My two-year contract expired, and I traded in my smart (HTC Android) phone for a “dumb” phone. The main reason was to save money: I will save $25/month by being able to drop the data plan. That’s a savings of about $340/year including tax. I enjoyed my Android phone, but I also have an Android Tablet with wifi only (and a 10.1″ screen) so that satisfies my Android needs. Of course my laptop has wifi which allows me to write this very blog in a coffee shop. I just don’t need a smart phone, and $340/year in savings is not insignificant.
I will divulge that I have been much less vigilant with my spending habits this year. Since my girlfriend and I have stable, high-quality jobs and our financial strategies have been reasonably successful, it has been easy to indulge a bit. One indulgence has been adopting two wonderful rescue dogs. We spoil them, and they eat a lot. I figure they collectively cost $4000/year. We enjoy their company greatly so the price, while steep, is worth it to us.
I used to be a master of savings. Now I am merely pretty good living below my means. I still have the extreme saver know-how, but I am no longer living the extreme-saver lifestyle. I am living the disciplined saver lifestyle. I say this because I am sensative to the fact that my finance blog readers are in a wide variety of financial positions. I am a strong believer in living below your means, especially in your accumulation (savings) years.
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