Ugh. I have to go buy DH a new cell phone. Previously he just had an old "dumb" phone but at Christmas I got him a smart phone with a T-mobile plan. The reason being was that even though he hardly uses a cell phone, now that we have our camera security system he needed web access on a phone in order to be able to monitor our cameras and get email notifications when we leave the house. Plus, as an added bonus, the $30 a month plan with unlimited data, text and 100 talk minutes was $13 a month cheaper than the crappy Sprint basic plan he had been on for years and years.
So, I just got T-mobile's cheap Prism II smart phone. But, it doesn't work very well. No matter what it just seems to kick itself into airplane mode all the time and it always freezes up. Add that to the fact that DH has no skills in how to use a smart phone and all it's menus, etc and none of it is working out.
Today DD and I will be going to the T-mobile store to see what better quality of phone we can buy for him. Looks like I'm going to have to spend at least $250 for a good phone (since we are not on a contract and I won't go on a contract). Ugh. And like DD said.....even if the phone works well, DH still isn't going to understand HOW to use it, so he'll end up telling us that phone is a piece of crap too. Sigh...at least I came in almost $200 under budget for groceries for the last 2 weeks, so I don't feel quite so bad having to cough up the money.
I'm sure this saga won't be over, even with an expensive new smart phone. I'll be back here in a couple of weeks saying DH still thinks it doesn't work, blah blah blah. He has zero patience to try and figure anything out, and I really don't even know how to use a smart phone (don't have one), so it will be up to DD to "try" and train him on it. Poor girl - I don't envy her the job! But, I've been putting off this task of new phone shopping for a week, so it will be good to get it off my to-do list and be done with it.
Speaking of to-do lists. 2 more things done! I sat with DD (for all of 15 minutes) last night while she typed in her info and filed her tax return. She wanted to learn, so that was great. She's getting back $93 of the $142 she had withheld. Little girl made over $6500 last year, plus all her tips! Then this morning I finished filing my return. Got back a whopping $36. Now next on the list, is to update the FAFSA. Not that I except that to generate any financial aid. Apparently a family income of $75,000 a year means we are just swimming in money and can afford $20,000 a year for college.
FAFSA equals headache. I hope things work out with the college expenses. As for the cell phone, I am a dummy. My kids have a sprint phone for me, and I am sort of clueless. They set it up, downloaded what I asked them to get, and I still have problems with it sometimes. My oldest is 18, tells me that it's "operator malfunction". I'm assuming it means that I don't have a clue.
ReplyDeleteI'm clueless too! Our son usually handles all things tech-y, so it's hard without him being here. Fortunately my parents set up part of their savings for kids college, so we are covered. I am so lucky
Deletehave you considered getting a used cell phone on craigslist or amazon? Many people upgrade and cell their used ones for cheap.
ReplyDeleteJull - that's normally what my son does (he's the tech expert) but he's out of the country, so I have no clue how to transfer over, etc. We bought a good quality LG phone at the t-mobile store and so far DD, says it's working great and better than the old cheap phone
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ReplyDeleteNice Fortunately my parents set up part of their savings for kids college, so we are covered. I am so lucky
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