How to Get Out of Debt With the Get Out of Debt Guy » iPhone

In Seven Minutes I Shaved Almost a Grand a Year off My iPhone Bill. Sweet!

Steve Rhode — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:39:56 +0000

Day to day life seems to never leave me with enough time to sit back and contemplate the fine details of all the financial obligations that float about.

One of those money pits is the communications bill for data and phone. It just seems connectivity gets more and more expensive. Pretty soon I’ll need a wifi connection straight to my wallet so the money can just be siphoned off directly. At least that would make my life easier.

My communications requirements have led me to need easy access to phone and internet. In the early wifi years it was just really difficult to get a handy connection. There were times when I needed one in a hurry (Yikes! the server is down) and in a pinch you could pull up to a hotel and connect. I know, it’s really frowned upon but what’s a digiguy to do in an emergency?

A few years ago I got one of those portable hotspot mifi (damn spellcheck keeps changing that to milf) devices from Verizon and it was great. It certainly made connecting easy when I wasn’t home or riding in a car going 100 MPH down some interstate in a hurry.

Actually to be honest, my fastest internet connection was as a passenger in a car doing 120 MPH down an empty highway in Scotland, but that’s another story.

Recently I was thinking about easy ways to save money on communications costs. I’m not really in the mood to switch carriers. Despite of all the bitching and complaining, I’ve actually been fairly happy with AT&T for my iPhone.

I was one of those early iPhone adopters and was lucky enough at the time to get the unlimited iPhone data plan for $30 a month. But the real question that occurred to me is am I really using that much data on the phone. After looking at my recent bills I just wasn’t. Who needs unlimited data plans when they use less than 200 MB a month in data. Not me, if it means I can save money.

Pam used even less data than I did, only about 120 MB a month.

By ditching Pams unlimited data plan on the iPhone and moving down to the 200 MB plan it reduced her data cost from $30 a month to $15. I decided to be brave and eliminate my unlimited data plan as well. And yes, I do realize that AT&T says I can never have that back.

Even though I dropped my data plan my data package went from $30 a month to $45 for the 4GB package that let’s me use my iPhone as a personal hotspot instead of the mifi device I was using.

Now that I had the pocket hotspot through my iPhone I also no longer needed the $25 a month package on my iPad for a data connection either. I have my iPhone on me all the time and I can now easily connect the iPad to the the internet by tethering with my iPhone. And most of these changes I was able to do using the AT&T iPhone app right on my iPhone in less than 30 seconds.

All together I eliminated my $25 a month iPad plan, got rid of the $50 a month mifi device, cut Pam’s plan by $15 and increased mine by $15. This resulted in a grand savings of $75 a month or $900 a year. Sweet!

Big Hug!

@GetOutOfDebtGuy

How Your iPhone Can Save You Money

Amanda Miller — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 14:22:13 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

If you’re like me you constantly have your smartphone attached to your hip. In my case, I have my trusty digital sidekick (my iPhone) and I’m still amazed how far we’ve come with technology and mobile phones. I remember my first brick-like phone and only imagined in my wildest dreams having a phone this, well, smart!

I got to thinking the other day, as I went on a mindless app tour on my phone looking for something to grasp my attention, how many great applications there are for saving money and getting deals! So today, I share my favorite apps with you and ask you to let me know what apps you use (iPhone or Droid) that help you find deals and save money!

Daily Deal Apps

As you know from previous articles I’m a huge fan of Groupon and Living Social. I like to use these services for finding deals for things around my area. Now, I should mention that I do not buy a deal everyday. In fact, I only buy deals for things I have been eyeing or wanting to try. Weeks go by for me without purchasing a deal but when something pops up that I know I have been eying I will snatch it up.

