How To Replace Your Cellphone: The Easy, Cheap and Efficient Way!

If you're like me, you're sick of cellphones. If you have no job, a tight budget, then you really should pay attention to this one.
You hate being bugged while driving, you hate the monthly $60.00+ a month for the privilege of getting a barely-audible call from a telemarketer that gets dropped because your service sucks. You also have it set it in your mind that owning a cellphone is a "bare necessity", and don't seem to remember that there was a time not too long ago that cellphones were far from necessary. Shit, back in the 80s when they first came out, they ran about a dollar+ a minute and only the smug owned them as a way to show off. How quickly we forget.

I'm here to help you. Here's what you will need:
1. A Netbook laptop (These are about 2.5 pounds in weight, think of them as a slimmed-down laptop for half the cost. This will run you about 250 bucks, a great investment considering you wont have to hammer out 70 bucks a month anymore). Make sure it comes with wireless, a decent size harddrive and a monitor about 10 inches big. I can send you some links if you need.
2. A Cheap Landline (10 bucks a month)
3. Voicemail on your landline.
4. A Pre-paid cellphone - Put 10 dollars on it and then throw it in your glovebox/purse/desk. Forget about it until one of your loved ones is either engulfed in flames and needs the fire department to throw water on them or has fallen and can't get up. Do not even think of using it unless its a dire emergency. You'll notice that you might have to use it once every six months, this is because the majority of cellphone calls are made socially and are not of any importance.

People: Life existed before cellphones, and we were a lot happier and felt less tied-down before it. We just can't accept the fact that having a cellphone is the lazy (And expensive) way to getting things done. How many car accidents occur every year due to cellphone distractions? Too many, in fact it got so bad here in California that we banned it for anyone under 18 and adults have to wear a really gaudy-looking device shoved in their ear. This doesn't change the fact that you can still have an accident because our minds can only be preoccupied by one major thing at a time, but it will make you look like a jerk and people will think you have schizophrenia if they can't see the device, and will assume you're making another deal with the devil in your mind.

This will take you some time to adjust, depending on how needy you've become to paying more to talk to someone then having digital phone Plus internet Plus tv in your home.
Use your netbook's wireless internet advantage and text your friends using instant messaging. Most of your buddies have instant messaging on their phone, its all the same to them. Keep in mind that a netbook is less than 3 pounds and has the advantage of being a full-fledged computer. While you're at it, set up your house to have wireless internet too, a router will cost you roughly 20 dollars and will more then serve its purpose. When you're away from home, use a wireless network in the area - Coffee shops and other places have them for free.

Set up your Voicemail on your landline phone - Remember: You can check your voicemail from any phone while away, you just have to remember your phone number and pin. You can either check it from work for nothing, hit a payphone for 50 cents, or use your friend's phone. This is not a major inconvenience, you will adjust to it, promise. If I can do it, you can do it.

Post any questions you might have, remember that it is entirely possible to wean yourself off of high phone bills and the false convenience factor that cellphone providers use to their advantage. Over time, I personally guarantee your life will be less stressful. You won't be bugged all hours of the day, you won't feel obligated to text your friends about nothing, and your vapid ringtone won't drive everyone around you crazy.
See ya next time!

Oddly Enough!

This was on a survey for a health care agency that we noticed. So whether you're a hermaphrodite, from a distant planet, or a John Travolta fan, rest assured that there is a survey out there that caters to your interests :)