Lesson from parents on saving money...iPhone related

[dontwalkhand]

Right now I am on my own plan paying about $90 a month for Sprint for my iPhone, an individual line + an 18% employer discount.

My parents are offering for me to join their plan, which they would completely pay for, so that way I can concentrate on paying more important bills, such as my house payment, electricity, etc.

The problems I have with this is...

A) The ETF with Sprint is $350
B) I would lose my phone number
C) I would be at the mercy of my parents again when it comes to paying for my cell phone.
D) They can cancel my line at any time and then I would be SOL when it comes to retrieving my phone number.
E) I would have to purchase a new iPhone 5

but the Pros would be:

A) It would make them stop talking.
B) It would be one less bill I would have to pay.
C) I would get working 3G.
D) I would actually be able to use all the features of the iPhone 5

From now, all signs point to me just staying with Sprint. Is the trouble worth it? How much would I really even save? Though data that runs faster than dialup is a pro that might be all in itself worth it.

[aliensporebomb]

I guess my thoughts are:

"Are you gainfully employed?"

And

"Are there restrictions on data use or similar things going on with this deal they are offering you?"

[Mrbobb]

Is not a lesson, if they are helping you in any way.

If they really want to teach you something they let you pay the expensive plan because that's what you chose to do and suffer the consequences.

[nburwell]

Why don't you just ditch Sprint and switch to a pre-paid carrier such as Straight Talk? You would be able to keep your number and your cell phone bill would be literally cut in half. Plus, you wouldn't have your parents on your back.

[Btrthnezr3]

Can't they port your number over? Or am I mistaken?

[dontwalkhand]

Originally Posted by nburwell

Why don't you just ditch Sprint and switch to a pre-paid carrier such as Straight Talk? You would be able to keep your number and your cell phone bill would be literally cut in half. Plus, you wouldn't have your parents on your back.

I was thinking that originally when I went to Sprint, but after reading reviews, they kind of scare me to be honest. Is the support for ST based in the US? Would they be a carrier to one day be like the days of the old Helio and Amp'd Mobile where they just get up and walk one day and you lose your phone number?

Having the convenience of GSM is nice, but I need a reputable carrier to be able to conduct business with and to trust them.

(My parents are on AT&T by the way)

[nburwell]

Originally Posted by dontwalkhand

I was thinking that originally when I went to Sprint, but after reading reviews, they kind of scare me to be honest. Is the support for ST based in the US? Would they be a carrier to one day be like the days of the old Helio and Amp'd Mobile where they just get up and walk one day and you lose your phone number?

Having the convenience of GSM is nice, but I need a reputable carrier to be able to conduct business with and to trust them.

(My parents are on AT&T by the way)

ST is in the US. They essentially use AT&T's network. So as long as where you live you have AT&T coverage (which I'm sure you do), then you would be fine.

[From A Buick 8]

Originally Posted by dontwalkhand

Right now I am on my own plan paying about $90 a month for Sprint for my iPhone, an individual line + an 18% employer discount.

My parents are offering for me to join their plan, which they would completely pay for, so that way I can concentrate on paying more important bills, such as my house payment, electricity, etc.

The problems I have with this is...

A) The ETF with Sprint is $350
B) I would lose my phone number
C) I would be at the mercy of my parents again when it comes to paying for my cell phone.
D) They can cancel my line at any time and then I would be SOL when it comes to retrieving my phone number.
E) I would have to purchase a new iPhone 5

but the Pros would be:

A) It would make them stop talking.
B) It would be one less bill I would have to pay.
C) I would get working 3G.
D) I would actually be able to use all the features of the iPhone 5

From now, all signs point to me just staying with Sprint. Is the trouble worth it? How much would I really even save? Though data that runs faster than dialup is a pro that might be all in itself worth it.

Unless you are just taking on one of their exisiting numbers you can port your exisiting number.

However IMHO, if you making a house payment then you need to "man Up" and pay all of your bills.

If you need to get a part time job on the weekends or a couple nights a week. If they really want to help, then have them make one extra home payment a year and cut the 30 year down to 20 years.

[wacky4alanis]

It's generally much cheaper (per phone) with a family plan, so in the long run, I think it makes sense for families to consolidate all phones onto a single plan as long as there isn't any major drama involved. AFAIK, it's not hard to port a number from one carrier to another, so that is a non-issue.

The cost of the new phone and the termination fees are the biggest hurdles. How far are you away from finishing your contract? Did you actually call and check to see if your termination fee has been prorated? It usually goes down steadily as you get further into the contract period.

Only you know how reliable they are with paying bills, and the likelihood of them defaulting or randomly canceling your phone. And of course, if/when you can afford to pay for it, you should definitely offer to cover your share of the bill. I see no problem with accepting this gift from your parents, as long as they don't plan on using it as some sort of tool to further control you.

[phr0ze]

Remember they can also see which phone numbers you call/text to/from on the bill.

[Applejuiced]

Time to cut the umbilical cord big boy...

[jessica.]

How is it that you can have a job and a house payment but you're considering letting your parents foot the bill for your cell phone? If you have to prioritize then perhaps you need to ditch the smart phone all together and use another phone with a lesser bill.

