I recall a feeling of pride when I purchased my first Treo smart phone. I must admit having felt a mild inferiority complex about the semi-Luddite culture I live in with the Church; whenever I could acquire a piece of newer technology, my complex subsided. Is 450 dollars worth the complex-calming effect?
Frugality is the household rule, inferiority complexes are in remission, and higher priorities and the bigger picture guide purchases today. I pause to remember an artifact for the transition into frugality. The phone you see above cost 10 dollars. I rarely used it, but it helped when I traveled for part-time ministry opportunities in Iowa and South Dakota Ranch Country. Cost of use for the Treo over 2 years: about 1800 dollars. Cost of use for the Tracfone over two years: less than 400 dollars. The switch was good for the budget. About 6 months ago, the battery cover popped off the Tracfone. If South Dakotans taught me anything, it was to be resourceful--not everything is readily available in South Dakota. Sometimes duct tape is the way to go. They may not be attentive to recycling as my fellow Pacific Northwesterners, but duct tape as a make shift battery cover provided the bridge. I regret buying a new crappy/frugal cell phone upon arrival to the Pacific Northwest--I was too lazy to figure out if I could change numbers on my tracfone. Maybe I still can.
Someone will always be able to one-up my technology (more like 10 or 12-up). No one will be able to better my South Dakota duct tape cell phone.
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