Approved for a new cell phone today!

[edwards2]

you go tinroofrusted! What you do or dont do with your finances is no one's business but yours. Posting on this forum does not give anyone a license to be judgemental and no one appreciates unsolicited advice from someone posing as your financial conscience. It does smack of Dave Ramsey advice. I have heard him and read one of his books and while I applaud his efforts in trying to re-educate us on money, it is only his opinion not gospel.

[edwards2]

you go tinroofrusted....what you do or dont do with your finances is no one's business but yours. I dont care for or appreciate unsolicited advice either especially from someone who has become your self appointed financial conscience. And by the way the verbage could have come right of Dave Ramsey's mouth or books.

[tinroofrusted]

Thank you everyone.

And edwards- you're right about that Dave Ramsey guy- I don't agree with the majority of what he preaches. The love of money is the root of all evil, and I agree with that wholeheartedly. He, however, does not.

[robivi3]

But remember the exact quote (from the original text, yikes I'm doing this again) is "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil". Many things are the root of all kinds of evil. Money is good, which is why so many parables involved finding a coin that was lost etc... The love of it is wrong. The joy of having it is not, the pride of having it is. The joy of using it to help others is good. Dave Ramsey however just doesn't live in the real world. He exists on the unheard of Planet called Perfection. The world doesn't function with Dave Ramsey's plan in mind. He is out there... on 10 acres... in Hawaii... driving an Escalade... with a 1965 Ferarri in the garage... and a 64&1/2 Shelby Mustang, British Racing Green...

Give me John Hagi for real plain Texas talk, Dave Ramsey is an "irrelevant preacher" so to speak. That finance lady on PBS is mor realistic and down to earth. I think Dave Ramsey and Deepak Chopra are neighbors, Deepak certainly doesn't have my neighbors or shop at my Wal-Mart (but Dwayne Johnson "The Rock" does, seen him there and drives a regular BMW!, but he's a regular Joe with money).

And folks I gotta list some o' my Matchbox Car collection on ebay tonite, no Overtime, wanna recoup some recent losses so you know I live where the rubber meets the road. AND TIN, YOU DONE GOOD! CELL PHONES ARE NOT AN OPTION IN THE 21ST CENTURY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A contract for a phone IS NOT a debt, you can get out of it, it is a NECESSITY. After all the rcent troubles of this world I can tell you again CELL PHONES SAVE LIVES!!! The cost is well worth it!!!

[coolbreaker]

In some cases a cell phone in place of a land line is cheaper, but you are still incurring debt if you signed a contract. A land line does not require a contract and can be terminated at any time without penalty. With a cell phone contract, you are committed to paying a set amount every month for 1-2 years. If you cancel before that, you have to pay a penalty. That's a debt.

Make the best financial decision for you and your family. If a cell phone contract is best, congratulations on getting one.

its more like 3 years over here

in many plans, my friends pay 20$ a month for the first 1 year, then 50$ a month for years 2 and 3... with strict penalties if you cancel the contract

a smart way to lock in customers hey? ;)

[StaciMM]

Just my 2 cents worth on cell companies:

It is possible to have an affordable cell plan.

We have Sprint, and are very happy w/ them. My husband was approved for them last year, w/ no deposit even though his only credit was BAD. To add a 2nd line (for me) we had to pay a $125 deposit and they credited that to our bill after a year.

We pay ~$55/mo for 1000 minutes for us to share, have free nights & weekends, and unlimited cell-cell calls. He needs the cell for his part time job, and they reimburse him about $20/mo for using it. The normal billing for the plan was $45 + $20 for the 2nd line, plus taxes, etc. He gets a 20% discount because he works for a 'preferred employer'. (Paid about $30 for the 2 phones, by the way.)

I do think they've changed their plans to charge more $$ for the 1000 minutes, and ours are not 'anywhere' minutes, but we've not gone into a roaming area since getting the phones... We're homebodies!

We cancelled our home phone, by the way, once our DSL contract was up & added cable internet.

[ronnieandsuzie]

Yay!

