To Smart Phone....Or Not?

Verizon keeps sending me message saying something like, "Did you know you are eligible for a free smart phone?"

Yes, I have known.  I have had my same little slider phone for, probably 5 years...maybe 6.



I like my little slider keyboard.  And, I am of the mindset that I don't really need to be in constant contact with the "web"...."internet"....."interweb".....whatever it is called these days.

Yes, there are times that I think of something and wish that I could easily check it or Google search it.

I can actually get to the internet from my existing slider phone....but it is a little like dial up internet used to be....it takes a really long time for it to scroll through all the right screens and spin its little world thingamabob...and then another decade or so to understand what I am searching for and head there.

So, yes, it is basically not even worth it.  I just wait until I get home. (Or, if I am really desperate, I ask D-man - who does have a smart phone...he pays for it by the way)

I am sort of secretly proud  of my little slider phone.....or to use terminology I recently heard describing Minnesotans..... "quietly smug" that I am getting along just fine without a smart phone, thank you very much.

My little slider phone is small and fits discreetly in my pocket.  It has an actual little teeny tiny keyboard.

All in all, it is a great little phone.  I have recently increased my plan to unlimited texting, so I am good there too.  I had to up it because I was getting overage charges every month, because now every coach the kids have, in addition to my friends/family text pretty much everything.  It is convenient, I will admit.

But, again....I like my little phone.

However, I am starting to feel...hmmm....not sure what the word is...held hostage to the world, if I don't have a smart phone.

We are getting things set up up for our vacation (I will tell you where we are going later) and every time I turn around....or ask a question....the response is something like this:

"Just download our app, scan your card with your phone and...."  blah, blah, blah.  Everything.  Everything has that stupid little black and white secret code thingie.

Seriously, if D-man didn't have a smart phone, we would be stuck with some of these things and not be able to do them (a few of them you can do from a normal computer, but it takes twice as long)

So, yes, sometimes I do longingly look at my friends shiny new phones and covet them a bit.....or wish I would have the ability to snap a picture when I forget my camera.  But, then they start talking about the newest versions, how the latest software upgrade has bugs, how long the wait is for the phone they want and I am happy to keep my little slider phone.

I really do like it.

But, I am feeling like I am being forced to get a smart phone.

I like our monthly bill too, Rainman has one of these babies......




He has sent a total of 1 text in his entire life (granted he has to scrolled through the keypad until it gets to the right letter.)  His text read this, in response to A-girl's coach, "OK"

He occasionally treads into the pool of getting internet on his little flip phone - if there is a big game going on and we are out somewhere.  But, other than that, he makes or answers actual phone calls on his.  That is all.

Our monthly bill is $85.  I like that amount.  I do not want to have to mess around with data charges and all of that jazz.

So, that is where you come in.....tell me your smart phone stories.  How much is your monthly bill? Ideally for 2 people with phones.  Are data charges easy to go over?  How much do you love or hate your smart phone?  Wish you would have waited for a different model?

I am really feeling forced into taking the plunge, so I am going to need some advice....since I am at that age where I just hand technology over to the kids and tell them what I want to do (similar to how my parents would just hand over the remote control with the VCR....or program the microwave).

I need help....and advice.