to get our phones now.
Why I Got a Droid
As you’ll recall, my old phone broke back in January, right before my husband’s surgery. Although I had wanted an iPhone, AT&T made me cry, so I vowed to abandon them when my contact was up. Until then, I bought a cheapie phone that got me through.
Except, that both my husband and I were experiencing work-related reasons as well as personal reasons for needing smartphones with email and web access. Still we waited.
Then his phone broke. In the exact same manner as mine. Note to AT&T – when phones of the same model break in the exact same place for multiple users, this is a design flaw and you should issue a recall, not ignore the issue. This is why you lost a customer for life.
So, with the iPhone off-limits (not to mention that the recent news about iPhone 4 troubles didn’t make me lust for one), I looked around for the best alternative. Enter the Droid. Folks, it is awesome. I did my research and settled on Verizon phone service. We went to the Verizon store to look at the various Android phones. We then waited until July 15 to look at the Droid X, because if we’re going to do this, we might as well get the best available at the time.
As it turned out, a Droid X barely fits in my hand, so that was out. The HTC Incredible was unavailable for at least three weeks and I needed the phone by the middle of next week for an upcoming trip.
How I Made My Unfrugal Purchase Slightly Frugal
There was one other reason we opted for the Droid by Motorola rather than the Droid X or Incredible – it was buy one get one free. This was a savings of $250 over buying two Xs or Incredibles.
We also opted for a family plan with a minimal texting plan rather than the full talk and text plan. We studied our minutes and determined that we use more than 700 minutes, but less than 1400 minutes a month. We previously only paid for 700 because we had tons of rollover minutes with AT&T, so we were sad to lose that deal, but the 1400 minute plan does come with unlimited calls to 10 Friends and Family designees, so we can make it work.
So, our phone cost is jumping from around $95 a month to $189 a month, however, we still get $90 in reimbursements from our employers.
And folks, I’m not sorry I did it. I love this phone. Seriously love it. It will make my life easier in so many ways.
