The Phone Struggle
My wife is amazing. Over the past six years, I have been attempting to upgrade my wife’s phone situation. She used to have a pebble phone that couldn’t keep unlimited text messages, so she’d stress out when trying to figure out which messages to keep or delete. Since we were dating, the number of messages she wanted to keep kept growing, mostly because of the awesome cute nothings I would send every morning (#datingtip).
So, I took it upon myself to relieve her of this stress. It’s been my life’s work. I got her off the pebble phone onto an actual smart phone. But, you know, Android’s entry/gateway phones are crap, so within a few months her Android ran out of space. I recommended the iPhone but she wasn’t having it – she wanted a Samsung Note 2, followed by a Samsung Note 5.
So, I sought to get this phone for her and enlisted some friends to find one – between $350-$375. Pretty sweet. It lasted almost two years, which is when Tiffany had an epiphany (say that 3x real fast) that she didn’t use the stylus as much and needed more storage (that was my fault; didn’t think the girl would be a photo hoarder, LOL).
She then set her eyes on the Note 7, but before we could search for that model it started blowing up, like literally. So she opted for the Samsung 6 edge with expandable storage, which I found for around $350-375. But the funny thing is that she let the dang thing sit for at least 3 months. You know I was hot. When she finally picked up the phone to use, it only lasted another 3 months before our carrier told us the phone was going to crash any day. You get what you pay for when buying from some third-party dealers.
She went back to the Note 5 that was running out of space. This girl likes to take pictures, so we are frequently backing up and downloading her photos onto our computer. She eventually got really tired of it. With an extra paycheck, we put aside $495 to buy a better phone. I thought that would be the max for an Android phone. In her 3-month search, she found newer Note phones to be more expensive than anticipated and then even questioned the price when it was within budget.
My Conversion Attempt
I took this opportunity to tell her again about a brand she despised, but was always using with other devices. We have nothing but Apple products in our home except for Tiffany’s phone. Her siblings and best friends have iPhones, so she would always be left out of FaceTime, group texts, emojis, etc. She said it didn’t bother her (but we know it did deep down. LOL).
When I emphasized that our business is built on Apple products, which allows me to seamlessly transition from laptop to desktop to phone, she liked that feature, too. So, I emphasized getting an iPhone since she’d be working with on business more.
She finally yielded and said she’d switch for the business…
Then She Threw a Wrench
Her max was $350. Not too outlandish, but the ceiling for the iPhone 7 Plus she wanted was $450 and higher. I think everyone believes Amazon is the discount shop of America where you can get the lowest price without sacrificing serious quality.
So, I told her straight out that she’s delusional to think she could get that phone for UNDER $450, especially in “like new condition”. I even joked with one of her sisters who said the same. I was in serious doubt and took a step back to let her search (see this post).
Her plan shifted to buying two phones – one for me and one for her – and waiting until Black Friday, pulling extra money from our spontaneous spending fund to pay for the difference, selling my iPhone SE and selling her Samsung 6 Edge back to our carrier. Black Friday came and went. Nothing. On Small Business Saturday, she found a black, refurbished iPhone 7 Plus with 128 GB storage for $360 on Nextdoor.com. It came with 4 cases and an Apple Care plan. Hours later, she found the same phone for her in gold and like-new for $325 on Craigslist. We met the sellers at the Apple store to get a diagnostic test before purchasing and both batteries are at 90+% and in excellent condition.
Shock and Awe
WOW. I was in shock. I am still blown away. My wife did it (again, she says) and I am reaping the benefits :). Never will I doubt her bargain shopping skills again. Once we turn in her Edge 6, we’ll likely break even – with no extra money spent from our spontaneous spending fund. Depending on the phone’s value, the most we will have spent is $65 more than we had originally planned***.
Now, I may still need to work on being as patient as her, but seeing the results, I am getting there. That’s what’s important – improving day by day #progress.
***Update on the “Waiting to Buy” post***
Remember, if you really want something, work for it and be patient. You can get it. Tell us, have you ever waited for a bargain and came out on top? How long did you wait?