Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

Republic Wireless: The Future of Cellular?

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Disclaimer: I was given a free Motorola Defy XT and three months of service with Republic Wireless in exchange for an honest review of the service here.

Cellular service has long been dominated by a select few carriers who are essentially free to charge whatever they please for the service that they provide.  Depending on which of the better known carriers you go with, a smart phone with a data plan will cost you anywhere from $50 to $100 a month.  Several months ago, I cancelled my account with one of those carriers and started a trial of Republic Wireless.

What is Republic Wireless?

I think, as part of reviewing the service, that we discuss what it is, exactly, that Republic Wireless is.  The service they offer is something that I like to call Hybrid Cellular.  Traditional cellular service pushes every call off of the carriers cellular towers.  Data, if you have a data plan does the same thing.  If you connect to a Wi-Fi router, some of that data goes over that connection instead, but the calls always go over the cell towers.  Republic’s hybrid cellular system pushes everything over the Wi-Fi signal if you’re connected.  What that means is that both calls and data usage go across your Wi-Fi internet (or whomever’s connection your connected to) whenever you’re connected.  The only time you use a traditional cellular signal is if you’re not connected to a Wi-Fi network.

If you think about how often you’re near a Wi-Fi signal, it makes some sense.  And, you’re already paying for your home internet, and you likely have a Wi-Fi router installed.  Starbucks has one.  McDonalds has one.  You probably have one at work.  I do.  Anytime I’m near any public Wi-Fi, I just connect my phone and my calls and data go over that signal instead of the cellular network.

What Phones/Plans does Republic Wireless Offer?

Republic Wireless ReviewHere’s one of the catches to the service.  There isn’t much for selection on phones.  When I first signed up for the service, the only phone available was the Motorola Defy XT.  It was a bit better than the previous phone that they had offered, but it’s still a bit of a budget phone.  I’ve constantly run into issues with it’s small internal memory size, and had plenty of issues with it freezing up and needing to be hard reset (pull the battery).  In November, they’ll begin offering the Motorola Moto X, a significant upgrade to the Defy XT.  As with other non-contract cellular providers, you’ll have to shell out a bit for the phone itself, but you win in the end without a contract.

Plans are a bit of a mixed bag.  When I first started on the service, there were two plans.  The first was a $19 a month plan that offered unlimited everything, and a price tag on the Defy XT of about $200.  The second plan was $29 a month for the same service, but the cost of the phone was about half.  Until the Moto X is released, the only plan is the $19 a month plan with a price on the Defy XT of $99.  Still a pretty good deal.  The Moto X will be released, in November, with four available plans.

  • $5 a month — Unlimited data, voice and text on Wi-Fi only.  You must be connected to a Wi-Fi network for the phone to work.
  • $10 a month — Unlimited data, voice, and text on Wi-Fi plus unlimited voice and text on cellular.
  • $25 a month — Unlimited data, voice, and text on Wi-Fi plus unlimited voice, text and 3G data on cellular.
  • $40 a month — Unlimited data, voice, and text on Wi-Fi plus unlimited voice, text and 4G data on cellular.

You can change plans at anytime during a month (up to 2 times a month), so if you’re planning on going on a long trip and will need the faster data speeds, you can bump the plan up.  Or, if you’re finding that you’re on Wi-Fi everywhere, you can bump it down to a lower plan.  The phone, with all of the plans is going to have a $299 price tag on it.

What’s the Verdict on Republic Wireless?

If you’re like me, you’re thinking that all that info above is really nice, but how’s the service?  Turns out it’s a bit of a mixed bag.  If you’re on a Wi-Fi network with a strong signal, you’re unlikely to be able to tell the difference between the service and any other cellular phone.  It’s when you’re on the cellular network that you might see some issues.  Republic Wireless uses the Sprint network for it’s cellular service, which means that their cellular signal is only as strong as the Sprint signal is in your area.  For me, that means the cellular signal is spotty to non-existent.

The town I live in is the last town, heading west in my state, with any Sprint towers at all.  They’re remainders from the Nextel buyout.  What that means, for me, is that if I head west, I lose all access to data over the cellular signal for at least 1000 miles or more.  Considering I head that direction at least a couple of times a year, it’s almost a deal breaker for me.

The truth is, I don’t travel often.  When I do, the cellular signal is sort of spotty anyways, so it’s not that much of a downgrade.  And, when I’m not traveling, I’m usually at home or at work.  And I have Wi-Fi in both of those places.  90%+ of the time, Republic Wireless gives me just as good of a service as any other carrier for a fraction of the price.

One of the other sore spots for me, at the moment, is the Defy XT phone.  It’s been a bit of a lemon from the word go.  It’s got terribly low amounts of internal memory, which cause all sorts of issues with the phone.  Some apps, unable to be moved to the external memory card, hog up the resources and cause the phone to freeze, halt, and overall perform poorly.  The Moto X, to it’s credit has 16GB of internal memory, which should be about enough for anyone.

I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet.  For sure, I’ll be testing out the Republic Wireless service for a few more months, until the Moto X comes out and deciding if I want to do the upgrade or not.  It seriously pains me to think that I might have to go back to $100 a month service, especially after having paid only $19 a month for the last month or so.

The Bottom Line (TL;DR)

The bottom line is that your results with Republic Wireless will largely depend on how strong the Sprint network is in your area.  If it’s a little weak, like it is in my area, you might find yourself in your grocery store with no way to pull up an electronic coupon (true story).  It it’s a strong Sprint area, you probably won’t have any issues with it at all.  Make sure you check their coverage map before you commit to over $100 in phone costs.  In any case, I think you’ll likely want to wait until November when the current release date for the Moto X is scheduled.

