Off-Topic Continued: Cell Phone Search

Life is a mixture of blessings and curses. The cliche "two sides to every coin" comes to mind and I am no different. I like to research and I like spreadsheets. Most of the time I really do enjoy researching and making spread sheets especially before making an important purchase and because of this it is my blessing. On the other hand it is also a curse because my need to research and organize that data into a spreadsheet tends to continue past the point of enjoyment.

I am lucky enough to have had a guardian angel of sorts in my life at precisely the time I needed one. A little over a year ago my life was a grab bag of suckiness. I had just moved to Raleigh from Northern Virginia and was living with my sister. I had just broken up with my boyfriend of 3 years (quite dramatically I might add) and I had no job prospects. It was in my search for a job that I met my guardian angel, D. We hit it off so well that my interview turned into 3 hours of girl talk and within a few weeks I was moved in as a live-in nanny. Another big help that D gave me was adding me to her family's cell phone plan and getting me am iPhone 4. Over a year later, I haven't lived with D for many months now, but still have that phone. I now have the means to pay for my own cell phone and intend to do so, not to separate myself from D, but to add to my own independence.

So after a year of not having to worry about a cell phone bill I had forgotten how expensive they can be! Enter my research and spreadsheets. It just so happens that my boyfriend needs a cell plan too since his mother is getting a company phone and will not continue paying for his. So off I went to research my options. He is a devout iPhone user (although I may be bringing him over), and I have a clear preference for android. I quickly learned that if you are okay with having a non-smartphome (dumb phone or feature phone), then by far your cheapest option is to pay for the phone you want (usually available for $50-100) and use a month-to-month or pay-as-you-go plan. While it is very important to check the coverage in your area before selecting your carrier, these plans can be as cheap as $30 a month for unlimited talk and text.

If you plan to have a smartphone, though, the choices get much pricier and more confusing. First let me say do not be fooled by contract plans. The popular feature to advertise is being able to upgrade your phone yearly rather than only when your contract renews. I'm those cases you are not being given anothet upgrade because you are paying full price for a new phone, they just break it up into payments and add it to your monthly bill. That gets expensive fast.

My research put all the cell phone carriers right around $140 with the differences over 24 months being negligible leaving coverage in your area as the deciding factor.

That just seemed like a lot to me so I continued on to look at monthly plans. Monthly plans require you to buy your phone up front (Usually between $400 and $600 for a smartphone), but averaged $50 a month for unlimited talk, text and data (usually throttled around 2.5gb). StraighTalk was the cheapest plan coming in at $45 a month, and if you don't do much talking, Virgin Mobile offers unlimited text and data with only 400 min for $35 a month. So over the course of 2 years you do save some money buying the phone outright. In the end, though I decided to gamble on a new player.

Enter Republic Wireless. In many ways they are a regular month-to-month carrier, but they are truly unique. Republic's most expensive plan is $40 a month and includes unlimited talk, text, and 4g data. The strangest thing about Republic is the lack of phone choices. The only phones you can use on Republic are the Motorola Defy and the Moto X. The reason for the limited options is that they include specialized hardware to allow your calls to go over WiFi whenever available, using cell towers Ina secondary capacity. Its a very interesting concept and the reason the plans are priced so well. It took some research into the capabilities of the Moto X before I was sold, but I will be ordering a Moto X for use on Republic Wireless at the end of the week. Republic offers the Moto X at $299 - half the price of the main carriers. Once I have my phone I can choose from 4 different and very well priced plans: $5 for unlimited use only over WiFi, $10 for unlimited WiFi and unlimited talk and text over cell towers, $25 for unlimited everything and 3g data, and $40 for unlimited everything with 4g. I don't know if I'll choose the 3g or 4g plan, but I can switch plans up to twice a month if I want to and I can also send the phone back for a full refund within 30 days if I don't like it. Since the company is based out of Raleigh I'm assuming it works well, but it is nice to know I can send it back if I want.

The affordability of this plan even has my hardcore iPhone boyfriend considering switching to android. I told him he could play with my phone before buying one. I'll be sure to update on how well it works after I've had it for a few weeks.