Things are really taking twists in my life these days. I have a job opportunity (still in veterinary work, but with double the pay and back in my field) which is a fairly long commute again. Fortunately, the drive time is not during peak commute times! Mr. S. got his school funding denied b/c the local economy is now gearing up to support the Boeing layoff folks, so we need the money even more so if he is to complete his studies this year. Fortunately, he can also be around the homestead more, since his classes are kind of clumped into a set in the a.m.

Anyway, I am considering getting a cell phone (or two) as I will be on the road a lot, and frankly, with the current unease in the world, I would just feel better with one (this is from someone who has one wall phone on the kitchen wall, period!)

My problem is that I am *absolutely clueless* (I've always hated the damned things!) about how to even start shopping for one. Do you try to get a cheap phone and don't worry about the package? Does it matter how many minutes at what time you buy one for? Can I get internet access on one? I really need the very most BASIC information to get started. How much does one cost? Any frugal tips? Will there be specials coming up for the holidays? Should I wait? etc. PLEASE HELP! Thanks!

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

Answers

btw, I would be interested in learning about cordless phones, too ( I could haul one out to the barns or the bunkhouse.) That would be separate from the cell phone needs, though.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

It really will help for you to assess how much you think you will use it. Notice how often you might make home to work calls now, and think about if that would go up when it became more convenient.

The reason we don't have one is that here in WV the mountains make it hard to get a steady signal when you can get one. There are often additional 'roaming' charges when you are in an area outside of the original area--the call plans by the big companies that operate here do not cover the whole state in one plan. This is another reason we don't have one. R. travels all over the state during the week and half the time she couldn't use the phone without a $ penalty.

If you are only going to use it sparingly and don't want tied to a contract, consider buying one of those phones with pre-paid minutes on it. Yes, they are more expensive per minute, but you may only spend $30 in three months(or less-you don't pay if you haven't used it), rather than a $29/ month contract fee. I wouldn't get a pre-paid one if young people would have access to it. I doubt their definition of important calls is the same as an adults'.

Friends of ours have all gotten stuck with a contract that they had to honor for the specified period, even after they cancelled the phone service. I hate getting tied down to that kind of expense. But then we don't get cable tv either.

I recommend going over and over the small print and taking any proposed agreement home and reading it with a map of the calling area to assess, without pressure, the cost/benefit ratio.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

We have a little experience in the cell phone biz, dear husband is a coast to coast truck driver and we have had one for him from the get go. Don't buy an Ericcson brand phone, they are a nightmare! We have been happiest with the newest digital Nokia brand phone so far...

We had AT&T service, but their coast to coast coverage was lacking, so we switched to Verizon after comparing ALL the companies on the market (that took weeks to figure out), there are websites for all of the companies available, comparison shop that way, print them out so you can figure out who is the better buy.

Do you want nationwide coverage, or just "local" coverage? Keep in mind that "local" coverage is probably more than enough for your needs, local coverage here is a 150 mile wide radius from a major city (Wheeling, WV.), if we didn't need coverage for my husband, that would have worked fine for us.

My dear brother, the professional computer geek, swears by Sprint PCS, he says their prices are the best, and he can set his phone up to not accept incoming calls that are not from his coverage area, thereby eliminating any and all roaming charges. He also sets it up so he cannot "accidently" call outside his covered area. They live 150 miles north of us, and can still use their phone when they travel here, we are still in their covered area here in the boonies!

Expect to pay about $100. 00 or way less for your phone, Verizon phone charge is spread out over many months, we pay only a $4.99 monthy fee towards the phone (with no interest charges), so there was no actual out of pocket expenses at sign up.

Talk to someone locally in your area about what phones will actually work where you live and will be traveling through, our old phone with AT&T didn't even work at our house, but the one through Verizon does, it's the newest state of the art Tri-mode digital version though, but still did not cost any more money than what AT&T offered.

Finally, make sure you know how to check on how many minutes of airtime you have used up, and check frequently!!! My husband forgets, and runs way over his "allocated" cheap minutes (who says men aren't as gabby or gabbier than we women!!!), running up a whopping phone bill unbeknownst to me until the bill arrives, 35 cents a minute really adds up quickly, and is very unnesessary since we have a 10 cent a minute 800 number to call home on, and a 10 cents a minute caling card to call anywhere!!!

