To think a smart phone is an essential?

[picklecustard]

So every time I see the debate about free lunches for poor families on Facebook and social media, there are always people who comment about the same families being able to afford ‘non-essential luxuries’ sometimes it’s Sky Tv sometimes cigarettes and booze, but one example that consistently gets mentioned is having an i-phone/smart phone/phone contract.

Quite baffled that in this day and age people consider possessing a smart phone as a non-essential luxury. I know few people with a landline nowadays and a mobile is the point of contact for most. It’s also far more useful in the case of an emergency as you always have it with you. Access to the internet via a phone is also a necessity to most- when I needed a job most vacancies were advertised online and needed to be applied for online, I don’t drive so do my food shopping online (as well as finding recipes online), doctors appointments are booked much more easily online for my local surgery, my bills and banking are managed via apps and online, my children’s school only send letters via ParentMail app or email so all news/forms/payments and everything relevant to their schooling requires my iphone. And that’s just a few examples. My phone is genuinely an essential for everyday living and I’m surprised people don’t see it that way!

@ShatnersWig

Not convinced. I didn't get a smartphone until two years ago. Don't use it much. Still have a landline and use that for calls when I'm at home. Mobile is just really there for emergencies for me. I use my laptop for internet use.

Do you have children?

This thread reminds me of the conversation we had with our broadband provider when it stopped working. He could not comprehend how we do not have a laptop, and round and round it went ,verbalised in various ways ,because we must have one or be able to get one then and there,just borrow from a neighbour (they don't have one either and it was 9 pm) going as far as asking if we could buy one and ring back.

The laptop would've been useless anyways , since it was the router that was the problem.

We only got a laptop when it was offered with the phone contract in the good old days of gifts. Still only £30 for laptop,phone minutes,texts and data.

@picklecustard A smartphone isn't an utter necessity IMO, but there's really nothing wrong with having one, even if you're a person of limited means.

I think having a £1200 iphone is bonkers even if you're not short of cash though. (JMO.) You can get a new smartphone for less than £100, and you can get a £10 a month tariff, that gives you unlimited texts, 250 minutes talk time, and 3 GB of data.

Not convinced. I didn't get a smartphone until two years ago. Don't use it much. Still have a landline and use that for calls when I'm at home. Mobile is just really there for emergencies for me. I use my laptop for internet use.

This is such a frustrating argument. Basically "I have the luxury of a laptop and a strong broadband to be online all the time, therefore poor people shouldn't have laptops".

Cheapest broadband I could find on Uswitch - £17.50 per month.
Cheapest 'decent' data package on Uswitch - 8GB - £8.00 per month.

Cost of devices:

Cheapest Laptop (refurb): www.laptopsdirect.co.uk - £149.97 for a refurb chromebook.
Cheapest Smartphone (new): SIM Free Alcatel 1C Mobile Phone - Black - £49.95

How is it SO difficult to understand that not only are smartphones (and their packages) cheaper than laptop/broadband usages, but they also do away with the need for a landline or 'brick phone' which costs more.

There are a lot of businesses,shops,churches etc on FB that at the moment are offering help for people who are struggling to feed their kids. Ignoring the fact that they shouldn't have to pick up the government's slack, lack of internet access(which can mean that one smartphone they have) that people who are struggling and need it the most often miss out on support,help,cheap alternatives/offers etc.

should*

@GrapevineFires

Not convinced. I didn't get a smartphone until two years ago. Don't use it much. Still have a landline and use that for calls when I'm at home. Mobile is just really there for emergencies for me. I use my laptop for internet use.

This is such a frustrating argument. Basically "I have the luxury of a laptop and a strong broadband to be online all the time, therefore poor people shouldn't have laptops".

Cheapest broadband I could find on Uswitch - £17.50 per month.
Cheapest 'decent' data package on Uswitch - 8GB - £8.00 per month.

