The cost of smart phones

Mine is about £11 I think. My husband's is less. I bought a cheap one recently "outright" and the data/calls etc is covered by the monthly charge.
Not all phones are very expensive.
Good luck.

As NotSpaghetti said, you can buy a second hand one quite cheaply, and then a monthly contract can be for about £4-£5.

I paid 60 pounds for mine about 5 years ago, and don't have a contract.

I pay £10 per month. And the phone cost me £120 over 4 years ago. Some supermarkets have phone deals which are brilliant.

I know it's none of my business, but I can't help feeling that you might qualify for Pension Credit as your income seems very low. Might be worth claiming?

I forgot to say, mine was secondhand.
A bit of a risk, but I struck lucky; people who upgrade often sell their old phones on.

My DH bought his phone secondhand from an online site, Music Magpie I think it was called. Should say our DS helped choose a suitable one.

I hope you have someone who can help and guide you as to what is best for your needs, you don’t need an all singing, all dancing one with an expensive contract.

Domyou not have younger family members or friends who are buying a new phone? DH always has DS's old phone. He then just transfers his SIM.

ExDancer I sympathise.
It's shocking how quickly we have moved away from using money.
I'm sure bank cards will still exist in a few years time.
I hope they will.

It bothers me the thought of using my phone to pay.
Phones van be hacked. Which means bank details can be stolen.
I also read that an experienced hacker can access your phone's camera . So they can get all sorts of personal info out of you.

I won't be using my phone to pay and still use cash. Ive had my bank and credit card hacked and skimmed twice, through no fault of my own. How easy must it be to hack into a phone? What if you lose your phone or someone steals it? Too many uncertainties for me to ever use a phone to pay.

I pay about £11 a month for a fairly up to date Samsung from Tesco. DH is with ee and pays considerably more for the same phone! I will own the phone after three years. I can't afford Apple.

ExDancer How on earth do you live on £115 a month? That is barely £25 a week. Have you applied for Pension Credit, you must surely qualify for it on that income.

Even if you are on £115 a week, you will still qualify for Pension Credit and several other benefits.

Oops - its £115 a month. Sorry - my mistake.

Darn*** I've done it again its a WEEK and I manage fine. The ACs pay my council tax and TV and car licence tax and insurance, and provide lots of other bits and bobs like potatoes and other farm produce. They also pay my Internet provider. I expect they.'d pay my phone bill if I asked - but I'd prefer not.

If the price of power may prove a problem, I'm awaiting my next electricity bill.

ExDancer
Who told you that you’ll need a smart phone to pay for shopping? Absolute tosh!!!
Following that thought would assume that all plastic ( visa etc) is going to cease.
Don’t listen to this rubbish. Carry on as you are. ?

MerylSreep can you remember cheques? ?

I've just bought a new mid range smartphone. It is unlocked which means I don't have a contract. DH and I have tv, landline and mobiles with our broadband provider. I bought it on 6 months interest free credit from Curry's PC World.
My old phone was really slow and kept crashing and randomly turning itself off.
I bought a samsung galaxy A32, the kind assistant took the old sim card out of my old phone and put it into my new one (so I kept my number) as I didn't think my arthritic fingers would manage it.

Ex-Dancer, you obviously have some reason why you cannot, or are determined not to claim Pension Credit. It is an integral part of the Pension system, but what would you do if for any reason your AC were suddenly in a position where they could no longer support you?

In what may be a world first. I agree with MerylStreep

We're not getting rid of cards and we're not getting rid of Chip & PIN cards.

If you don't want a smart phone ExDancer, don't feel you have to get one.

I'm not sure where your info about needing a smartphone for shopping came from, could it be that for online shopping a one-time code is now usually texted to the shopper for verification? If that is the case, then you can continue with your present phone, as the code will be texted in the normal fashion (at least I hope that's all it is, I certainly don't want to start paying for things with my phone when I am out and about!)

Get a smart young family member to help you buy a phone, second hand maybe. Then go to Smarty where you can get unlimited texts and calls (to both land lines and mobiles) for £5 a month. If you get WhatsApp installed you can even phone abroad or do video calls for free. What's not to like? Your smart young family member can help you get set up.

Ohmother I have to use a cheque when paying for my chiropody treatment because I just do not carry £40 in my purse and for some reason they will not accept a card.

I send my sister in law a cheque at Christmas so they are around.

Just to say, I have never had my phone hacked or had any other problem. I have McAfee Live Safe on my computer which also protects the phone and any other devices, so maybe that's why, I don't know. I have connected to internet banking on the phone as well as the computer. Never had a problem. Millions of people use their phones for everything now, so it's just a case of getting used to it.

I only had hand me down phones from my DSs until I dropped the last one in the loo and none of them were upgrading so I bought a new one. I have GiffGaff and pay £6 a month. I can upgrade or cancel anytime, they monitor my use and advise if my plan is the best deal for me.
I get text messages anytime I use my card so if anything was done fraudulently I would soon know.

A friend has just signed up for a new phone contract with Tesco. They provided a new E20 Motorola phone free of charge and she is paying 7.99 with Tesco for free calls, texts and Internet.