Let’s face it – getting a new cell phone is an event no one enjoys because of the amount of money we’re forced to spend on new phones. Sure, we can still get refurbished phones for the same price we paid for brand new ones in 2005, but the days of $300 for a brand new phone are long gone. For that reason, I RARELY upgrade my phone. I use mine as long as I can and only when something goes awry do I replace it.
For Denis it’s much the same. He has replaced his phone over the past few years because of mechanical breakdowns. But because his old job supplied to phone to him, we did not experience the cost of getting the new phone. When he was laid off last year, he had to turn in the phone and get a new one. We opted to go with a refurbished old iPhone 5S for a couple hundred bucks. For the past year it has served him well, but last week the phone suddenly expanded and broke open along the seam. Never a good thing.
On Saturday we ran over to our local AT&T store so that Denis could get a new phone. He had decided on the iPhone 8+ (a significant “raise” from his used 5S) and while we were talking with the rep, she said, “Have you thought about doing the BOGO sale and get another phone free?”
“We don’t need a new line,” Denis said. “Our whole family already has phones.”
“Just get a new line, then cancel one of the old ones,” she replied.
I scoffed at that. “CootieBoy is not going to want to get a new number.”
“I bet he will if he gets a nicer phone out of it,” Denis said. 
We called him, and sure enough – he was fully onboard with getting a new number if it meant getting a really nice phone (an iPhone 8 in his case since he, too, had a 5S).
As we were getting them processed, she mentioned the same deal was good for Samsung phones. For the past 3+ years I’ve used a Samsung Galaxy S5 as my phone, and while the phone worked great, I was constantly deleting or shifting things around because I had so little memory – I used my SD card to store as much as I could and STILL only had 10% of my phone storage left. It was pitiful.
“CootieGirl will not change her number. CB yes, but CG no way.” I called her anyway, and as I expected, she said she was content to wait to get a new phone.
We got Denis checked out and headed home. CB loved his new phone, and quickly began moving everything over from his old phone. He was thrilled to lord it over his school pal who just got a used iPhone 7 for his birthday last week.
I asked CG about her phone. “How many contacts do you have on your phone? Would it really be THAT big a deal to get a new number?”
She looked on her phone and sheepishly said, “I have 10 contacts.”
“Okay, then we’re upgrading our phones.”
We had originally intended to get Samsung 8+ phones, but when we got there, they only had 9s available, so that’s what we ended up with.
Total spent this weekend between taxes, new cases, new protective glass and a wireless charger: ~$430. And for four new phones, our phone bill will only go up $60/month for the next 30 months because two of the phones were free, at which point we’ll own the phones outright. And given the fact that we all typically keep our phones for 4-5 years, we’ll be in good shape for some time.
And yes, the new phones are VERY nice. =)
