My "New" Phone!

I had my first real "nothing new" challenge earlier this week.

Approximately 36 hours after we committed to The Compact...I lost my frickin' cell phone.

Like really lost it. I knew I was in trouble when I tried my "fail proof" method of calling from another phone and listening for the ring. When we called my number it went straight to voicemail. Then, I looked in all the usual places...couch cushions, under furniture, counter tops, cupboards, in the kids' rooms/closets/playroom...upstairs, downstairs...in the cars...outside...even drove downtown to where I had eaten dinner the night before to look at the freshly plowed curb.

Finally my husband looked, and if HE can't find it, then we get to declare the item "officially" lost.

So I had a bit of a dilemma. My phone is my lifeline. I run my business through it....and after having gone 24 hours with no phone, something had to be done.

To make the situation even more fun, it was less than 3 months old, so to repurchase the same one I would have to spend over $400. Ridiculous. Plus...since I had JUST made the declaration that I'd be buying nothing new for the next month, buying new wasn't really an option...this was my first real BIG test. If I didn't want to look like a back-pedaling, uncommitted JERK I was going to have to figure it out...creatively.

My first thought was to put a post on Facebook that I was looking for a used cell phone...preferably a slider (since I'm set in my ways and HATE learning new phones...I'm techno-challenged...no joke!)

Here's what I posted:

So...throwing in the towel on the phone-hunt :(
Next step...find a "new" phone...but since I just committed to a COMPACT challenge for 30 days, this could be interesting :)
If anyone has a US Cellular Android FOR SALE please let me know ASAP...I'd really like to get a slide-out keypad...if you want to SHARE this post to help me out I'd be UBER appreciative!

Within LESS than a half an hour I had around 6 different fb friends offering up their used cell phones! Some of my fabulous friends even said I could just HAVE their old phones...but I was being a little picky and holding out for the "right" one...and as luck would have it, someone had the EXACT same phone I'd lost that she was willing to part with!

I ended-up paying $25 for a used phone in excellent condition. BONUS: when I went to switch the service over the consultant looked up my points...and I had enough to get a FREE SD card too :)

So now, when the "lost" phone magically reappears...probably in a week or so, after we've stopped looking for it...I won't have to feel as bad because I didn't waste HUNDREDS of dollars on a "new" phone.

I'm gonna go ahead and give myself a big ole GOLD STAR for this one! The biggest question I'm left with is WHY I ever paid that much for my phones in the first place?!?! It's safe to say I won't be doing that again any time soon!   

~Audrey