5 Years Living Without a Cell Phone - Minimalist Living

*Udpate! We bought a cell phone in 2019. We officially lived without cell phones for 7 years* We've been living without cell phones for 5 years and we couldn't be happier! We sold our cellphones and cancelled our plans in November 2011 and our goal at the time was to save money, and to see if we could live without something that seemed so essential to us.

It felt like a huge sacrifice at first, and we felt naked without our phones when would leave the house, but we knew that we could always get new phones if we changed our minds, so the risk was minimal.

We used to spend at least $130/month CAD for both of our cellphone plans combined so we've saved about $8,000 over the course of 5 years.

For the first year, we still had a landline, so we could make & receive phone calls when we were at home.

For times when we were out of the house, we had to work harder to make exact plans to meet up. For example, instead of saying "I'll just text you when we get there," we'd have to say, "ok, we're meeting at exactly 5:15 at the post beside that cafe we always go to." We'd also make a plan B and a plan C just in case things didn't work out.

If we didn't find each other at the planned spot, we'd make a second meet up option, and as a last resort, we'd just go home and not be upset if something happened that changed our plans. It's worked really well for us and we rarely have any problems.

We should have had this conversation with our friends and family because they have found it to be frustrating not being able to reach us by phone or text all the time.

After the first year without cell phones, we sold our house and got rid of our landline, and now we've been living without a phone (none at all!) for 4 years.

Instead of using phones, we use an iPod touch to get WiFi in case we need to look up an address, send someone a message on Messenger, call someone on Skype, etc. There's WiFi pretty much everywhere these days so we don't usually feel like we're missing anything by not having phones.

We love the lack of a monthly cell phone bill, and we've also come to appreciate the freedom that living without a cell phone creates. When we're out and about in the world, it's nice to know that we're not connected and that we can appreciate the present moment without being distracted by notifications, emails, texts, and calls.

We did love having cell phones when we had them, and we don't expect everyone to get rid of theirs because they are incredible tools. This is just an example of one small change we made in our lives that helped us get to where we are today.

Thanks for watching!

Mat & Danielle

-------------------------------------------------------------
STAY IN TOUCH!
------------------------------------------------------------

Blog: www.exploringalternatives.ca
Facebook: /exploringalternativesblog
Instagram: @exploringalternatives

-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMENTS
-------------------------------------------------------------

We want our channel and our comments section to be an inclusive space where everyone feels welcome to watch and to contribute. For this reason, comments that are inappropriate or hateful will be reported and/or deleted.

Please discuss and debate with respect, and report inappropriate or hateful comments directly to YouTube.

-------------------------------------------------------------
SUBTITLES AND CLOSED CAPTIONS
-------------------------------------------------------------

A very special thank you to our subtitle and closed captions contributors!

- Portuguese subtitles by Felipe Arcaro

If you would like to contribute subtitles or closed captions to an Exploring Alternatives video, please click here to see which ones need your help:
http://www.youtube.com/timedtext_cs_panel?c=UC8EQAfueDGNeqb1ALm0LjHA&tab=2

To learn how to create and submit subtitles and closed captions, check out this YouTube info page:
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6054623

If you would like credit for your subtitles, translation, or closed captions in the description of the video, please email us with your full name, the language of your translation, and the video title that you worked on. You can email us at: danielle.is.exploring@gmail.com

-------------------------------------------------------------
VIDEO CREDITS
------------------------------------------------------------

Music & Song Credits:
All music in this video was composed, performed, and recorded by Mat of Exploring Alternatives.

Editing Credits:
Mat and Danielle of Exploring Alternatives

Filming Credits:
Mat of Exploring Alternatives

Thumbnail Photo Credit:
Jacques Dubé

Видео 5 Years Living Without a Cell Phone - Minimalist Living канала Exploring Alternatives