Cost of devices:

Cheapest Laptop (refurb): www.laptopsdirect.co.uk - £149.97 for a refurb chromebook.
Cheapest Smartphone (new): SIM Free Alcatel 1C Mobile Phone - Black - £49.95

How is it SO difficult to understand that not only are smartphones (and their packages) cheaper than laptop/broadband usages, but they also do away with the need for a landline or 'brick phone' which costs more.

It's not, but the myth must go on so people don't look to closely at the Government and their failures.

It's easier(and cheaper) to blame the service user for being crap and undeserving,than to change the service.
It's wilful ignorance that comes from a place of privilege(sometimes even as small and simple as having kids that are already grown).

I'd say a smart phone pretty much is an essential but like pp have said it doesnt have to be the latest one.
There was discussion on our local fb group about whether an iphone was essential for kids starting secondary.the amount of people who insisted it was, was ridiculous. About 20 comments before someone said it was feasible to get a different smartphone. (And your child would survive!) I know you can get older/second hand/hand me down iPhones but it was the notion that it HAD to be an iphone that bugged me.

I don't get the iPhone obsession. Tbh I never wanted my DC to have a phone that was too valuable because there are too many cases round here of kids getting mugged for them (or those earpod things) sometimes at knifepoint

My teens wouldn't be seen dead with iPhones tbh

I got my DC different phones as almost everyone I knew about 2 or 3 years ago had smashed the screen of their iPhones and I didnt want to pay out for a replacement screen....not sure if iphone screens are thinner than other phones ? It wouldnt surprise me if this was a deliberate design fault.

My teens have old I phone 5S and 6. (Our cast offs) Apparently they have the worst phones in the school and a significant number of their friends have iPhone 11.

Not sure if true or not.

@grenlei

I don't get the iPhone obsession. Tbh I never wanted my DC to have a phone that was too valuable because there are too many cases round here of kids getting mugged for them (or those earpod things) sometimes at knifepoint

You can get mugged (unfortunately) for any type of phone. In my city centre we had a spate of scumbags on bikes snatching phones of people & it was all brands of phones. We've come a long way since 2007 when the very first iPhone was released in the UK & that did cost an arm & a leg.

Like someone else said earlier I can really lug my laptop around when I want to get a discounted bus ticket using the app.
I don't use the facility but I've seen plenty of people use their phones as an electronic wallet to pay for things with.

The question is 'AIBU to think a smartphone is an essential'
not 'how much should a smartphone cost'

on an aside cheap second hand smartphones that do everything you need are available for around £60 (or probably less). I don't see why people want to spend hundreds, honestly! And I use my phone for a lot of important and technical stuff and it takes great photos.

Yes they are. Schools are a nightmare for this and it needs to be fairly new for their apps to work.

It’s fucking ridiculous

Don't have one. See no need to have one. Laptop and chromebook serve for all my IT needs.

It's like frikking groundhog day on here sometimes .

@ComeOnBabyHauntMyBubble
It wouldn't surprise me that before long someone will come along & say breathing air is not an essential, as you can buy scuba tank air mixes quite cheaply......

Comeon *
The thread is about children on FSM , not parents with 25 yos and lucky/wealthy enough to afford several devices.

The thread is about smartphones being essential. I don't see that having a desk top makes me wealthy, as it was just the tower from Dell. It was bought with money earned from GCSE marking, for which I needed the desk top. I use an old screen of ds's and have various old keyboards kicking around. The printer was won by dh in a raffle and he gave it to me for Christmas one year.

The Kindle was a present from dh; his laptop was £200 from Amazon on a special offer, and ds's laptop came from earned income. That makes us neither lucky nor wealthy.

It’s essential for me. I have a 2nd hand iPhone, costs me £6 a month for the contract & £6.50 a month for 2 years for the phone. I have memory loss, I get lost easily, am partially sighted & have chronic pain & other symptoms that can flare up with almost no warning. I need to be able to access maps when I get lost, pay for taxis home if I suddenly fall ill. I have lists & reminders on my calendar for everything as otherwise I don’t remember. It’s on the bed next to me when I’m bed bound; in my jeans pocket when I’m not.

