All posts by Becca

Why I Don’t Have a Smartphone

I have had a crappy, piece of poop phone for far too long two years. Now it does what I want it to do – which is make calls and can send text messages – but as a hard working, intellectual, bright, human being, I feel that after such a long time, I feel that I deserve to have something a little more shmancy.

However, I am also a frugal, broke, college student who can’t afford to pay $30 a month for a data plan with a smartphone because I am a.) in college and b.) my parents don’t pay for it. Which I don’t mind, because I am almost nineteen years old and currently not living at home, except for the fact that my 26 year old sister and my 27 year old brother both have smartphones and neither of them pay for their data. (Nor does my 27 year old brother pay for rent, food, insurance, or anything else besides bumming around and not working – but another rant for a different time.)

My contract ended three days ago, so I can do one of three things:

  1. Get a smartphone. But in this case, that would mean that I have to fork over $30 a month for something that I can’t even substantially touch or feel. Which as a frugal person, I can’t really see myself doing. I can see myself using that $30 to slowly pay off student loans or for a new pair of boots or buy poptarts. (And I have to pay off this semester of college still and that is more than I would like to currently share.)
  2. Get a “dumbphone.” Which means that I’m stuck with another phone that I’m not completely satisfied with for another two years and that I may/may not like it. Plus, the one I’m looking at costs $100 (which is absolutely ridiculous for a non-smartphone), plus an activation fee. I’m too broke for these things. :( I was really leaning towards this option, minus the cost and minus the bad reviews for this phone. Poooo.
  3. Keep the phone I have. While it’s nothing fancy, my phone that I have does what I want to do it just fine. And it is practically indestructible; I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dropped my phone on concrete, or off of my lofted dorm room bed onto tile floor, or sent it flying out of my jacket pocket on the tennis courts. But it is also very beat up and really needs to be upgraded.

So in short, I hate not having money, I hate Verizon, I hate that my parents will pay for some family member to have fancy things but not others, and that I feel like a loser. Bahh.

At least I have a phone, I suppose.

Snowmageddon = All I Do is Watch TV

So to add onto the last foot of snow that we got last Friday, we got another four of five inches yesterday and over night. It started snowing again about 4 PM and the school cancelled evening classes and I was supposed to have a debate in my Environmental Science class – which I had really been stressing about because I hate debates/public speaking and science – so that being cancelled and moved online was a HUGE blessing. Plus, I got out of work an hour early.

We were supposed to get another foot or so of snow overnight, but we only got a couple inches. Nonetheless, classes were cancelled again for today. So what have I done with all of my free time? I worked on some homework that needed to be done, and I started working on my research paper for my Env. Sci. class, but that hasn’t worked out too great, haha. Science + English = awful.

Instead of being super productive, I’ve mainly been watching TV shows, specifically just Chuck (like a whole season in the last couple of days…). So here are the shows that I’ve been watching and enjoying.

Chuck
When a twenty-something computer geek inadvertently downloads critical government secrets into his brain, CIA and NSA assign two agents to protect him and exploit such knowledge, turning his life upside down.

I would call this more of an obsession, really. When I’ve had the time, I watch probably six or seven episodes straight and they’re each about 40-45 minutes long. I love spy stuff, and I love really nerdy things, so combining them into this action/comedy is really just perfect for me. Plus, Zachari Levi is pretty much the best actor ever. He plays Chuck so well. I think this is a show that most people will enjoy.

New Girl
Jessica Day is a bubbly middle school teacher in her late 20s who, after breaking up with her longtime boyfriend, moves in a loft with three single men she met through Craigslist. Vulnerable, positive and honest, Jess has so much faith in people so that sometimes she can’t punch her way out of a paper bag. With the aid of her new roommates, she tries to pick up her crumbs and move on.

I honestly can’t really tell you why I like this show so much. I think it’s just the characters that I really like; the storyline isn’t so great, but I really like the characters and Zooey Deschanel as an actress. This is a show that I started watching out of boredom/procrastination of my homework, and have just kept watching. I could probably stop watching, but since I’ve started, I just keep watching it.

The Office
A mockumentary on a group of typical office workers, where the workday consists of ego clashes, inappropriate behavior, and tedium. Based on the hit BBC series.

This is my all-time favorite TV show ever. I love everything about this comedy; the Jim and Pam romance, Dwight’s crazy antics, and the rest of the coworkers and their insanity. I think the show has slowly been going downhill since Steve Carrell/Michael Scott left, but I still enjoy it. I’m sad that it’s on the last season, but at the same time I don’t want it to keep going and just turn to crap. All good things must come to an end, right?

Once Upon a Time
Centers on a woman with a troubled past who is drawn into a small town in Maine where the magic and mystery of Fairy Tales just may be real.

You would think that this show would be really cheesy, but it’s actually really clever and nicely done. They combine all of the fairy tales (plus other folk stories) really well and I love all of the puns that they insert. It focuses on Snow White and her battle against the Evil Queen both in our world and in their fairy tale world. The cast does a really great job of portraying their characters, and I always look forward to new episodes since they either introduce new characters (and therefore incorporate new fairy tales) or add another plot twist. It’s a fun watch and I’d recommend it if you like a new twist on fairy tales.

Smash
There is more drama behind the scenes than on stage, as the team prepares an ambitious Broadway musical on the life of Marilyn Monroe.

This show is kind of a guilty pleasure of mine. It’s mainly about two girls trying to make it big on Broadway and the troubles that they and the musical they are trying to star in have. One of the main actresses is Katherine McPhee, who was a runner-up on American Idol who I absolutely loved. So that has a lot to do with it. Smash a lot of the time gets compared to Glee because it’s a musical, and I love that the characters just break out into song all the time. I’m kind of a musical junky. :P

The Amazing Race
Multiple teams race around the globe for $1,000,000 to ‘amazing’ locations around the globe.

I normally don’t watch this show, like ever, but I’m a pretty big fan of Joey Graceffa, a Youtuber. I first noticed him/started liking him with his Hunger Games music video parody and him and another YouTuber are contestants on the show. So I’ve been following them on the show to root them on, and only two episodes have been out so far, but they’ve been doing great! It cracks me up because Joey is so energetic and crazy and all the other contestants are always pretty pissed off, haha. Anyways, I’m hoping he wins! :)

There are a few other shows that I really like but haven’t listed (like Friends and Food Network shows in general) but haven’t been watching lately. What kind of TV shows do you watch or like? What do you do to procrastinate your homework? (Or, what do you do to motivate yourself to do your homework? Haha.)

(Also, I just realized that my last two post titles have been mathematical equations. Stupid stats class.)