Some friends are telling me that I should buy a brand new smartphone, an iPhone5 (Update: iPhone7 na!) perhaps. Para saan pa ba daw ang sweldo? Probably because they’ve been seeing me using a ridiculously older and funnier model of cellphone (not already) available in the market today.
Well, my wife and I agreed that we don’t need a brand new smartphone for now as we don’t see its benefit and relevance to our goals. Besides, we communicate heavily through the internet (emails, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) using our laptops and a tablet (I’m not a cheapskate after all!).
In spite of the fact that we can actually afford to buy a couple of brand new top-of-the-line smartphones, we still preferred to just keep our old ones while they are still working according to our needs (Read: Text and call).
I know you don’t care but perhaps if you are someone who’s currently in deep debt but you brandish the latest smartphone, then I guess you can learn a thing or two from what we do. So whether you are interested or not to know what cellphone models and brands we use, I present to you our Trio Ring-O.
Our 2-year old family cellphones
My Blackberry Curve
If not for my previous boss who forced me to buy a smartphone, I wouldn’t buy one back then. But since I’m an auditor, we travel a lot. Using a smartphone is the easiest way to open and answer emails while moving.
So here’s what I bought 2 years back and it’s what I still use today. You will even see the rubber buttons on the sides of that are already broken (my daughter removed them! haha). But I don’t mind. I seldom use those buttons anyway.
My Wife’s Nokia
We bought another cellphone so that my wife can easily text or call me whenever I’m outside or at work.
I’m so happy and lucky to have a sweet, beautiful, gorgeous, and frugal wife. 😉
My Daughter’s Sony Ericsson Walkman Phone
Here’s the cutest cellphone we ever had. Aside from taking photos and listening to music, Sony Ericsson phones have been our very reliable buddies from way back.
This is also our only roaming phone for the past two years.
Why am I writing about our cellphones?
First, people (relatives and friends) thought that just because I have a better job than before then I will be buying more expensive things such as newer high-end smartphones. But that’s just not me.
I would rather save and invest the difference between the price of an expensive gadget and these cheaper cellphones that we bought.
Focusing on long-term financial goals are far more important than spending on things that lose value in a very short time.
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pareho tayo bro. Although my wife is now using an S4, I got it for free because of my plan. Every 2 yrs free. Gamit na gamit ko naman yung plan ko for my internet connection (for blogging lalo) and then for calls and text. Gamit ko rin dati yan pambili ng stocks ( sa traditional broker kasi ako). And ako naman, I use my wife’s old phone. hahaha. ako ang tagasalo ng luma. pero for the past 8 yrs, di pa ko uli bumili ng bagong phone. inaantay ko na lang yung free ko everytime I renew my contract. sa mga malakas gumamit ng load, siguro magpostpaid na lang din sila. but they should get the package that suits their need, not because of the free unit.
I also had that Blackberry curve unit. Although pareho tayo, nasira na ng anak ko yung akin. di lang buttons, bumigay na talaga kakabato. hehehe.
Same here! Been using the same old phone given to me by my ninang as graduation gift 3 years ago. Relatives also tell me to buy a new cellphone but I just smile and tell them, I don’t need to. It’s actually a sense of accomplishment on my part to know that I can say no to things I don’t really need, despite these times heavy use of smartphones. :)) Thanks for this! 🙂
I certainly salute you for this one Burn. If there’s anything that I consider as a “vice”, it would be mobile phones for me.
BUT, I’m not the type who renews phone every now and then. Usually my phones are renewed every 2 years. And since I got a postpaid plan, I also usually get my phones for free. I just got the Blackberry Q10 lately for free in exchange of an extension of my contract with the telecom provider. I just became a fan of Blackberry since 2010 because of the push email (I can instantly reply to emails, advertisers in my blog), internet, BBM, etc.
Before in college, I did a buy and sell of mobile phones. Those were my early stages of being an entrepreneur. I bought and sold units for profit for at least 20 mobile phones before 🙂
im also a blogger and planned to feature my 6 year old Nokia N70. It’s still functional though it’s quite slow now due to many pics, games and music installled. I’ m not a fan of smart phones, touch screen either! My goal in life is to use things (not appreciating) to its fullest capacity until it gets broken and cannot be repaired anymore. Frugality makes sense!
with cheap android cellphones available you can get all the advantages on a budget. There are a lot of things I do on an android cellphone but that I couldnt do on a normal cellphone that makes my life easier
I have 3 phones too, Galaxy S4, my 3 year old Blackberry 8520, and a MyPhone which I bought for 2k php. I agree sa blog na ito. Di naman talaga kelangan na sunod sa uso ang fone mo (although I have an S4). I have an S4 hindi dahil sa uso, dahil masyado kong nababagalan sa bb curve ko (I’m a heavy user of phones for FB browsing and gaming). Almost 1 year old na ang phone ko and there were times na nasira na ung fone ko (buti nalang sakop pa ng warranty nung nasira), kahit lumabas na ang Galaxy S5, Iphone 5S, Iphone6, hindi ko naman kelangan yan mga yan kasi na-meet naman ng S4 yung satisfaction level na hinahanap ko sa fone and wala akong balak palitan for the next 3 years (By the way, wala akong tablet so ang S4 ko na ang pinaka tablet ko). I also use my BB Curve for texting and calls, MyPhone for MP3, FM Radio and sometimes local TV! So I have everything that I need for phones right now and I don’t want to replace any of them hanggang masira na lang tlga.. DI kelangan makisali sa uso.
And by the way, kita ko pic ng BB mo, I know how you feel.. Parehas lang ang buttons ng fone mo sa buttons ng BB Curve ko. Wala ng mapindot heheh.. 🙂