Saving With An Android Smart Phone

So I am part of the Dave Ramsey group on Facebook and someone posted about saving on things other than food, which is the majority of posts from that group. I had originally saw the post in my news feed, and when I circled back around I couldn't find it! But I thought it was a good idea, so I thought I would do a series of posts on how I save money on other things besides food. I thought a good place to start would be cell phones. Now, I know phones are a luxury, but I LOVE mine and I honestly don't see me going without one ever again.
My husband and I purchased 2 Nexus 4's from the Google Play Store over 2 years ago, and it was very pricey. I think the cost was something like $349 each, so $700 total! Can you say OUCH! The phones are unlocked and vanilla Android at it's finest, with no carrier bloatware!
We use Straight Talk by Walmart and love it! We have used Straight Talk with AT&T sim cards for as long as we have had our phones.
We save by paying for 1 year of service on both phones, which drops the monthly price to about $42 each for unlimited data, text, and nationwide talk, so $84 a month for both lines.
But if you look at the overall costs spread out over the number of years we've used the phones, and are continuing to use them I hope another couple of years, it's really worth it.
First and foremost invest in a good rugged case to protect your smartphone investment! My husband and I are currently using this case, and love it! It's two pieces, the first is a hard plastic that securely snaps around the phone and locks into place and the second is a type of rubber than grips around the plastic, to absorb hard shocks from falls. It completely protects, and I can firsthand tell you it works wonders. I have dropped my phone numerous times on accident, my girls have been fighting over my phone and dropped it, at one point a mad child whom will not be named threw my phone across the room, bounced off a wall and jumped across the floor and not a scratch on it, so I recommend a rugged case for any and all unavoidable accidents you might have!
Also, invest in a good screen cover, we use this screen protector, and it's really thick and protects from scratches and scraps to the screen. It's easy to install, and it doesn't effect the performance of the phone, I've had no trouble at all with it picking up finger swipes, so it's another one I recommend from my own personal experiences.
Now, you have your smart phone and you've protect your investment, you need some apps right?
Now a great thing about a vanilla Android device is you can do ANYTHING with your phone. One way my family saves money on apps is through the Amazon App store. They give away a FREE paid app every day, and often at holidays they give away over $100 worth of FREE paid apps! You just can't beat that! You can easily download and install the Amazon App Store to any unlocked Android smartphone by following the instructions here.
There are THOUSANDS of free apps on Google Play, and here is a short list of some of my favorites!
KIDOZ - I can't say enough good things about Kidoz! A safe kid mode for your phone with a parent lock, I've used this app on every android device we own for years now and have had very few issues with it. You set each child a profile and then add only the apps their are allowed access to. Also, Kidoz includes a kid safe browser, videos, and games from trusted sources on the web like PBS and NickJr. You can edit any of these simply by logging into the parent menu. The only time I've ever had trouble was in the first few weeks of the Android system updates, otherwise it work exactly as promised. I HIGHLY recommend it!
YouTube Kids - FREE, and great for the little ones.
GO SMS Pro, Keyboard & Locker - Personalize your phone's texting, keyboard and lock screen easily with minimal ads. I am currently using this FREE butterfly locker from developer ChickenAnt, I also like their under the sea locker, which is also FREE!
Now, even with all the free stuff out there, there are always apps out there I find that I want to buy, but you can really rack up the $$$ quickly buying lots of apps. One way I augment my Google Play Store purchases is by completing Google surveys from the Google Opinion Rewards app. Sometimes it's just $0.10 sometimes it's more, you never know and the surveys are random, so after you install the app, check your notifications pretty frequently. YES Google really pays for surveys, and here is the proof!

This is the reward history of my own completely surveys, so there's no reason to NOT have this app on your android devices!
So there you have it, all my little tips n tricks to save on the cost of smart phones and how to save money after you bite the bullet and invest in one. I truly believe that in the long run they are worth every penny and I hope my post has shown just how affordable they can be!