I would never buy a top end phone though. 2nd hand or older models only. This is my first ever iPhone, I can’t imagine spending over a thousand on one!

A PP mentioned how 10 years ago, internet access was a luxury that the poor could not afford. Now many can, & it’s a modern necessity. Many shops currently require a smartphone for track & trace, there was much confusion when T&T was first introduced because some people couldn’t conceive of the idea that not everyone had a smartphone... essentially excluding those too poor, too old, or otherwise unable to access the technology.

Why do so many people assume they know better about their finances than the people actually in dire financial straits?

Let’s first address the myth of the £60 second hand smartphone. I’ve just spent a few minutes searching refurbed smartphones on giffgaff. The only ones coming in anywhere close to £100 (none were less than that) were iPhone 6s. But the iPhone 6 is no longer supported by Apple, meaning 1) it’s likely to be glitchy and 2) it’s vulnerable to being hacked. That means you have to make the choice between paying around £119 for an insecure, glitchy phone, or picking a newer model and paying closer to £300-£500. You could also try a private seller to see if you can get it cheaper, but there’s clearly a risk in buying an unreburfished phone from a non-verified source - you’ve got no idea of the authenticity, of how it’s been treated, of whether parts have been replaced with dodgy alternatives.

Is it really so hard for you to see why people go for a new phone on a contract when the alternative is a chunky upfront cost for something which may already be obsolete, or has the potential to shortly become so?

There is no doubt it costs more in the long term to buy a new phone on a contract. But it is genuinely the only option for someone who doesn’t have hundreds of pounds to pay for a new or second hand phone. Some of you clearly can’t imagine what it’s like to not be in the position to draw on £300 as and when required, but it’s the reality for a lot of people.

I’ve also seen a lot of posters ask why some people have the newest model of iPhone but live in tiny council houses etc. This is just another stupid variation of ‘it millennials stopped eating avocado toast they could get on the property ladder’.

For some people, it doesn’t matter how much they scrimp and save - they will never be able to buy a house. It’s not uncommon. So what’s the point in depriving yourself of a luxury you can afford, like a smartphone, when it isn’t actually the thing preventing you from buying property?

The idea that there are thousands of people in this country unable to buy basic necessities like food but spunking money up the wall on iPhones is just ignorant stereotyping. For the overwhelming majority, a smartphone is genuinely essential to enable people to live their lives in the digital age without huge inconvenience, expense and wasted time looking for alternatives, and for most people the easiest and most affordable (‘most affordable’ does NOT mean ‘cheapest’) way to access this is by buying a new phone on a contract.

@SpeccyLime

“For some people, it doesn’t matter how much they scrimp and save - they will never be able to buy a house. It’s not uncommon. So what’s the point in depriving yourself of a luxury you can afford, like a smartphone, when it isn’t actually the thing preventing you from buying property? “

The thread isn’t about people not being able to afford houses. Obviously people paying cheaper rent have lower outgoings and can do whatever they like with their money. No one is begrudging anyone from having a smart phone.

The problem is when people are claiming they can’t afford food (a basic necessity) but then have expensive devices. I don’t deny a phone of some description with internet is probably an essential these days, but as others have said, not a top of the range model. An I phone is not a basic necessity.

Watermelon - I agree, absolutely.

You can buy an Android smartphone new for £60 or less, no one is saying it has to be second hand or partially obsolete.
And if you can't afford that upfront cost - I understand that can be 1.5 weeks shopping for some people, so unaffordable - then there are smartphone (again, Android, not iPhone) contracts for under £15 a month.

If anyone is struggling to manage financially but still spends £100s on a new phone, or is on a contract for £30+ a month, they are prioritising the wrong things.

Out of interest, how many people actually know someone who cannot afford food that has a top of the range smartphone? It's actually hard to get a contract if you have bad credit or don't have a reasonable income, and FSM isn't just for families who can never afford a morsel of phone.

1 point I haven't seen mentioned is that more and more pay and display parking machines have become app only, would love to see you lug out your laptop, find a Wi-Fi connection and then pay for your parking