New Phone!

I've written about my phones before. As of March 2009, I'm still using a prepaid phone. I'm not using Skype anymore, as the call quality sucked. Thus, I use my prepaid cellphone exactly the same way I used my phone when I had a cell phone plan (300 minutes a month).

Since I started in August, I've spent approximately $200. That's about $25 a month. Not bad! I've actually had a bad deal. I first purchased 1150 minutes for $100. Next, I purchased minutes in $25 increments. I didn't realize that I was only getting 150 minutes! Whoops! From here on out, I'll purchase minutes $100 at a time. (If you're confused, look at it this way: Paying $100 for 1150 minutes means 8.7 cents a minute. Paying $25 for 150 minutes means I'm paying 16.6 cents a minute. That's nearly double!)

Even though I screwed up, I'm still saving a ton of money. I used to pay over $50 a month, regardless of how I used my phone. So I'll stick with prepaid cell phones for the time being.

One huge perk is that there are often sales on prepaid phone cards. This past week, T-Mobile had a brand new phone and a $25 prepaid minutes card for sale priced at $20. So not only am I getting $25 worth of minutes for only $20, I'm getting a free phone!!! Even if I didn't want the phone, it was a good deal.

But I want the phone! It's much cooler than my other phone. Here's one big reason:





The top photo shows my old phone on a scale. It weighs 106 grams. My new phone, pictured on the bottom, weighs 78 grams. It's hard to describe how much lighter the new one feels. Plus, it looks cooler.

The only draw back is the new phone doesn't have a camera. Meh. I never use the camera on my old phone, anyway.

So I'll use the new phone. If I lose it, I can always return to my old phone. I think it's win/win.