My Favorite Smartphone Apps + How to Find The Lowest Priced Unlimited Plans for Cell Phones!
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I don’t know about you, but I have to have my smartphone with me at all times. On one hand, I feel justified for being so addicted to my phone because my jobs require a lot of time on the phone and on the internet, but let’s be real…I’d miss the constant access to social media just as much as I’d miss calls/texts. I don’t like to be without my phone for an hour, so when I found out my mom had been without a phone for a few days, I immediately drove down to Walmart to see if I could find an affordable phone to surprise her with. I had heard that Walmart offered the lowest priced unlimited plans on the market, so I headed down to the store with the idea that I’d use my tax return money to buy a special present for my mom.
I’ll be honest, I was excited to surprise my mom, but I was kind of dreading the process of signing up for a phone. In my past experiences with cell phone companies, I’d had to wait over an hour to get an account set up. I could not have been more wrong about the Walmart Family Mobile Plan. I walked into Walmart and completed the entire process in less than five minutes. That’s right- FIVE MINUTES. Crazy, right? Oh, and did I mention that I was able to get an amazing smartphone for my mom for under $100 and unlimited talk, text, and data/web for less than $40 a month? Don’t worry ladies. It’s not a limited time offer, and I’m going to fill you in on all of the details. Plus, I’ve created a list of my favorite smartphone apps of all time!
The first step is to head to your local Walmart and walk to the electronics section. There you’ll find a an easy to peruse selection of affordable smartphones and mobile plans.
I chose the Samsung Galaxy Exhibit because of the sleek design, easy-to-use smartphone capabilities, and its amazing price of $98.88! I could not believe that I was able to get a brand-new smartphone for less than $100 without signing a contract that bound me to a phone plan that I hated for the rest of time…you know the drill of normal cell phone plans. It’s honestly just $98.88- no contracts, no gimmicks, no hidden fees.
The next step that I completed was buying a Walmart Mobile starter kit for $25 that contained a micro SIM card for the phone as well as start-up instructions. Again, all I had to do was pick up the starter kit and head to the checkout line. When I got home, I simply popped the SIM card into the phone and went to the website listed in the description to activate my phone. It took a grand total of five minutes, and the call, text, and data was ready to go! Before I bought the phone, I was able to go to the Walmart Family Mobile Plan website to see what kind of coverage/service I could expect from the phone plan. My mom’s area was in the excellent service range, so I knew that the plan would be a good fit. When you set up the phone, you can choose between the unlimited talk and text plan for $28.99 a month, or you can choose the unlimited talk/text/data for $38.99 a month at any time within your plan. The plans are month-to-month and don’t require a contract or advance notice for cancellation. It’s a pretty sweet deal if you ask me.
I was expecting to spend a large chunk on the smartphone and phone plan, but since I was able to get such an awesome deal, I decided to add some fun phone accessories to my mom’s surprise gift! In my opinion, a car charger, car mount, sports sleeve case, and new headphones are necessary purchases for any smartphone owner.
I chose the Samsung Galaxy Exhibit because of the sleek design, easy-to-use smartphone capabilities, and its amazing price of $98.88! I could not believe that I was able to get a brand-new smartphone for less than $100 without signing a contract that bound me to a phone plan that I hated for the rest of time…you know the drill of normal cell phone plans. It’s honestly just $98.88- no contracts, no gimmicks, no hidden fees.
The next step that I completed was buying a Walmart Mobile starter kit for $25 that contained a micro SIM card for the phone as well as start-up instructions. Again, all I had to do was pick up the starter kit and head to the checkout line. When I got home, I simply popped the SIM card into the phone and went to the website listed in the description to activate my phone. It took a grand total of five minutes, and the call, text, and data was ready to go! Before I bought the phone, I was able to go to the Walmart Family Mobile Plan website to see what kind of coverage/service I could expect from the phone plan. My mom’s area was in the excellent service range, so I knew that the plan would be a good fit. When you set up the phone, you can choose between the unlimited talk and text plan for $28.99 a month, or you can choose the unlimited talk/text/data for $38.99 a month at any time within your plan. The plans are month-to-month and don’t require a contract or advance notice for cancellation. It’s a pretty sweet deal if you ask me.
I was expecting to spend a large chunk on the smartphone and phone plan, but since I was able to get such an awesome deal, I decided to add some fun phone accessories to my mom’s surprise gift! In my opinion, a car charger, car mount, sports sleeve case, and new headphones are necessary purchases for any smartphone owner.
I then proceed to the most important part of accessorizing a smartphone: adding all of my favorite apps!
Of course I had to add the usual suspects first: Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Youtube, Yelp, Starbucks, and Open Table. They’re absolute necessities in my opinion.
People have different opinions about the best navigation apps, but my personal favorites are Waze and Google Maps. I know that the Podcasts app doesn’t actually have to do with driving, but I couldn’t get through my daily commutes without a steady stream of my favorite podcasts. If you drive a lot, I highly recommend subscribing to a few podcasts!
The Samsung Galaxy Exhibit phone has a great 5MP camera with LED flash, but photography apps are still essential to making the most out of your photos. As a blogger and self-admitted social media addict, I couldn’t live without these apps. Rookie, Rhonna Designs, and Over are all great apps for filters and adding cute graphics or designs to photos. Snapseed is amazing for general editing, and Lumie adds fun bokeh filters. PicStitch is my favorite app for creating collages on my smartphone before or after editing.
These shopping apps save me hundreds of dollars a year…at least. Shopular has the latest weekly ads and coupons for most of my favorite stores. I always look at Ibotta before shopping to activate mobile coupons. You simply buy the items that Ibotta has offers for, snap a picture of your receipt, and you receive an electronic rebate for the coupon amount! Cartwheel allows you to scroll through mobile coupons, and you simply scan the app at the end of your purchase to get the savings! PayPal is a blogger must-have, but I also use it to send money to friends when we’re in a big group splitting a check or with small business owners. I open Shopkick as I walk into stores to get points for walking into the store, and you can also scan items in the score to get extra points. The points add up quicker than you’d think, and you can trade in the points for gift cards! I’ve already scored about $100 in gift cards simply from walking into my favorite stores. Poshmark lets you list your beauty and fashion items and sell to other girls in the community. It’s extremely easy to use, and I’ve sold lots of lightly used items in the app!
I’ll admit it…I love smartphone game apps. I tend to get really obsessed with a game, and then get angry at it around level 150 and move onto a new game. My current three favorites are Fruit Splash Mania, Candy Mania, and Farm Heroes Saga. I obviously have a thing for cute, girly graphics and matching games!
I couldn’t have asked for a better experiencing shopping for and setting up my mom’s new phone, and she is going to be absolutely thrilled when I give it to her! I know for a fact that the Walmart Mobile plan is way less than what she was previously paying for unlimited talk, text, and data, and the Samsung Galaxy Exhibit is sleek and stylish. If you have some extra money from your tax return, or if you’ve never been able to afford a smartphone before, definitely check out the lowest unlimited plans from Walmart Mobile!
What are your favorite apps and smartphone accessories?
#FamilyMobile #CollectiveBias #MaxYourTax