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Generally, when you enter into a contract as an individual it is not to your benefit.  I never liked having to enter a contract with a mobile phone company just so I could afford a phone.  And for a long time, if you used your phone a lot, it made since to commit to a contract in order to get a good rate.  But anymore now you can find a prepaid or pay-as-you-go plan that meets most of your needs.  The only real downside now is phone selection.  You generally aren’t going to be able to get the shiny new phones with all the cool features that makes the contract companies give their indentured clients.  But I’ve never had the latest and greatest anyways.  The other downside is you have to pay for your phone up front.  There are no specials that lower the cost of your phone because you don’t sing a contract.  For the most part this isn’t a problem.  50% of the prepaid phones on the market are exceedingly inexpensive… and generally boring.

So when I was housesitting a couple weeks back I misplaced my phone.  Upon returning home I had no clue that it was lost.  I use my phone very little.  I live so rural an in the mountains that I am 4 miles past where the last cell signals travel.  And since I don’t work and am not currently in school, I don’t spend very much time in areas with service.  So it wasn’t until some time later when I left the house to do the obligatory seasonal shopping that I realized my phone was missing.  I’m fairly certain that my phone remains at my aunt & uncle’s house.  And I would have called it, but the battery would have long since died.  So I took this opportunity to finally get a prepaid phone.  My contract is finally up with AT&T, something that is bittersweet. I’ve been with them since ’03.  It feels weird not to be tied to them anymore.  But I also feel great to no longer be hemorrhaging money for services I barely use.

I bought a candybar phone.  “Candybar” is what they call flat phones with no sliders or anything.  And I went with t-mobile.  Not because they were much better than any other option, but because I wanted their phone.  I didn’t want any of the sad little phones that tracfone offered because the weren’t cute enough.  Services and apps don’t matter to me because, like I said, I don ‘t use my phone that much.  So the simple things like personal aesthetics are the only thing that matters to me.  And of course I want to keep my number.

This experience has made me feel giddy.  I love that I am free of the final contract I had binding me.  I like that I finally have a phone that is my choosing, not the most convenient/free offer from my phone company.  And of course, I love new things.

If I don’t find my old phone I’ll need to buy a new microSD card and regather all my old contacts.  Maybe one of these days I’ll actually write them down in an address book.

My Phone

my phone

it’s white/silver and lime green.  It’s not fantastic by current phone standards but I ♥ it.

I’m doing the pay-as-you-go program.  For me and the amount that I use my phone it is the most economical option.  It amounts to 10 cents/minute and the send txt messages.  5 cents to receive text messages.  There are some months where I might only use 10 minutes.  So since I’m in no way a power user, this is a good plan for me.  When I go back to school in the spring my usage will go up and when I get the fuck out of the Valley my usage will increase again.  But since I’m not bound to a contract, if I need to change my service I won’t experience any penalties.