Friday Five with T-Mobile Simply Prepaid™ #changingprepaid

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We’ve been shaking things up around here – getting rid of cable, turning off the landline, exploring new cell phone options.  With suddenly needing at least two more phones (a teenager + a house phone) plus my phone being on its last legs, I’ve been tearing my hair out trying to figure out the most economical solution for cell phone service.  One of the options I’ve been considering is a prepaid plan, including the Simply Prepaid by T-Mobile. I’m cheap, but you all know my phone is my lifeline, so it needs to be a good plan. I’m constantly working from orchestra practice or soccer games. And by working, I mean playing on Facebook. Ahem.

Today for Friday Five, Cynthia, Mar, and Courtney are talking about five things in your day.  I’m gonna riff on that a bit and go with “Five things in my life that make my phone my lifeline.”

1. My kids. I am the parent the school calls when a kid is sick or something is needed at school. I’m the parent that Jones texts when he needs to be picked up after an event. My phone is the only reason I’m willing to let them stay home by themselves on occasion. (Yes, they are old enough, I’m just overprotective.)  So, the T-Mobile’s Simply Prepaid™ seems like a great fit for our lifestyle.  I can get unlimited talk, text, and data with my choice of a high-speed data amount(*with a max speed of 8Mbps) starting at $40/month. Since the teen only texts (why does that age boy refuse to make a phone call???), the unlimited text is awesome.

2. My work. I don’t talk a lot about work here, but I am one of those lucky people that gets to work from anywhere that I have phone and internet access. Connectivity is HUGE in my life – if I can’t connect, I can’t work and I don’t get paid.  I work somewhat unconventional hours and definitely in unconventional locations, but I do need to be accessible during the work day. As I told my boss yesterday (after he confessed to participating in a conference call from his bike), I have taken client calls while on a run.  Thankfully, with this new phone, I’ve had zero cell connectivity issues, which I guess shouldn’t surprise me since it’s on the T-Mobile Nationwide 4G LTE network.  And, yes, it does fit quite nicely in a running skirt pocket.

3. Blogging. I’ve been blogging for a while. When I first started, I was sitting at a desk top computer and using a camera for the few pictures I took. Seriously, all my old posts are blah blah blah about my training with no pictures at all.  And while I’m finding the mileage and pacing helpful for this training cycle, I’m pretty sure no one else finds it exciting. I don’t like carrying extra stuff, so having a phone that takes good pictures and makes it easy for me to get them where I want them? Absolutely key! Because we all know the world needs more cat pictures. (Yes, my cat pictures on Instagram get more likes than just about anything else.)

4.GPS. Do I really need to say more here? Have you ever been to the DC area? Between traffic and road construction and just plain old weird layout, getting lost is nearly a daily occurrence. In fact, when I was heading out to Walmart to pick up the Samsung Galaxy Avant (after ordering it for store pick up on the Walmart website), I had an occasion where Google maps saved me.  There was a huge back up and I was able to get around it by getting off the highway and using surface roads.  Luckily actually getting the phone was a breeze and finding the prepaid cards took about a nanosecond. They were right there under the big sign “Introducing Simply Prepaid from T-Mobile”.

I’m finding this new phone is even better than what I was using and it’s just enough bigger to make it easier to see the map. It also fits perfectly in the car that I use most often.

5. All.the.Apps. I love apps. It seems like there is an app for everything. WordPress, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter… So.many.Apps.

I’ll be honest, I’d heard of prepaid plans before, but I didn’t realize you could get a great phone (no more flip phones, thank you very much) or that there were unlimited talk and text plans with no chances overages (key when you have a teen) and access to a good cell network. Since I work from “home” (ok, pretty much wherever I happen to be when the phone rings), I need a good network.  I don’t want to settle for second-rate prepaid wireless, since I use my phone for both my job and this blog a whole LOT.  T-Mobile is changing everything you know about wireless and now it’s time to change prepaid.

Interested in checking it out?

 Of course, the biggest concern right now? Will it work in the rain on Saturday at Rock N Roll DC? I believe the answer to that is “plastic baggie.”

Now that I actually have a phone that can accept new apps, what one app would you suggest I get once I finish loading it up with all the fun social media stuff? Am I the only one who has their phone with them nearly 24/7? (Yes, it’s my alarm clock too…)