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On September 7, the world watched with bated breath as Tim Cook took the stage in San Francisco to announce the release of the iPhone 7 (among a bunch of other Apple products nobody cares about nearly as much). My dual monitor display came in clutch so I could “work” and also watch the keynote.
With every new feature he announced, my heart beat a little faster. I had to have it. I needed the dual cameras with digital zoom, the better speakers and the longer battery life. I was already picturing all the great brunch pictures I would get on my Jet Black iPhone 7 Plus.
The timing was perfect. I was already due for an update, and my iPhone 6 was still in good enough condition to trade in for a credit. All the stars were aligning, but there was just one thing stopping me from ordering my “Millennial who is doing well at work and clearly has her life together” badge of honor – I’m still on my family phone plan.
My mom has been paying for my cell phone for over ten years. I’m not quite ready for this beautiful relationship to end, but she definitely is. She’s been bragging to her friends that her kids are finally “off the payroll,” and the last step is kicking us off the phone plan. She’s been talking about it for years now, but somehow it still hasn’t happened yet and I’m not about to bring it up.
Other than the phone plan, I am completely independent. I pay my own car insurance. I do my own taxes. I have a credit card that I pay in full every month because Dave Ramsey and my senior year Economics class told me to. I got this adulting shit on lock. Paying for my own phone is the logical next step.
But, like, I really don’t want to. Really don’t want to.
As anyone with a brain and a hesitation to leave the family phone plan nest knows, it’s actually cheaper to stay on the family plan than to be on an individual plan. Not just by a few bucks, but $30. THIRTY DOLLARS extra to prove my independence and pay for my own phone. That’s three months of Spotify premium, a decent brunch (including bottomless mimosas), or a shellac manicure at a place where they talk shit about you in Vietnamese and don’t give you free Franzia while you wait.
“Why don’t you just offer to pay your parents the cost of your phone plan?” If you were to ask any of my coworkers, I’m already doing that. At work I have to feign responsibility about my personal life because it’s “unprofessional” to have your Mom do stuff for you that you should be doing on your own. Obviously, if push comes to shove, sure, I’ll “offer” to pay my parents the cost of my phone so I can stay on the phone plan.
But, like, I really don’t want to do that either.
My ideal situation is to treat my phone plan the way that they used to treat women in the old days. My phone plan stays on my family plan until I get married and then my husband can inherit it. I’m a strong, financially independent woman, but I’m hoping to make it the rest of my life without ever paying for my own phone plan. Or, at the very least, another two years. .
Respond
My mom sends me a Venmo receipt for my part on the first of every month. #PGP
My mom doesn’t know what Venmo is and I’m keeping it that way. I much prefer our system of “I’ll pay you when I have cash” which is rarely, if ever.
My mom tries to get me to send her a check for the phone bill. I tell her every month that Venmo is easier but she doesn’t understand
I am 1) a male 2) married and 3) still on my parent’s plan. I have no shame.
Living the dream.
I should also add 4) I’m 28. Still, no shame.
My wife has never paid a phone bill. Straight from her family’s plan to my plan, which deducts from my personal account.
30 and my husband and I are on my parents’ family plan. No shame my dad has an incredible rate that’s not available anymore so we just venmo them our share. Much cheaper that way.
Like my phone, my XBOX Live account is still under my Mom’s name as well.
This is my exact situation. Except I’m a guy. I don’t talk to my parents about my phone plan, and they seem okay to keep paying it, so I’m just going to stay content with my iPhone 5s.
I’m completely independent but still on the family plan. My brother is 3 years older, married, and has a kid and he is still on the plan as well. This guarantees I am grandfathered in for another 3 years since my parents make everything “fair”.
Sometimes I feel guilty, and I’d be fine paying for the plan, but I’m not going to fight it if my parents are too lazy to boot me off.
My mom texted me to ask if I wanted to start paying my phone bill (dumb question) and I said no (obviously). Got no response…Hopefully it means she forgot and we’ll go another year without speaking of it
I’m on the family plan, but I pay my part in one lump sum each year. It’s simple that way
you and i are the only PGP’rs that pay for our phone bills apparently
I pay my own phone bill. Can we all go and get on a family plan together though?
My GF asked to join my phone plan so we could save money. My anxiety is higher than when we moved in together. A lease is just a year, phone contracts with grandfathered unlimited data are forever…
Got on my ex-girlfriends plan after dating for 4 years. Remained on it even as she was engaged to her new boyfriend. It was kind of fun being able to cause waves in that relationship by using texts about the phone bill not going to lie.
AT&T though i get a bundle discount with my wifi
AT&T won’t let me bundle my phone and internet/TV without losing my unlimited data. Not worth losing that unlimited data to bundle.
I have never been on a family plan (both parents get cell phones from work) so I have been on prepaid since high school. $35/month isn’t too bad….you just have to pay full price for the phone.
Lump sum?! Ugh. Stop making the rest of us look bad.
I want to berate you for being a grown adult whose parents still pay for their phone, but I know that if mine hadn’t cut the cord so damn fast I would be doing the same thing.
Here’s an instance where being more irresponsible in college makes you a more responsible adult. I left the family plan because I figured getting my own phone was easier than asking them to give the AT&T guy permission to allow me to purchase a 3rd phone in a month.
I didn’t know homeless guys kept up with the latest cell phone trends
We’ve had Obama phones for almost 8 years now.
Just a heads up they don’t “upgrade” anymore, you either lease the phone monthly for a garage on the bill (not gonna work for you) or you buy that son of a bitch outright at the store. Option B you can get a new phone without much of a fuss, you just have to know your account holders social security number. Pro-tip: say you need it to add them as a beneficiary on your life insurance