Location Apps

Location Apps may not seem like a way to save money but more and more business are incorporating “Check-In Deals” to their establishments. My favorite location app is Yelp but I know FourSquare is in talks to partner with Groupon in the future. For example, a few weeks ago I discovered a local spice shop on Yelp that had a check in deal. With just one check in I received a pound of their top selling seasoning! I actually didn’t end up getting anything else other than my freebie but I fully intend on visiting again. Many restaurants will offer 20% off entrees and special offers just for checking in, although some establishments require multiple check ins for deals.

Shopping Apps

Coupon Sherpa is a recent app I have found and have not had the opportunity to give it a try first hand. This app provides deals and coupons for major stores, most you’d most likely find at your local mall. For example, right now there is a Bath & Body Works coupon offered through the app which expires on Thursday. The coupon for for a “Free Signature collection Body Care Item with Any Purchase of $10 or More”. You can view the coupon on your phone and show the sales associate upon check out to apply the coupon! If the coupon is not excepted you can make a note on the app to warn other patrons.

Coupon Sherpa

Grocery/Gas Apps

It’s no secret that I like to coupon and these apps make shopping for groceries and gas ten times easier. GasBuddy is an app which uses your current location to find all of the nearest gas prices to help you find the lowest price without driving around (wasting gas) looking for a cheap price! CellFire also uses your local location to find grocery stores featured in its app to which you can link your loyalty cards to and add coupons offered through the stores directly onto your loyalty card so you don’t need to clip the coupons! CardBank, which costs $0.99 is a good tool if you don’t wish you carry around your store loyalty cards you can input the numbers into this app to always have them with you. The only downside to this app is that your phone won’t scan in some stores so they manually have to input the number into the computer and if your phone resets (like mine did a month ago) you lose your stored numbers, so don’t throw away those cards after inputing them in here (like I did).

The final app I’ll mention is Grocery Gadget. This app will cost you $3.99. This is an excellent tool for creating your grocery lists and even finding coupons for items. In this app you can scan the UPC of an item you need and it will add it to your shopping list. The price of an item will not come up upon the first scan and you may need to enter the price yourself. After inputing the price your shopping list will keep an updated list of how much you will spend at the store. You can scan for coupons based on the UPC and see where you can find and use said coupons if available. Another great feature is you can take a picture of the item you need and e-mail it or send it to another user. That’s right, no more sending someone out to pick an item and having them pick up the wrong thing!

What are some of your favorite applications you like to use for finding deals and saving money? Leave a comment below!

Note: At the time of this article all of the apps mentioned are free to download except for those where a price was mentioned. All pictures are from Apple.com.

7.5 Hours in Line to Get My iPhone4. Never Again.

Steve Rhode — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:38:00 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending over seven hours in line to pickup my new iPhone that I had reserved in advance. I’ve never made a reservation for pickup before of an Apple product and I’m sure as hell not doing that again.

But I have to say, we were surrounded by the nicest group of people and our little group in line finally made it to the finish line, in style.

We had Sam guy who works at Duke University doing behavioral economic research, Greg the actor and the soon to be brother-in-law of Michael the Apple employee from Chicago who had to wait in line and was getting married in two days, my wife, and Spence from IBM.

Our little pod slowly moved along, talking, laughing a lot, snoozing on our feet, trying to figure out the movie references on Spence’s shirt, learning all about being an Actor in L.A. from Greg, enjoying Toy Story on Sam’s iPad, and watching Michael try to talk his way in unsuccessfully as an Apple employee.

We had a great conversation with a mall security officer that helped pass time. We learned all about the silly things people do that get them kicked out of the mall and how the mall cops have arrest authority and can take people straight to jail. This guy looked tough as hell and could stare down a statute.

But my favorite moment of the day had to be when the salesperson from Brookstone was flying a little remote controlled helicopter (like below) in the store and let it wander out a bit into the mall and it came face-to-face with the tough as hell cop. It hovered there for a moment, he stared it down and it slowly flew back into the story, just to crash not long latter.

Guys, let’s make a pact to NEVER do that again.

