View Single Post
  #57 (permalink)  
Old 07-09-2007, 10:56 AM
disneysteve's Avatar
disneysteve disneysteve is online now
$ Saving Professor
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 6,318

Points: 46291.30
Donate
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by howmuch View Post
I'm paying about 60 a month on cell phones for me and my wife. I was thinking about cutting out my cell phone and just have one in the family but my wife thinks that's totally impractical. Didn't our parents get along fine without cell phones?
I haven't read all the responses, but here's my 2-cents.

For the vast majority of people, a cell phone is a luxury item, pure and simple. Unless you have a job that requires you to be instantly accessible 24/7, you don't NEED a cell phone. They are a great convenience to be sure, but they aren't a necessity.

I'm a physician. I got my first cell phone when I was a resident and was on-call outside of the hospital. After one time when I got beeped and had to find a pay phone when I happened to be driving through a lousy neighborhood, I realized that wasn't a safe option.

Other than that, cell phones are great for emergencies, car breakdowns, schedule changes, etc. But we all lived perfectly fine without them for many, many years. We've all come to depend on them, but no, they are not a necessity and if the budget is really tight, they should be high on the list of things to eliminate.
__________________
Steve
* Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
* There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.
* The world is a book and those who don't travel read only one page.
Reply With Quote