To answer your question, I'd stay on your own plan.

[ProudLoz]

Originally Posted by phr0ze

Remember they can also see which phone numbers you call/text to/from on the bill.

The last time I ever looked at the detailed phone bill was way back when texting first got rolling and I ended up using over 1,000 texts and got charged $200 for it. Thankfully, T-Mobile got us on the unlimited data plan for $5 and took off the $200 charge.

All I'm saying is, no one really looks at the detailed phone bill unless you get charged extra for something. As long as it doesn't happen, I'm not worried about it.

As for the OP, I have one suggestion, if you're going with AT&T you should be aware that if you get on their family plan you need to make sure that they pay their bill on time. Think about it, if they for some reason forget to pay the bill, you are **** out of luck. They cut off all the lines.

I'm currently in a family plan with my mom and dad, and even though I pay part of my bill, if they fail to pay theirs, I'm screwed. That is one major downside, and if you don't believe you're going to have these issues, you should jump ship. Hell, if you pay your part, it'll be a lot cheaper than your Sprint bill I bet.

I also remember reading somewhere that Sprint is going to raise the prices of it's service somewhere around this year for "Network Improvements".

[dukebound85]

Originally Posted by dontwalkhand

I was thinking that originally when I went to Sprint, but after reading reviews, they kind of scare me to be honest. Is the support for ST based in the US? Would they be a carrier to one day be like the days of the old Helio and Amp'd Mobile where they just get up and walk one day and you lose your phone number?

Having the convenience of GSM is nice, but I need a reputable carrier to be able to conduct business with and to trust them.

(My parents are on AT&T by the way)

Well I have been using ST for a good 7 months or so.....I have saved 7*45=315 then if I were to have stayed with ATT. Phone bill went from about 90 to 45-47/month with better service in terms of allowances

I have never once needed to call CS. How often do you need to call support?

f they get up and leave, which I doubt, then use another prepaid or go back to sprint

[Interstella5555]

Originally Posted by jessica.

How is it that you can have a job and a house payment but you're considering letting your parents foot the bill for your cell phone? If you have to prioritize then perhaps you need to ditch the smart phone all together and use another phone with a lesser bill.

To answer your question, I'd stay on your own plan.

Yeah, I haven't been financially tied to my parent for ~15 years, can't imagine voluntarily doing it again.

[BigMcGuire]

Originally Posted by Interstella5555

Yeah, I haven't been financially tied to my parent for ~15 years, can't imagine voluntarily doing it again.

I have paid for my own cellphone plan since early 2000s. But now that I think about it, saving some $ on a cellphone would be nice. I know quite a few families that got on a family plan because dad was willing to pay the data and all they had to pay was the line charge ($40/mo). Beats paying $100+ for your own individual plan. I know a couple that did that - lowers the bill a bit especially now that times are hard.

I think the big thing is, do you get along with your parents? Probably the biggest thing because if not that can and probably will be used against you. Otherwise, why not save money and hop on a family plan? Could save you both money if you split the data.

I'm on a Verizon Family Share All plan with a friend of mine. We have our girls (my wife his gf) on the plan as well. In the last few months I've had several relatives ask if they could join us. :P

The above is in reference to the Verizon Shared All Family plans.

[donnaw]

My husband and I share a family plan with my son and his wife. We've been doing this for years. We have 4 phones and 3 iPads. Moving to the shared plan saves us about $100/month. Not to mention the fact that it allows us to use the majority of the data on the iPads (which is where we always seemed to be short). I pay my son half of the bill every month because the plan is under his name (ATT owns the company he works for so he gets a discount).

If you and your parents are close and don't get into arguments then it can be a real savings and convience. However, you should pay your part of the bill every month. Sharing a plan to save money and for convience doesn't exempt someone's from their own obligations.

[ARSkemp]

My vote is to go hop on your parent's plan. This is assuming they reliably pay their bill and you are on good terms with them.

Split the bill evenly between the users of the plan (or if it is a mix of smart/dumb phones then figure out your part). Pay your part each month or set up a monthly auto-pay with your credit card or bank account. You will pay less, they may pay less (or at the very least not more), and everyone is happy.

[Interstella5555]

Originally Posted by BigMcGuire

I have paid for my own cellphone plan since early 2000s. But now that I think about it, saving some $ on a cellphone would be nice. I know quite a few families that got on a family plan because dad was willing to pay the data and all they had to pay was the line charge ($40/mo). Beats paying $100+ for your own individual plan. I know a couple that did that - lowers the bill a bit especially now that times are hard.

I think the big thing is, do you get along with your parents? Probably the biggest thing because if not that can and probably will be used against you. Otherwise, why not save money and hop on a family plan? Could save you both money if you split the data.

I'm on a Verizon Family Share All plan with a friend of mine. We have our girls (my wife his gf) on the plan as well. In the last few months I've had several relatives ask if they could join us. :P

The above is in reference to the Verizon Shared All Family plans.

The same reason I don't live with my parents, it doesn't matter how good the relationship is, there's a time in your life when you have to grow up and do things yourself rather than depending on others to make your life easier.