And just to top off the day, after we left the Apple store we had to go to Best Buy to return something and that took 45 minutes.

@GetOutOfDebtGuy

Soon You Will Be Able to Wave Your iPhone to Make Payment via Visa

Steve Rhode — Fri, 07 May 2010 03:29:14 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

A company, DeviceFidelity, is currently working in conjunction with Visa to incorporate Visa payWave into the case for an iPhone.

The Visa payWave product has been around for a number of years using a traditional card bearing the Visa logo. But the new iPhone cases will have a chip built into them to make them work the same way.

The reason why the credit card companies want you to use the PayPass or payWave products is they found out people are more likely to use their card more often if it is less hassle to process the transaction. More use leads to more fees for the banks and Visa. That makes them happy.

@GetOutOfDebtGuy

It’s True, My iPhone Helps Me Save Money

Steve Rhode — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:08:08 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

Apple just came out with the new commercial below that really struck me that it’s exactly how I use my iPhone.

Before I had my now fairly well worn iPhone I wrote if it was a debt worth having and after two years of the iPhone in my pocket I’d have to say it is.

The application shown in the video, Red Laser, is a favorite of mine. The app works as easily as it appears in the commercial and not only leads me to lower prices but product reviews as well.

@GetOutOfDebtGuy

The iPad. So Simply a Two Year Old Can Operate. Literally.

Steve Rhode — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 14:50:29 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

So I got my iPad on the day they came out. I’d classify myself as a recovering early adopter. I used to be out on the bleeding edge of technology and subsequently moved back to the leading edge. Now I’ve taken one step further back from the edge but when it came to the iPad I saw it as a shiny object I could not resist.

For me, the point of having an iPad was not just to have the latest gizmo. There are plenty of those that I’ve missed in the past few years. I didn’t even have an iPhone when they first came out.

There are plenty of in-depth reviews of the iPad out there for you to read. My impression is that it’s not a laptop but it is a very convenient device to carry around that does almost everything you can do on a laptop. Here is an example. Last weekend I took my iPad and my MiFi card down to the creek and sat in the woods reading the USA Today, watched “The Proposal” with Sandra Bullock, and did some emails. The iPad tackled all of those items wonderfully. And the battery life, a true 10 hours plus.

Yesterday I took the iPad with me to the motorcycle shop while I waited for my oil change. The place also has a restaurant attached to it. It’s where I took this picture.

So after moving inside where the pollen would not instantly be magically attracted to my iPad screen I sat and took care of comments to this blog, dealt with emails, and I even showed the woman and the daughter who were very interested in the device, how easy it is to watch television shows on it. I showed them Jamie Oliver’s new show “Food Revolution” but it might have not been the right time to play that as the cheese fries were arriving to their table.

For me, the iPad is a winner. And as evidenced by the video below, it’s so simple even a two year old can deal with it.

In a few weeks my 80 year old parents will be here with me for a vacation and I bet they’ll love the iPad as well.

My folks were early adopters back in the day. They had a electronic calculator, a big orange desk top model that I watched my Mom use to pay the bills with. That thing would go Ker-Clunk and make the desk shake every time she’d add or subtract. My Dad had a big vacuum tube calculator on his desk at work. Each number had it’s own vacuum tube. That thing was so cool I still want one.

Latter we were the first family I knew of to have the Sears handheld calculator (left). And after a couple of more years they got one of the first Apple computer released. I loved our Apple II when I was a kid. I remember helping my Dad install the 20 MB hard drive. We had to cut wires to do it.

@GetOutOfDebtGuy

PayPal iPhone App Users “Poised to Become the Dominant Species”

Steve Rhode — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:18:28 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

As a devote Apple user I can’t say enough good things about their products and especially their tech support, Amazing!

But here is a cute ad from PayPal pushing the new iPhone PayPal Bump app that made me laugh.

