Back when cellphones were really huge (physically), before there were even flip phones, I had a cell phone.
I really did not like it. Having it ring, feeling obliged to answer it, having people call me to say "I'm on my way" when I kind of knew that already, or to say "I'm two blocks away," or "I'm 5 minutes late...." It's fine. I can wait another five minutes....
One day it broke. And it was $85 to fix it.
Instead of spending that money, I tossed it in a garbage can on Wilshire Blvd outside the Sprint store in Santa Monica.
I then went 10 years with no cell phone. It was a glorious time.
However, about three years ago, after many complaints from people who could not call me, and a couple times needing to call AAA without a phone, I decided I needed a phone.
I had two thoughts: One was to buy the coolest, newest, most gadgety phone I could. This would be because it is fun to have a new toy - the most modern one you can have.
The other was to buy the cheapest phone in the world. This would be because the other phone was a waste of money.
After looking into the iPhone, I discovered it cost a fortune per month to have one, that they broke, that the camera was mediocre, and that it was basically an inferior version of your laptop.
So I googled "world's cheapest phone" and discovered the Virgin Mobile.
It cost $10.
Of course there were the per month charges.
They were $20.
Every three months.
(Granted you get very few calls for that, but I did not plan to make anything but emergency calls with it.)
This sounded super cheap.
So how is the world's cheapest phone?
It works perfectly fine. It makes calls, it takes messages, it receives calls. What more do you really need?
I like the little screen on the front for some reason.
This how it looks when you open it up.
Note it says "Web." Yes, the world's cheapest phone can surf the web. Have I ever tried? No, and I imagine it would not be the greatest experience, but still.....
Of course, I know you want to now ditch your "smart" phone and get one of these. Well too late. They don't make them anymore. Which is why I live in constant fear of losing it.
On a recent hike, one of the hikers noticed my phone.
He proudly pulled out his own phone. The exact same one. Of course, he loved it.
And he also gave me a tip. If you call up, you can get a rate of $15 every three months, not $20. That saves you $1.60 every month.
At the end of the hike, he reminded me: call them up and get that $5. I haven't made that call yet, but if I'm ever trying to really save.....
