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After the New Year, we were told by my manager we will need to carry our employer-provided mobile phone with us during working hours. Whether we are in the office or telecommuting. That’s fine with me but I’m not one who enjoys walking with two phones.
THINGS I WILL MISS
Contact list I stopped memorizing phone numbers ever since I had my first mobile phone. I know I’m not alone. In the process of transferring my contacts from Samsung Galaxy Note 10 to my iPhone SE; I somehow manage to wipe part of my list or move them somewhere.
Battery life on my Samsung lasted much longer than the iPhone. Now I need to charge it at least twice a day and sometimes three times if used heavily. Usually when I’m not around a computer.
Display is now smaller from 6.3 to 4.7 inches and makes a big difference. Inches do matter indeed.
THINGS I WILL NOT MISS?
Phone Bill of course will be the first thing. My phone plan was under The Wife’s T-mobile “grandfather’s” plan of unlimited “technically” everything for $40. After adding our daughter and mine to her plan, the family phone plan bill will come to roughly $117.
Keeping track of two phones was a pain. I always tend to displace one especially the iPhone due to its small size.
Hotspot is not unlimited and slows down once you pass a certain data threshold (aka data cap). It has always been an issue when we are on the road and the kids want to use their tablets to watch youtube.
Two months later I pulled the plug
ISN’T IT A BAD IDEA TO USE EMPLOYER-PROVIDED MOBILE AS YOUR PERSONAL?
Many would be concerned about their privacy and phone use. A decade ago, I would’ve agreed because most group phone plans were limited. Your employer will tell you that you can use it freely. But what they really meant was to use it only during working hours because the group data bucket has a reaching point.
Nowadays, most plans are unlimited. At least to the point you don’t have to worry about getting warning emails from your boss for burning so much data. I mainly use my mobile for phone calls and emails, if I need to browse the internet or watch something that requires a lot of buffer like streaming, live workshops, I refer using my computer.
Just to be clear, this is not how I feel for international phone calls as they can be very costly. I highly suggest not to use your work phone to call overseas if you’re not permitted.
OTHER OPTIONS TO CONSIDER IF YOU ONLY HAVE YOUR PERSONAL PHONE
I understand not all employers provide other means of communication besides emails. Some will have the BYOD (Bring your own device) policy. This allows you to use your cell phones for work. In return, they get to pay your bill in full or to a certain percentage.
If that’s not an option, assuming your phone is paid off, you can choose to:
Go Prepaid – without the need to go through the hassle of moving your number to a different carrier, reach out to your carrier and see if they offer such a plan – I’m pretty sure most major carriers like At&t, Verizon do. Be aware some of their prepaid plans can be expensive especially if you don’t use much data. One of the benefits with the prepaid plans you get to avoid the taxes and fees, you pay everything up front.
Reduce data plan – To figure how much data do you need, you first need to assess what you or the family use your phone for. If you’re constantly streaming on Netflix, watching Youtube videos for hours then I’ll recommend sticking to your unlimited plan.
If not, and you use it to check your emails and connect to wifi, then, take a look at your data usage from your phone settings or bill statements to make the best decision on the data amount needed.
BOTTOM LINE,
If you’re not emotionally attached to a phone number, won’t regret weeks later, and you’re allowed to use the work phone after hours, respectively, then you can easily cancel your phone plan and increase your cash flow.
Now I get to keep my $50 and put it toward my debt process. This small increase will allow me to be debt-free sooner than later.
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Gio founded TheGrowthFocusedGuy in January 2020 because he was fed up with debt.
His mission is to document his journey to Financial Independence in order to motivate and inspire others to get out of debt and begin building generational wealth.
