Before I start this post, I want to say that I don’t have to get my hubby’s permission for everything I do, but when it comes to adding something to our monthly budget I do run things by him first just to make sure we are on the same page.
Remember how I said that I had been thinking about getting a smartphone for quite some time? Well, I have. You want to know what my biggest hold up was? Yep, my husband.
About a year ago my husband and I upgraded our phones. When I say upgraded, I really mean we replaced our phones because they weren’t really an upgrade. Our phones were under warranty and we had some issues with them so we decided to go with new phones, but they were still the basic run of the mill cell phones. When we went into the store to look at phones I had my eyes set on getting a smartphone. The sales person told us about the one I was interested and I was sold. Then, there was the price of the phone. Even though it was within our budget to buy it, my husband convinced me that I really didn’t need it… and I believed him. Would you like to know why? I rarely use my cell phone. I don’t even bring it with me half the time so why would I need to spend more money on a sophisticated phone?
Okay, so I know what you are thinking. You rarely use your phone, why DO you need a cool phone then? Let me explain.
Here is what I didn’t know about the smartphones, how useful they are. I thought smartphones were just for people that wanted to get online and text people all day. I never text. I rarely chat or use instant messengers either. Getting online was something I was interested in but I have a lap top so I thought eh I will just get by with that. Now that I have a smartphone though, I realize just how useful it is and, unlike my other phone, I use it all the time.
So okay, smartphones are cool. You want one but you aren’t the problem. Honey dearest just doesn’t get it. Here is how I persuaded my honey that I needed one. You might not believe this, but even with an offer to get the phone for free, I still had to convince him to add the monthly data plan to our budget. I think the money issue is probably the big issue for most moms. Of course, you want cool stuff but it has to be worth it.
The biggest objection for my husband was the cost. In my next post I am going to explain to you how I have trimmed some of my other bills so that I could add the data plan to our budget without it really costing us more than what we were spending before. If I can show you how I added the data plan to my budget, then all you have to do is convince hubby to agree with getting the phone. Smartphones used to be pricey but a lot of carriers offer them to you at extremely discounted prices if you upgrade, sometimes even free. If you use Best Buy’s upgrade checker you can see if you are eligible for an upgrade on your phone. Here is the link.
While I know not every mom cares about having a cool phone, if you are like me and really want one, I would love to show you how I added this to our budget. Stay tuned…
Tags: Best Buy, budget, smartphone
