I did something stupid - how do I fix it?

[SilberUrS6]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Put her on her own plan.

Put her on her own plan.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by aigel

Mom, you are getting internet at home now, or the phone is no more ...

Unfortunately, she is dirt poor and can't afford internet. As it is, I don't know how she pays the rent and I'm afraid to ask.

[VincentVega]

Sounds like you cant afford her not to have internet at home. With the genie out of the bottle I'm not sure how to go back. Has she found chocolate rain yet? Good luck.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by VincentVega

Has she found chocolate rain yet? Good luck.

No, but she did mention something called two girls one cup or something like that.

[Tobra]

You need to get her internet at her apartment and a flip phone that can't access the internet. You can't afford for her not to have internet.

Does she live in those apartments on Manzanita, across from where the bowling alley used to be? There is a group of chain smokers that I see there, every time I walk past the bus stop.

[John Rogers]

Sounds like you have made an old and possibly lonely person happy and that is a good thing to do. Sounds like all the replies are negative and want to stop this, change that, etc, etc so I'd say let her be and enjoy herself.

[Steve Carlton]

Originally Posted by widebody911

No, but she did mention something called two girls one cup or something like that.

Maybe two girls, two shirts?

[jyl]

Cut off the smartphone. Get her internet at home.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Does she live in those apartments on Manzanita, across from where the bowling alley used to be? There is a group of chain smokers that I see there, every time I walk past the bus stop.

No, she lives in San Diego

[flipper35]

Move her to a prepaid plan that throttles her connection speed.

[stomachmonkey]

Internet at her apartment will almost certainly cost more than simply moving her to her own plan.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by widebody911

My wife wanted to get her mother a new phone for her birthday; she had an ancient POS that wasn't loud enough for her to hear, and she had crappy service. The original plan was just to get her a new 'dumb' phone, but I had to open my big fat stupid mouth and said "Why don't we just get her a smartphone? It's just a few dollars more." Which is technically true - the price difference is negligible. However, it turns out this woman is a god damn data hog. She blew through our quota (3Gb) in about 4 days flat. We bumped it to 6Gb; that bought us a week-and-a-half. I use less than 1GB, the wife uses about 2.5GB

My question for the brain trust is, how can I fix this?

WiFi

[ted]

We paid for a relative's phone in San Diego for 2 years.
Sprint plan with unlimited data.
Our relative has since been able to afford her own phone.

Fwiw after years of lousy Sprint coverage we switched to Verizon.
Phone works much better now.

[aigel]

Ok - I would talk to her and tell her that you are getting her a tablet and WiFi and she will trade the smart phone for a flip.

It will cost you a little up front, but will be the right choice in the long run. She mothered your wife, so chip in!

G

[gacook]

Does she have WiFi? If so, make sure she's connecting her phone to it automatically. Data usage will drop exponentially.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by aigel

Mom, you are getting internet at home now, or the phone is no more ...

PLUS - you can buy a tablet and watch crap on a big screen all day!

G

This!

I know you say she has little tech savvy but internet + a smart TV, I have do not have much experience with smart TV's but I helped my wifes tech challenged friend set hers up, I installed the wall mount and expected to walk away... wife and her friend stood there with blank faces... me: "sigh... where is the remote?"
Within five minutes I had them logged on and live streaming (then I ran away).

If your mom is smart enough to burn that much data on a smart phone she should be able to work a tablet of smart TV I would think (Just my opinion, I have been wrong before and reserve the right to be wrong in the future).

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Internet at her apartment will almost certainly cost more than simply moving her to her own plan.

Yup. Basic internet and a cheap router is the ticket. Sub $100 in equipment costs, and $20-30/month for service will be way cheaper than overages!



And they still make dumb phones?

[Shadetree930]

Why not just cancel the data element of her plan?

She can still make/take calls like she did on her old phone but she will only be able to access data when on WiFi.

if she wants to do the data .... she can leave the apartment and go to a free hotspot.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Clearly the correct solution is to divorce your wife.

As an added bonus this would resolve your feline infestation.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte

Clearly the correct solution is to divorce your wife.

As an added bonus this would resolve your feline infestation.

Perfect

I would welcome your problem: My MIL is a gigantic sump of negativity that sucks the happiness out of kittens and puppies, Christmas and a babies smile.

If only it was a data plan at issue.

I'd figure out what you and Mrs. WB are willing to spend to keep her happy and find the right combo of phone and internet access.