I am new to the board but I have been seeing your ID all over and I have to say you have given me hope LOL Going BK was a tough decision for us but MAN now I wish we had done it sooner! I only had OLD bad debt(hadn't been able to pay on it for four years) Everyone kept telling me OH don't go BK it will destroy your life. Well you know what bad debt has draged us down for four years. the best thing I did was file BK! NOW I feel I can get my life back

So glad you were able to get that phone It IS a necessity in my world to. And I am married to a cop who says NOONE should be with out a phone ever, it really is way better than a landline since while you are out it just may save your life or someone elses someday!

[nature]

I had a prepaid cell phone from at&t and when i ran my credit report.. they had me listed for 421.00 in the red... I don`t think prepaid is the right choice for anybody

[Minnymouth]

Nature,
I have had a prepaid phone for 6 years. It is for emergencies only. Never had a problem with it, get 6 hours a year talking time with activation which cost me $75.00 a year. No contracts, etc.

Prepaid phones "work well" for some some of us for emergencies only....


Now if I was going to "chat" on it all day - I would buy a regular cell with a package plan, no roaming charges, etc., like I had before.

Minny

[HRx]

I look at cell phones more as a convenience than a neccessity......but anyhow congrats to Tin!!!

[AAAArt]

Just my 2 cents worth on cell companies:
We cancelled our home phone, by the way, once our DSL contract was up & added cable internet.

Question for Staci and anyone else who knows. I read somewhere that not having a home phone listed would hurt your credit scores.
I am looking into ways to cut my expenses such as just using our cell or going with Vonage, but wondered about that aspect of it.
I think I heard somewhere that you could get your cell phone or Vonage listed in the phone book for $4.00 a month. Anyone know anything about either of these questions.
Since we just filed on 10/13, we're getting a bunch of phone calls from creditors and not qquite ready to switch, just researching. Thanks for any info.

[StaciMM]

I can't say if it hurt my score or not but we've not had any issues from not having a home phone. (My score was pretty bad before BK, it has actually improved ALOT since filing.)

[invest1choice]

I have listened to Dave Ramsey and believe it or not he promotes Suncom a wireless service that gives you unlimted calls 80.00 month with a 1-2 year contract. Well that is one of his commercials in my area on the radio anyways.. Just with everything I believe you should listen if you have the time and take what you will of it in your own way. if It works for you Great if not thats fine too.. I have looked into dave ramsey too my husband thinks some of the things he says is absolutely crazy ,, " EAT RICE AND BEANS , RICE AND BEANS for a year while you get out of debt. my husbands like how in the world do you do that? But on the hand , he refers anyone who has a house and family to go with term life .. a must he says .. Car payments he is not crazy about but knows the need for a dependable car if you are already in one depending on situation....but not extravagant ,, All in all like I said he has nothing against Cell phones .. I guess is my point and some things make sense to me and others not but to each's own... listen and take what you want and leave the rest at the door...
If you want to check out his web

https://www.daveramsey.com

[tinroofrusted]

I have listened to Dave Ramsey and believe it or not he promotes Suncom a wireless service that gives you unlimted calls 80.00 month with a 1-2 year contract. Well that is one of his commercials in my area on the radio anyways.. Just with everything I believe you should listen if you have the time and take what you will of it in your own way. if It works for you Great if not thats fine too.. I have looked into dave ramsey too my husband thinks some of the things he says is absolutely crazy ,, " EAT RICE AND BEANS , RICE AND BEANS for a year while you get out of debt. my husbands like how in the world do you do that? But on the hand , he refers anyone who has a house and family to go with term life .. a must he says .. Car payments he is not crazy about but knows the need for a dependable car if you are already in one depending on situation....but not extravagant ,, All in all like I said he has nothing against Cell phones .. I guess is my point and some things make sense to me and others not but to each's own... listen and take what you want and leave the rest at the door...
If you want to check out his web

www.daveramsey.com

I'll leave it ALL at the door, thanks! hehehehe

[tinroofrusted]

Question for Staci and anyone else who knows. I read somewhere that not having a home phone listed would hurt your credit scores.

Urban myth.

So many people are going to wireless instead of a home based phone, that they are often times just askin for a "main" phone number!