Oh! You asked about accessing the internet on one. Yes, you can on the newer Tri-mode digital models, but this uses up your air time minutes quickly, and the downloading information time needed is soooooo slow it drives you crazy!!! But, it's there if you absolutely need it.

You should be able to get a newer Tri-mode digital phone and around 200 airtime minutes ( usually they give away 2000 airtime minutes free on the weekends) for your covered area for around $50.00, less money for less minutes. I would go with Sprint PCS personally, for us though, they did not offer full coast to coast coverage that we needed without roaming charges applying, but for your use, it would be perfect.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

Like was mentioned before, I would second making sure you have good service at your homestead. Our signal out at the farm was practically non-existant, like the twilight zone, which we thought was kinda cool, but not when you really want to use the thing.

The roaming charges are what will really add up to a big bill at the end of the month; our bill last month when Bren went out west to pick up the girls was $227!. 80% of that was roaming charges, and that's the case on regular months too. So when you talk to your service provider, determine from and to where you would be doing most of your calling, so most of your calls will be included in the standard "mileage". We have had cell phones for many years, but try to use em only for short calls.

As for cordless, once you get used to them, its real hard to get back to being tied to that ol cord! THe freedom to walk around and do other stuff while your're talking is wonderful. We've had several, and none of em seem to be as good sound quality as the old fashioned kind, like everything else, but the trade-off is worth it to me. And of course they last about as long as everything else does nowadays. I still have an old black dial phone in my bedroom from the 40's, weighs a ton, but I love the look of it.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

thanks. What are roaming charges? I mean, really, I am clueless... If someone could explain how a cell phone even works, it would be helpful.

btw, I live in the Pac NW and I think cell phones are required for new residency here (!) I think there's no problem with connecting.

I would use the phone during the week during peak hours and very sparingly. It would be to communicate with Mr. S. or Mom...if I'm on the road in the dark, going to be late, have to call AAA etc. No chat.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

I just want to add that I am totally ANTI cordless phones. I figured this out when I was laid up with a broken leg and intercepted calls from a couple who were obviously cheating on their spouses. And then there was the time the neighborhood hoodlum showed up with the right tool, just 'happening by'---after a neighbor used the cordless to call down the road for the same tool. Gave it up then and there. Didn't want any more eavesdropping on my private conversations by anyone with a scanner and some knowhow. We don't even have one now. If I am outside I do not answer the phone, and if I am doing something inherently dangerous I make sure there is another adult present.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

Yeah, I know people can eavesdrop on cordless phone conversations, they can do the same on cell phone ones, and if they're really savvy they can do so on regular lines too. If you buy something over the internet, someone can steal your credit card number; if you use your credit card at a merchant and neglect to tear up the carbon, they can steal your identity; if you don't have a gun in your house, someone can break in and murder you in your sleep; if someone comes up your driveway lookin for work, they're maybe up to no good; if we dont have two years of food stored away, we will be sorry when the world falls apart; if we don't get our vaccinations, we will probably die of some dreaded disease; if our kids don't go to college, they'll never make anything of themselves; if we eat too much animal fat, we'll clog up our arteries; if we don't subscribe to some religion, we have no moral compass; if we don't go for our annual physical, God knows what we could catch...........

We all gotta do what we all gotta do; whatever makes us feel comfortable and gets us through the day, either with joy and the knowledge of abundance, or with fear and the knowledge of lack. I choose to live my life without expectation of disaster, and by golly so far its worked damn well! :)

Peace,

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

I know what you mean....

I've got a bag phone in my car. That is much like a regular phone (not cordless) with an antenna on the roof for extra boost, since my van is old and high mileage, and I drive by myself alone a lot, and late at night, and through country where deer toy with death on the highway nightly....I think of it as another insurance policy.

I've got $10 a month service on it, got a special deal that they were running locally last year through CellCom, plus free airtime. (I forget how many minutes tho. I never use them up.)

