Would I be “giving in”?

So, for years now I’ve been firm in my commitment to stick to having only a flip phone for my cell phone:  sturdy, dependable, and I my service only costs $90 a year.  (Not to mention that I haven’t ever had to replace my flip phone, and I got it in 2008!)

But lately I’ve been wondering if I should move to a smart phone.

From a comment she made some time ago — when I was still just a volunteer — I get the feeling my boss is going to expect me to have a phone that can be texted, which my current phone cannot.  (Okay, actually, technically it can be, if I were to re-activate texting, but all I ever got were wrong numbers, and do you have any idea how annoying it is to type on a flip phone?  “Your message went to the wrong number” would be “99966688777 633777777772433 933668 8666 84433 9777666664 668862233777”!)

And then there’s little things.  Like being able to check the weather when a thunderstorm rolls in and I’ve already turned off my modem to prevent any damage should the power go out.  (And no, I couldn’t check it on TV, ’cause I don’t have television reception.)  And being able to get driving instructions on the go when a road’s closed.  (All right, maybe that’s not so little.)  And I’d be able to sign up for “mobile banking” so my bank would stop pestering me about it.  (Not that I’d actually use it, mind you.  I’d just like them to stop pestering me about it.)

But the cost is really nagging me.  Beyond the cost of the phone — and since I’d want to be able to use apps I’ve already bought for my iPad, the cost of the phone would not be insignificant! — there’s the fact that I’d have to switch from $90 a year to minimum $30 a month.  That’s a $270 difference.  Plus a phone that would cost minimum $250 if I want to stick with both my current provider (where I have a pretty huge existing account balance that I’d lose if I went elsewhere) and use my current apps.

So that’s more than $500, just for the first year.

Yeah, I’m sticking with the flip phone after all.  I’m not paying $500 for a few conveniences!

Thanks for the help figuring this out.

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