Poll – Vote Now

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

@GetOutOfDebtGuy

Get the New GetOutOfDebt.org Free Debt Help iPhone Application

Steve Rhode — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:22:36 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

Recently I worked with a company that helped me build an iPhone application for the GetOutOfDebt.org site. I made sure the application would be free for anyone to download.

I’ll be adding new features to it in the future but for now just wanted to get my toes in the water and make sure the application worked in a basic form.

Get Out of Debt iPhone Application Features

Currently the four things the application allows you to do are:

Read the Live Blog Feed.
Submit a Question.
See the Facebook Fan Page.
Monitor the GetOutOfDebtGuy Twitter Account.

If you have suggestions for features you would like to see, please let me know in the comments section below.

In case you have two minutes of free time, can you please rate the application for me on iTunes. The more high ratings it gets the more people we can help through it.

Download the free iPhone application here or from the app store button on your iPhone search for Free Debt Help.

@GetOutOfDebtGuy

Awesome Money Saving iPhone App – RedLaser

Steve Rhode — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:11:05 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

Today I had a chance to play with a new app for my iPhone, RedLaser. All I’ve got to say is A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

RedLaser reads the bar code on a product that you are thinking of purchasing and then, and almost instantly checks prices on Amazon and Google, showing you where you can get the exact same item for less.

I first started playing with the app at BestBuy when we were looking to buy a Blu-Ray DVD player. In about five seconds the app showed me that the exact same player I was looking at was $30 cheaper on Amazon. Only problem is that I didn’t think to save pictures of the process.

Our next stop was Target so I hunted for a variety of products to test it on. First off, the Snuggie. Target had it for $14.99.

Da Snuggie.

Turn the box in it’s side to find the UPC label.

Align the UPC barcode in the window.

Results take about five seconds to appear.

So then of course I had to run around Target checking other items to see if the RedLaser app would read those as well.

Would This Next Item Work With RedLaser?

Why yes it does. The Target price was $4.99 by the way.

Bottom line, you could save enough money using just this one application to pay for your iPhone. This app gets a double thumbs up from me for it’s ease of use and money saving potential. It’s a keeper.

@GetOutOfDebtGuy

What’s on Your iPhone: My Favorite iPhone Apps

Steve Rhode — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:15:58 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

I would have to say that for me the iPhone has become one of those transformational gadgets that has changed my life for the better. Probably the iPhone and GPS (SatNav for my EU friends) make the most impact on making my life better.

I thought I’d share with you the iPhone applications that have become ‘must have’ apps for me.

RadarScope

RadarScope is a specialized display utility for weather enthusiasts that allows you to browse NOAA’s public NEXRAD Level 3 data feed. It can display the latest base reflectivity, base velocity, and storm relative velocity data from any NEXRAD radar site in the lower 48 United States.

I love this application because it lets me have instant access to a full motion radar images when the skies look angry. This is especially helpful when I’m out on my motorcycle. I can instantly locate my position, pull up full motion radar and zoom way in to see if the storm is headed my way and going to get me. It’s also great when there are bad weather and tornado alerts around.

RadarScope on iTunes

Tweetie

Of all the Twitter applications, Tweetie works the best for me. It allows me to easily maintain more than one Twitter account (yeah, you should be following me on @GetOutOfDebtGuy), uploads pictures to twitpic, shortens urls, follow and unfollow, etc. It is loaded with nearly every Twitter feature you would want and it runs well.

Tweetie on iTunes

WiFiFoFum

Watch WiFiFoFum in action. This mobile WiFi scanner lets me hunt down the strongest and easiest wireless access point when I’m on the move. The radar map is extremely helpful, especially in big places like airports when you need to move closer to an access point to get a better signal.

WiFiFoFum on iTunes

AP Mobile News

There are lots of news applications out there but I like this one the best for its speed and incorporation of video news stories in its broad categorized listings. For example, if I want to read business or wacky news, I can read the latest stories and also watch the Associated Press videos on the iPhone as well.

iEarn

If you do anything with Google Adsense then you might be curious to see what your stats are. iEarn seems to do a good job for me because it’s simple and easy to use.

iEarn gives you a quick overview of your Google Adsense™ earnings. See your Google Adsense™ revenues made today, yesterday, the last seven days, this month and last month.

