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Living Without a Cellphone

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Re: Living Without a Cellphone

#31

Post by mod »

jacquesm wrote: post #19
revorad wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

except HN? ;)

I really tried, I swear.

As a techie, I find it exceedingly hard to ban myself from here. Setting up a work-around for browser blocks, dns blocks, etc--takes a couple of minutes at best, not to mention there's a ton of pages where they just use the api and create their own interface.

I usually just edit my hosts file now, because it prevents the 2-second "ctrl+t, n, enter" combo and makes me think about what I'm doing.

I don't restrict myself outside of working hours.

Re: Living Without a Cellphone

#32

Post by eroded »

junto wrote: post #22

German resident here. I have pre-pay with a Vodafone subsidiary with a €10 data flat rate as an additional add-on. My wife just has pre-pay and we have free calls between each other. Our total monthly bill is ~€20 per month. The idea of paying $65 per month, per person is crazy. Is that a standard average cost?

Don't forget those expensive plans typically bundle say a 700Eur+ iPhone into the plan on credit...

Re: Living Without a Cellphone

#33

Post by miguelrochefort »

junto wrote: post #22

German resident here. I have pre-pay with a Vodafone subsidiary with a €10 data flat rate as an additional add-on. My wife just has pre-pay and we have free calls between each other. Our total monthly bill is ~€20 per month. The idea of paying $65 per month, per person is crazy. Is that a standard average cost?

In Canada, the cheapest iPhone plan you can find is $200 upfront + $80/month.

If you bring your own device, expect to pay $65/month for unlimited talking, unlimited messaging, and 1GB of data. Additional data usually costs around $5/250MB.

That's in 2015.

Re: Living Without a Cellphone

#34

Post by pincubator »

I stopped using a cellphone when I moved to US --it was way more expensive than what I used to have in my home country (so I just simply said "nope."). Now when people ask my phone number, I just give my Google voice (which is free text/talk within US). If I am traveling to a conference, for the sake of emergency, I just use a potato phone with prepaid credit -- which I connect its number to Google Voice, so everyone who calls my Google voice number are automatically being redirected to my temporary phone. So I get that going for me.

Re: Living Without a Cellphone

#35

Post by aaronchall »

I got rid of my cellphone because no one calling me was anyone I wanted to talk to.

I used to be a financial/investment advisor, and those calling were mostly financial service wholesalers (insurance and annuities) and other commercial calls. Whenever I felt a vibration in my jacket's breast pocket, my stress levels would soar, and more than half the time it was imagined. Now I feel free, plus I'm probably saving $100 a month.

I'm now a programmer at a bank, and my wife can get me at my desk at work. I got a small tablet (a Nexus 7) with a data plan (attached to my wife's phone plan so it's cheap!), and I paid $20 to switch my phone number to Google Voice. Now when someone calls, they can leave voice-mail or text me, and it shows up in my gmail on my tablet. I added a Zagg hard-shell bluetooth keyboard and it's like I'm carrying around a little laptop.

I feel like it's an awesome change that has really improved my quality of life. I love to brag about making the change, in hopes that others might be inspired to follow suit, thanks for the opportunity.

Re: Living Without a Cellphone

#36

Post by csense »

I'm still in the dark ages when it comes to phones. I have a pay-as-you-go flip phone of approximately 2008 vintage, and I've never owned anything more powerful phone.

I pay a couple hundred a year depending on usage.

If I want to get on the Internet when I'm out and about, I just find a place that offers free wifi (such as a library or fast food restaurant). Then break out the laptop or tablet.

Judging by what others are saying about their cellphone bills in this thread and elsewhere, this simple life hack has saved me thousands of dollars over the years, and will save me thousands more.

I think most people massively overpay for their cellphone plans -- the minor increase in convenience isn't worth the four-figure price tag.

Re: Living Without a Cellphone

#38

Post by danpat »

miguelrochefort wrote: post #33
junto wrote: post #22

German resident here. I have pre-pay with a Vodafone subsidiary with a €10 data flat rate as an additional add-on. My wife just has pre-pay and we have free calls between each other. Our total monthly bill is ~€20 per month. The idea of paying $65 per month, per person is crazy. Is that a standard average cost?

In Canada, the cheapest iPhone plan you can find is $200 upfront + $80/month. If you bring your own device, expect to pay $65/month for unlimited talking, unlimited messaging, and 1GB of data. Additional data usually costs around $5/250MB. That's in 2015.

I cut costs way down by getting a "data-only" SIM for my iPhone and using a VOIP provider.

Call quality in poor signal (e.g. 2G) areas is terrible, but in urban areas with HSPA or LTE, it works great. I talk very little.

Look for the "flex-rate" plans that Rogers/Telus/etc offer. I sometimes pay as little as $5/mo if I don't use my phone, it scales with data usage.

Re: Living Without a Cellphone

#39

Post by miguelrochefort »

danpat wrote: post #38
miguelrochefort wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Canada, the cheapest iPhone plan you can find is $200 upfront + $80/month. If you bring your own device, expect to pay $65/month for unlimited talking, unlimited messaging, and 1GB of data. Additional data usually costs around $5/250MB. That's in 2015.

I cut costs way down by getting a "data-only" SIM for my iPhone and using a VOIP provider. Call quality in poor signal (e.g. 2G) areas is terrible, but in urban areas with HSPA or LTE, it works great. I talk very little. Look for the "flex-rate" plans that Rogers/Telus/etc offer. I sometimes pay as little as $5/mo if I don't use my phone, it scales with data usage.

No carrier ever accepted to sell me a data-only plan for my phone. I've been trying for a long time...

Re: Living Without a Cellphone

#40

Post by Gnarl »

Everyone should immediately drop cellphones and wireless equipment for health reasons. I did so more than ten years ago after developing headaches from the radiofrequency exposure from cellphones. Then I began looking into the science. Deep. Some people will develop symptoms quicker than others and the reason is yet unknown but everyone is affected. Its a matter of time and exposure before symptoms manifest. In the beginning the symptoms of exposure are predominantly neurological, like headaches, fatigue and poor sleep. Ignore that and the ultimate end-point will be cancer as your immune-system competence will be reduced to a point where cancer will be able to take hold. Yes, radiofrequency radiation, especially 3G/UMTS is an excellent cancer-promotor as has just been confirmed in a robust replication study from Germany. An overview here: http://microwavenews.com/news-center/rf-animal-cancer-promot...

I know many are addicted to their mobile devices and I'm not against technology (I'm an IT consultant myself) but I'm against the wireless industry basing their delivery infrastructure and end-user devices on a long-time known hazard: pulsed radiofrequency radiation. Known hazard you ask? Yes, even declassified US army reports and east-bloc scientific literature from the 60's, 70's warn of the neurological and genotoxic effects of low-level microwaves: http://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/7915657 See, they were researching low-level microwaves as a stealth weapon against dissidents & adversaries. Now you've practically got military grade weaponry in your pocket.

Please don't be naïve. Reduce your exposure now.

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