I’m pretty frugal. And my frugal lifestyle has leaked over into my choice of cell phone. My current cellphone is a Motorola Droid X and I’ve had it for nearly 3 years. And, let me tell you, it’s on its last legs.
There are a number of reasons I’ve held on to the good ol’ Droid X for so long. I’ve been trying to maximize the value of the money I spent on my phone. It was one of the high-end models a couple of years ago, so I’ve wanted to get as much mileage out of my phone as possible. I’ve been on a family plan, so laziness of trying to coordinate upgrading has been a factor in holding onto my phone. I have been lucky enough to not have any major issues until lately. Plus, I’ve been able to hold off paying for a new phone until a model I really like has come along.
While I’ve been able to hang on to my smartphone for almost 3 years, the writing has been on the wall for a while that it’s time for an upgrade. While I’m not thrilled to depart with the cash, I do recognize there is a line between being frugal and being cheap. I use my smartphone as a tool to check email, surf the web, connect with information, and communicate people. With my upcoming change to working remotely, having a reliable cell phone will be really important since, I am on a lot of conference calls each day for work.
If you’re in a situation where you’re trying to decide whether it’s time to upgrade your smartphone or not, here are some signs it’s time.