People I know spend WAY too much on phones and phone service

[bagster]

If cell phone service was to be disrupted for an extended period of time, a wave of madness would sweep over the world the likes of which hasn't been seen since the middle ages.

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by bagster

If cell phone service was to be disrupted for an extended period of time, a wave of madness would sweep over the world the likes of which hasn't been seen since the middle ages.

I learned a long long time ago to put my office phone into the fridge when SO insists on out time. Next to the vanilla ice cream I do not care for.

[sholomar]

I try to hit the $250 price point with phone buys. My current phone is LG V35 thin q which had killer specs for the price. I then am on a $25 cricket plan with my parents...unlimited data 4 lines.

[JonathanLB]

I know I overpay because my best friend is on one of those weird services where they buy off the major networks and he loves it. Very cheap. We did a speed test side by side one day - his plan was faster than mine, which really made me angry since we were both using Verizon’s network! Us people who stick with the major carriers are getting screwed but I’m just not as savvy and frugal as he is, I don’t want to be popping out my SIM card or whatever or dealing with the spotty support that these little companies seek to have. Part of it is before the pandemic that I run my company entirely from the Internet, so I need my phone to be rock solid reliable in case of important business emails and calls. Lately, that’s not a thing because I never leave the house. I’m probably at home 99.5% of the time. The other 0.5% driving a few miles to the relatives.

But I will say 1) Major carriers have got cheaper if you’re smart about it, and 2) I’ve cut my bills a ton. I paid $108 per month for just me back in 2007. I paid $190 for my wife and I as recently as 3-4 years ago. Now, I just own both of our phones outright and have us on a 10 gig shared data plan (of which we now use less than 1 most months lol) that’s cheaper by selecting direct debit from my bank account for $97/month total. To me, that’s pretty affordable I’d say overall. But I also have well into a 5 figure income per month so maybe my standards aren’t the same. My best friend pays some stupidly low rate and I do like the idea of it. I also get Verizon Up rewards likr just these $3/month Amazon gift cards I use so I try to squeeze deals out of it.

It baffles me that middle class people waste so much money on cell phones, though. Then complain that the middle class lives way worse than the 1950s. No, no they do not. Nobody in the 50s had cable TV, Internet, cell phones, rarely did any family including my dad’s have more than 1 car, they lived in TINY houses often with 4-6 kids like my dad, the standard of living was absolute garbage compared to today. The problem is middle class people spend like they’re rich, leaving nothing for retirement or any emergency savings. That’s stupidity it’s not economic dysfunction just because you’re incapable of differentiating a want from a need.

[VTsnowbird]

I just switched from a basic limited Tracfone plan to one with unlimited talk and text. $20 a month. Limited data but I rarely use data on my phone.
Long phone conversations with Social Security and my bank made this necessary.

[FreshTomato]

We've been on a MVNO for a few years and have had great luck with it. Great connections, no dropped calls, great customer service via chat, and all for very little money. We're on Twigby which uses the Sprint network with Verizon as a backup.