 

Get Yourself and the Kids in the Halloween Spirit for Less

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Halloween is right around the corner.  While the stores seem to like to skip Halloween and Thanksgiving and shoot right to Christmas (in September!), the majority of us like to embrace each holiday as it comes.

Halloween is one of those holidays that is fun for both kids and adults.  However, it can also be an expensive holiday, if you’re not careful.  Kids’ costumes alone can run upwards of $50.  Here are some ways you can enjoy the holiday and get a little Halloween spirit for less:

Costumes

Costumes don’t have to cost a fortune.  Using these tactics, you can get what you need for less than a Benjamin (or a Ulysses, as the case may be).

Halloween Spirit for Less1.  Shop resale stores.

National chains like Once Upon a Child or Goodwill have plenty of costumes for $10 or less.  At our local Once Upon a Child, costumes were about $6.50 each.  That beats paying $25 or more.

2.  Put out the word.

Let your friends and family know you’re looking for a costume.  When my son was 18 months old, we borrowed an adorable, homemade Robin Hood costume.  We paid nothing, and my son received many compliments while trick or treating.

3.  Check Craigslist.

Many parents also listed outgrown costumes on Craigslist.  Remember, you’re free to negotiate on Craigslist, so you may be able to haggle for a lower price.

4.  Make your own.

Pinterest is filled with adorable costumes for both those who sew and those who don’t.  You might be able to make a costume from items you have around the house or that you can buy cheaply.  Don’t forget that items can do double duty.  If your son has a fireman raincoat, there’s no reason that can’t be a costume.  Does your child have skeleton pajamas?  Great, there’s a costume.  Does your daughter take ballet?  Her recital costume or her dance leotard and tutu can be her costume.

How to Decorate on a Budget

Part of the fun of Halloween is not only dressing up the kids, but dressing up your home.  If you go all out, decorating your home can be pricey, but it doesn’t have to be.  Try these tips.

1.  Buy on clearance.

As soon as Halloween is over, go to the stores.  You’ll find Halloween decor on sale for 50 to 80% off.  Now is the time to buy decorations for next year.  The same is true for next year’s Halloween costumes.

2.  Pinterest to the rescue again.

Pinterest (Beating Broke on Pinterest) has tons of low cost decor suggestions.  I saw a cute pumpkin decoration for a table top that used old canning jar bands.  If you have those around, your decoration is free.  You can also have the kids create Halloween themed crafts and decorate the house that way.

Halloween is a fabulous holiday for kids and adults.  Decorating and dressing up can be so much fun, but it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.  By using these techniques and taking advantage of the many frugal crafts and ideas on the web, you can have a great Halloween while keeping your hard earned money where it belongs, in your wallet.

Extreme Couponing: Fad or Lifestyle

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Ever since TLC decided that it would make for good reality television to follow around a bunch of folks who use coupons and dub them “Extreme Couponers”, there’s been a ton of talk about the people on the show, and people like them.  People who spend hours each day clipping coupons and then checking them against store fliers all so they can create spreadsheets and action plans on how to best use the coupons in order to pay the least amount of money for whatever it is that they are buying.

So far, I’ve avoided talking about these people.  I figure it’s about time that I make my thoughts known.  What kind of personal finance site would Beating Broke be if we didn’t talk about one of the hottest topics in the personal finance world.  My immediate take upon watching an episode of the show was that the people on it are a bit OCD.  I like my money, and I’d rather not part with it if I don’t have to, but not so badly that I’m going to buy several hundred tubes of toothpaste.  Or several hundred of anything for that matter.  I also don’t buy the “I saved $xxx” argument.  If you hadn’t gone to the store in the first place, you would have saved every penny you spent.

Coupons can play a somewhat important role in your shopping.  But, it doesn’t have to be as overwhelming as all that.  My wife, for instance, is on a coupon train that Extreme Couponing: Getting ready for my big shopping trip!she joined through Swapmamas.  Every week or so, she gets a big envelope that’s bursting at the seam with coupons that the person who sent them to her just couldn’t use.  She’ll sort through them while we’re watching T.V. or lying in bed at the end of the day.  She carries the ones she keeps in a nice little accordion pocket organizer that she bought for that reason, then sends the rest off to the next person on the train.  When we go shopping, we try to make a list and she’ll take 10-15 minutes to flip through the coupons to see if we have any sams club coupons or similar that we can use.  We don’t get results like the folks on that show, but it’s not out of the ordinary to save anywhere from 5% to 20% on any given trip.  On stuff we were going to buy anyways.

Extreme couponing has become a bit of a fad.  People are watching shows like the one on TLC and thinking they can do the same thing.  Some of them are going to less than honest means to achieve those goals and are stealing papers from dispensers just to get to the valuable coupons in the inserts.  When you have to steal to save your money, you really need to draw that line and get some help.  Done right, couponing can be something that is hardly intrusive at all, and that can save you some money.  Done right, it can become a bit of a lifestyle.

Some say they just don’t have the time to use coupons, but I think they have a somewhat distorted view of the time involved.  It doesn’t have to be time consuming, and the returns can be rewarding.  Give it a try.  Next thing you know, you’ll be buying two of those Sunday papers.

photo credit: bargainbri

Originally published on 8/15/2011