One of my horse magazines mentioned that cell phone companies are REQUIRED by law to process 911 calls that come through locally, even if you are not a subscriber to their service. They advocated getting a cheap model and carrying it with you on trail rides (and when you're out in the barn by yourself...), without subscription service. If you need it in an emergency, you still need to be able to tell the operator where you are and how to find you, but if this is true, it would be another cheap way to have a little added security (I've never had cause to try it out to see if 911 works or not tho).

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

EM, I really don't think I expect disaster. I just really felt violated and vulnerable when I realized this guy had been listening to our phone calls. It is hard enough to maintain our feeling of safety as the girls at the end of the road, when someone at the beginning of the road hung a confederate flag and a noose out a year or so ago. No, we don't own guns. We have always believed that peace is our only security. However, hate crimes do scare us.

This is a confusing world sometimes.

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

Sheepish, I don't have a cell phone but my understanding of roaming charges are that they are similar to that fee that a bank charges you for using their ATM if you're not part of their network. The company that you get cellular service from only covers a certain area. If you make a call when you are outside of that area you are using another company's equipment to pick up your call and send it on it's way,and you're paying them for that use. Roaming charges are in addition to any long-distance charges for the call.

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

Thanks Sherri, and all of you! btw, I don't use ATMs either! I can't believe how naive I must sound to all of you!

I think I should ask some of my neighbors what services they use. I notice that folks up the hill from us sometimes stop by our mailboxes b/c they can get better reception here. I'm not sure but I think the roaming area is probably at least around Puget Sound...maybe even Western Washington in total. I saw an ad in yesterday's paper for ATT wireless:

"up to 3400 minutes a month until 2003. Up to $135 in savings. Sign up for the AT&T Digiital Advantage $39.99 plan with a two-year agreement and get:

400 anytime minutes

2000 night and weekend minutes and either 1000 Mobile-to-Mobile minutes or nationwide long distance included.

(Plus get up to $135 savings with a two-year agreement......activation fee waived (+$35); R289LX mail-in phone rebate (+$500; mail-in service rebate (+$50.00) = total savings: $135.00.

This sounds like a lot of gobbledy-gook to me. Guess I wouldn't need all those minutes! But 1000 free long distance minutes might be appropriate.

btw, do you then cancel your landline phones or keep two accounts?

Thanks.

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

Anne, I apologize if I sounded snippy when I posted that last night......guess I was reacting with weariness to all the fear generation enveloping us lately. Sometimes I get so arrogant and forget what it was like before I suddenly learned to live without fear. I get so frustrated sometimes with those around me who run their whole lives based on 'what could happen'. Maybe I got my panties in a knot cuz my mom's comin to visit today! :) Anywho, I understand your fear; I guess I live in a pretty cool part of the country......could not imagine a confederate flag down the road! And although I guess we have our share of urban crime,and an occassional rural one too, but overall the people here are pretty decent, very progressive, and accepting of differences.

And I must throw in my obnoxious observation that I absolutely believe that whatever we focus on becomes our reality, and that those people who are most terrified of something terrible happening to them, will most assuredly have something terrible happen to them.

Peace,

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

mail in phone rebate = $50.00, not $500. ooopsie

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

I am not sure you do understand my fear EM. I don't mean to be difficult or pick on semantics. It is not a constant or even a vigilance. It is simply being aware of my surroundings. It is not paranoia nor does it keep me from any activity. Well, except for skydiving, that really does scare me. 99% of the folks here really don't care how you vote, who you sleep with, or what foods you eat. So I don't even feel surrounded by ignorance.

In fact the night I drove by the flag/noose at the crowded house party, it was a houseguest of mine who noticed it first. However it confirmed my instinctual wariness re: those folks. I don't look for things to worry about, and honestly don't worry generally.

Check out the book called "The Gift Of Fear" by Gavin de Becker. It was very helpful to me to understand and respond to my own thoughts and feelings without ignoring them. As a woman who makes house calls and invites strangers in to her home office, often while I am alone, I find it only prudent to listen to my instincts, as it were. De Becker also has a book called "Protecting the Gift" regarding teens.

Have a great day.

-- Anonymous, October 18, 2001