I live, write, and garden in the PNW with my husband of 30 years, disabled daughter, autistic son, and my 85-year-old mother. We have paid off $250,000.00 worth of debt (if you include the interest) in the last fifteen years and as of 6/12/2020 are 100% DEBT FREE!!!!I really didn't want to buy a new phone, but the back started coming off my current phone because the battery was bulging. The only thing holding it together was the phone case. It was still usable, but not exactly safe. This is the second Motorola phone I've had of this design that has done this. My husband has never had this problem with this exact problem, but I play games on my phone a lot more so mine is on a lot more than his so probably gets a lot hotter.
I decided I would upgrade one step higher, but that was sold out with my provider, so I decided to just get a cheap Samsung phone instead since those were in stock. And I do mean cheap. I got an AS16 5G for $199 plus tax. It arrived yesterday, but I am still trying to get Ting to transfer the phone number. It is a new SD card so it is taking awhile. My old SD card is very old, not 5G so I didn't want to use it. It would have made turnaround time 3 hours, but I wanted the upgrade.
I don't use my phone for very much. I play one game, call, text, rarely go online unless I have free wifi, take photos that don't stay on my phone, and do some occasional videos, but for the most part I have a nice handheld video camera for that or a regular camera that take excellent videos. So I really don't need something expensive.
Ting did offer a Samsung phone for $399 that had more bells and whistles and a couple of Apple phones, an 11 and a 15, but I did not want to shell out that much for something I do not want to end up attached to by the nose. Simple is good for me. It keeps me unaddicted for the most part. I still like to play my one game, though, while I watch YouTube.
It's a nice little phone. I'll have to see if I can find some free wall papers, though. The ones that come with it are kind of lame and I haven't taken any spring photos yet that I like enough to put on as a background. And maybe some ring tones. There is one that I find tolerable, but most are just annoying. I don't want to pay for any, though. I'm too cheap for that.
Hopefully the number transfer will come through today so we can take the old phone to the recycling center. I'd rather not have a phone in that kind of condition in the house any longer than necessary.
The money came out of the Electronics Fund, but is tagged as the Laptop Fund because I haven't figured out how to change the tag names now that it is for more than just Laptops. It doesn't have a line item on the budget right now. I took some of it out of the electronics envelope and some of it out of the household envelope, so it was covered.
I haven't really been adding to the electronics envelope as I wasn't expecting my phone to do this. I'll probably start something back up again soon. Registration renewal tabs are coming up for both the truck (end of May) and the van (beginning of June) and we need to purchase 3 combo fishing licenses that allow for ocean and fresh water fishing as well as shellfish harvesting and seaside foraging (plants). So I may not put that in the budget until July. Life has to life first.
April 23rd, 2025 at 10:09 am 1745402942
In the software, I highly recommend to set the charging limit to 80% (if the option is available).
Furthermore, once the phone is charged up, please unplug it or take it off the charger, as the software limiter is not always guaranteed to work as advertised.
I think Motorola makes about the best bang for the buck phones these days, and is not bloated down by redundant software like Samsung.
April 24th, 2025 at 09:36 pm 1745530599
April 24th, 2025 at 11:49 pm 1745538570
I am more mindful now about taking my new phone off the charger once the level gets near 100%.
April 25th, 2025 at 10:53 pm 1745621590
April 25th, 2025 at 10:53 pm 1745621612
April 25th, 2025 at 10:54 pm 1745621661
April 27th, 2025 at 06:40 am 1745736035
The trouble comes in when reaches 100%, and people keep charging it, especially if they are not using it, such as charging it overnight while they sleep.
Whenever it reaches 100% or close to it, I recommend unplugging until it runs down to say 70% or 80%, before plugging it back in. I know, it’s a bit of a pain, but it doesn’t have to be exact or anything.
In fact, I am even more (arguably unnecessarily) cautious where I float my phone’s power between 60% to 80%. Doing so doesn’t minimize the fire risk, but the battery should last even longer, which in turns saves you money from having to upgrade too often.
I know this is an extra expensive you don’t need, but if you don’t already have one, it’s also good to have a charging cable in your car, so that you can keep charging your phone while you are driving somewhere. Something as simple as a cigarette adapter to USB (or some newer vehicles just have USB now) and your charging cable, and you are good to go!
April 27th, 2025 at 06:42 am 1745736137
May 1st, 2025 at 06:01 am 1746079302