The Rising Cost of Mobile Phones

What’s not to love about having a smartphone?  It can do almost anything a computer can do and still provides old-fashioned communication with friends and family.  Unfortunately, the cost of a smartphone is much higher than other cell phones.  More and more people are accepting the cost as they choose to trade in their old cell phone for a smartphone. The clever folks at AccountingDegree.com have summed up their recent findings around average mobile costs in the nifty infographic below.

An average smartphone bill is up to 90% higher than a regular cell phone bill because of the data plan and other expenses.  Back in 2001, people spent about $20 per month on their cell phone bill.  Today, that average has increased to over $63 each month.  Many subscribers pay a lot more than that.

For every two persons who own a cell phone, one of them is a smartphone.  Almost half of cell phone users pay at least $100 each month on their cell phone bill, while 13% pay over $200.  Almost three-fourths of people said that was higher than their utility bills and over half said they paid less than that for cable.

Paying for Extras

Besides the monthly bill, smartphone owners also incur expenses such as purchasing apps and accessories.  The average person spends over $600 each year in these additional expenses.  This can also include insurance for the phone.

This addiction to a smartphone overshadows other expenses.  When asked what they would give up for a week instead of their smartphones, people had various answers.  Seventy percent of them would give up alcohol while over half would give up chocolate, caffeine, and exercise.

While your big expenses are typically for things you need like housing, utilities, and groceries, cell phone bills are now listed in that category.  Does this mean we think we need them?  According to many answers, it doesn’t look like too many Americans think they could live without their cell phones.

[Image via accountingdegree]