The cell phone bill came in.\u00a0 It was a little higher than usual, not by much, but enough to get me looking for the reason why.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I consider the cell phone bill a fixed expense.\u00a0 Technically, it’s not since there is always the possibility that we could go over minutes at which point the charges skyrocket.\u00a0 I know this.\u00a0 Two teenage boys with their first girlfriends and, well, let’s just say they finally understood what I meant by girls can be expensive<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n But even so, we pretty consistently pay around $98\/month, give or take a few pennies.\u00a0 So it’s a fixed expense in my budget.<\/p>\n Both boys pay for their portion of the bill.\u00a0 John and I take care of the family plan charge which leaves the boys with their $10 extra line charge and $5 unlimited texting fee.\u00a0 That plus taxes and surcharges and the kids each owe me $17.04 monthly.\u00a0 It’s a steal, really.<\/p>\n I located the extra charge.\u00a0 It was for $5.99 and showed up under Ryan’s portion of the bill.\u00a0 Ryan recently upgraded to a new phone.\u00a0 His second in three years.\u00a0 That’s what happens when kids have to pay for their own stuff.\u00a0 They discover that they really don’t need the whiz-bang latest technology.\u00a0 The old stuff works just fine, thank you very much.<\/p>\n Since the rest of us were not charged this fee, I figured it had something to do with\u00a0Ryan’s new phone.\u00a0 But instead of me picking up the phone to figure out what was going on, I decided it was time for Ryan to handle his own inquiries.\u00a0 He’s 15 and quite capable.\u00a0\u00a0 He was also quite willing.\u00a0 Again, when you have to pay for your own stuff, a $5.99 charge is worth looking into.<\/p>\n So he dialed the number and talked with the representative.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Here’s what he found out:\u00a0 Apparently, out of the goodness of their hearts (it wasn’t in the contract), TMobile\u00a0decided to enroll him in their insurance plan for his new phone.\u00a0 It was $5.99 a month and would cover the cost of a new phone minus the $40 deductible\u00a0(he’s familiar with deductibles) should he lose his.\u00a0 He asked me what he should do.<\/p>\n “Have you ever lost your phone before?” I asked him.<\/p>\n “No,” he replied.<\/p>\n “Well, there’s always the chance that you will.\u00a0 Is it worth it to you to pay six dollars a month on top of a $40 deductible should you lose your phone?\u00a0\u00a0 That’s up to you to decide.”\u00a0<\/p>\n I could tell he was thinking really hard about it.\u00a0 He had his old phone for three years and never lost it.\u00a0 He’d been scared that he had a couple of times, but we always found it.\u00a0 Besides, his new phone cost him $150 plus taxes.\u00a0 Minus the deductible, that would leave $110 that he was insuring at $6\/month.\u00a0 He decided it wasn’t worth shelling out the additional money.\u00a0<\/p>\n He finished his conversation with the representative who reversed the charges for him.\u00a0 But the lesson is not over.\u00a0 When the next bill comes in, I’ll have him confirm that it was reversed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Dealing with this sort of thing is\u00a0definitely not fun.\u00a0 It’s time-consuming and a hassle.\u00a0 But I’m thrilled that both boys are at the age where they are capable enough to handle these on their own.\u00a0 It puts them one step closer to being ready to go out in the world on their own…and do okay.\u00a0 Sort of a bittersweet moment for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The cell phone bill came in.\u00a0 It was a little higher than usual, not by much, but enough to get me looking for the reason why.\u00a0 I consider the cell phone bill a fixed expense.\u00a0 Technically, it’s not since there is always the possibility that we could go over minutes at which point the charges skyrocket.\u00a0 I know this.\u00a0 Two teenage boys with their first girlfriends and, well, let’s just say they finally understood what I meant by girls can…<\/p>\n