$2 per year for Texting

[lottamoxie]

GV apps are FREE! I have an iPod Touch and I can make and receive calls on that from GV as long as I have wifi access. I have GV running/available on all my computers (again FREE). Someone calls and leaves a VM msg and that message is transcribed and available on GV and on my email. I call that a win/win/win.

[duster1979]

Originally Posted by lottamoxie

GV apps are FREE! I have an iPod Touch and I can make and receive calls on that from GV as long as I have wifi access. I have GV running/available on all my computers (again FREE). Someone calls and leaves a VM msg and that message is transcribed and available on GV and on my email. I call that a win/win/win.

Was your iPod Touch free?

The only reason anybody who has an iPod touch should even be reading the Frugal Living forums is if they have replaced every single electronic device in their lives with it. Which some people probably could, but you obviously didn't because you indicate that you have multiple computers.

[lottamoxie]

I got the iPod Touch so I would have an MP3 player that also allowed me to do other things. It wasn't purchased to run GV...that was just another benefit I found after I already had it. The trick is finding cool ways to use technology you already have. I already have a laptop computer (no, not free), actually several computers as I work in technology for a living and run a network and my computers can also be a mobile VOIP devices, for free.

Frugal is using things you'd want or have anyway, in ways that further enhance your day-to-day. Being able to do more with existing equipment and for free, if possible, is what I find exciting.

Frugal doesn't mean living in a ditch or throwing a tent and using carrier pigeons or smoke signals to communicate...it means leveraging to get the most value and use out of what you do have and being creative, when possible, to meet one's needs.

[NJBest]

Originally Posted by duster1979

There are probably a thousand sites where I can send a free text message from a computer with an internet connection, so that's nothing new. My point was that I pay nothing extra to annoy everybody around me with my texting by just not doing it.



Fine.

"My personal mobile telecommunications needs are completely fulfilled with a voice-only calling plan and whatever basic feature phone my provider offers free or at minimal charge, therefore I feel that I am living a more frugal life in this regard than those who feel they must have mobile text messaging and/or internet access even if they receive these services at very little cost."

Better?

That depends on how you define "better". In hard science, "better" would be defined by some measurable quantitative or qualitative aspect that satisfies the general population surveyed. But then if you break out into philosophy of science, "better" would have to take into consideration the population's perception and goals and demonstrate those goals are satisfied by behavior.

Now if you consider the target audience of this thread, which is individuals looking for a frugal way to text, you'll come to realize that your solution is in fact not better. And fails miserably.

Now if this thread was about how far can I stretch my pennies with complete disregard to value, then yes, it would be better.