All you need to do is to enter your Google Adsense™ credentials at iEarn Settings view and press iEarn icon from your iPhone™. iEarn stores your credentials locally on your iPhone™. iEarn connects directly with Google Adsense™ using https.

No username, password or data are sent to any servers other than Google Adsense™ Web Server. The amounts are downloaded and displayed from the iPhone™ using the same web browser you use to browse pages from iPhone™.

iEarn in addition converts your earnings from USD to EUR,AUS,GBP,RUB,CAD with current exchange rates.

iEarn on iTunes

Newsdesk

Newsdesk is one of my most ‘go to’ applications on my iPhone. It easily gives me a look at the breaking or most important stories in news, tech, and entertainment. I have my app set to launch for tech news and to be honest that’s all I use it for. What makes this app so helpful is that it pulls from various good sources and you can easily launch the underlying source to read the news.

It took me a bit to learn how to really use the application but once I did, I love it. Tech news updates are frequent and contain a good smattering of reviews, breaking news, trends and discussions. For tech news, this is where I turn first.

iPod

The included iPod app on the iPhone is a must for me. I use it to listen to all my tunes when I’m out riding the motorcycle. With the iPod application on the iPhone, ships with it, I don’t need to carry an additional music device to listen to my tunes. In fact, with the iPod and camera built in to the iPhone I only need to carry one device to take photos, make calls, get my email, and listen to tunes.

@GetOutOfDebtGuy

The New Diamond Embedded MasterCard. Really!

Steve Rhode — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:36:07 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

It is still a bit of a buzz but it is worth mentioning. Apparently Kazkommertsbank in Kazakhstan is getting ready to roll out a MasterCard with a diamond embedded in it with gold trim on the card. Last November I wrote a story about the manufacturer of the card if you want to know more about how they are made.

That’s one card you’d hate to lose, or maybe even swipe.

“Hey, where did the waiter go with my card?”

The annual fee will be $1,000 with only a dinky little $50,000 limit. The bank plans to issue ONLY 1,000 of these cards and is targeting the growing number of millionaires in uranium rich Kazakhstan.

But if you are worried about your new diamond MasterCard not being special enough, then you need to dive up in your Lotus, encrusted with 164 diamonds. But it’s a fast car so be sure to wear your diamond encrusted Grand Prix racing helmet, just like Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have raced in.

But really, that’s just silly, thinking that you’d race around in your diamond encrusted Lotus, isn’t it. Instead, how about just making sure you are using your Motorola diamond and gold Bluetooth headset. It’s only $17,000 but the worst part is, it’s ugly.

Motorola Motopure H12 Gold and Diamond Heaset

But what would a diamond Bluetooth headset even be doing, hooking up with an ordinary Bluetooth phone. Tacky! Instead you need the gold and diamond encrusted iPhone case. At only $20,000 you could get the headset and phone case and not even max out your new diamond MasterCard.

Gold and Diamond iPhone Case

God and Diamond iPhone Back View

Is the iPhone a Debt Worth Having?

Steve Rhode — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:42:45 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

The new iPhone is out and people are rushing, at a slower pace, yet again to get one. While they may be on the bleeding edge of technology, I wonder how many users of the iPhone can really justify the huge bills they can generate?

And you know what will come after this generation of iPhone? That’s right, the next one and that one will yet again be faster, smarter and have more storage.

Before you spring for the new iPhone and big bills that can come with it, ask yourself just one simple question, “Do I really need it?” The right answer to that question can save you a bundle of money.

How to Get Out of Debt With the Get Out of Debt Guy » iPhone

In Seven Minutes I Shaved Almost a Grand a Year off My iPhone Bill. Sweet!

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